• Objectives met successfully 
• Major research findings
• How did this project increase the knowledge we have about urban forestry?  How did (will) the public benefit?
• What recommendations might you make for community foresters or others who might benefit from the project? 
• How were the results disseminated? 

Objectives met successfully:

The WSU Social and Economic Sciences Research Center (SESRC) completed telephone interviews with 2,004 adults and provided a Data Report. The final project report contains a data book with a description of the survey administration, description of the data, survey results, a SAS program that we used to generate descriptive statistics, and the survey instruments that were used in the study.  A file of interviewer notes to augment respondents’ answers to closed-ended questions, as well as respondents’ answers to open-ended questions, was also provided. 

Randomly selected adults in the 112 most-populated metropolitan areas in the continental U.S. were interviewed.  Three types of questions were included in the survey. 

1.  Demographics.  Background data about the participants, such as age, education, ethnicity, and income, were gathered. 
2.  Adult attitudes and actions.  Participants were surveyed regarding their current understanding and appreciation of urban trees.  Questions assessed different types of values that people assign to trees, including utilitarian and social benefits.  Respondents also were questioned about their participation in various activities, such as community service and gardening classes.  These questions were designed to examine whether adult attitudes toward trees would translate into tangible actions.
3.  Childhood contact with nature.  Participants were surveyed regarding their childhood memories of the surroundings where they were raised and their early experiences with nature, both active and passive. 

An overall survey response rate of 52% was achieved.  Respondents ranged in age from 18 to 90 years with an average age of 42 years.  Forty-four percent were male; 56% were female.  Less than half had completed a 4-year college degree. 

A majority (76%) of the respondents identified themselves as White or of European background.  This trend was anticipated and was the main reason for sampling such a high number of randomly selected people.  While the percentage of people from non-European backgrounds was small, the number (477) was large enough to yield meaningful information about people of a variety of heritages, including African American, Hispanic, and Native American. 

Detailed statistical analyses of selected data have been completed.  These analyses were undertaken to more thoroughly examine the data provided by the SESRC in the Data Report.  Questions for the selected analyses were chosen based on our estimation of their potential usefulness to urban and community foresters.  Data were analyzed for the entire survey population, as well as by ethnic group.
 
 

Major research findings 

In general, respondents, regardless of ethnicity, expressed positive attitudes toward both the utilitarian and social benefits of trees in urban areas.  People appear to appreciate trees and understand the diverse benefits they provide.  We anticipated this trend, but were surprised by the magnitude of the response.  For example, more than 60% of the respondents strongly agreed that trees should be planted to reduce smog and dust in cities, and more than 80% strongly agreed that trees were important to their quality of life. 

We also found that, in many cases, there appear to be strong relationships between childhood experiences with nature and people’s current attitudes toward trees.  For example, people who reported that they had frequently spent time in the outdoors with trees or actually had planted trees as children were more likely to have positive attitudes toward trees as adults.  Participation in organized nature or environmental education outside of school, such as through summer camp or scouts, also appeared to positively influence adult attitudes. 

These results indicate that childhood experiences with nature influence adult sensitivities to trees and that the influence is very strong.  By understanding the relationships between childhood experiences and current attitudes toward trees in urban areas, we can better understand the influence of childhood participation in tree planting and gardening programs on the perspectives of those same children as adults.  This information could be used to tailor children's environmental and gardening activities more effectively to engender appreciation for nearby nature in our adult citizens.

When the data were examined by ethnic group, no striking differences were noted.  While there appear to be some minor differences by ethnic background in the relative strength of the responses to particular questions, the overall trends are consistent across groups.  Almost all respondents of all ethnicities felt very positively towards nearby nature.  Adults of all ethnicities who report having had more experiences with nature as children are the same adults who report the most positive current attitudes towards trees. 

This research only begins to address these important relationships; it was based on memories of childhood nature contact.  It was designed to point the way to promising further studies.  The raw data will be made available to other researchers for this purpose. 
 
 

How did this project increase the knowledge we have about urban forestry? How did (will) the public benefit?

The importance of trees and plants for the health of our urban, rural, and natural environments is well-documented.  By better understanding why some people appreciate trees more than other people, we are in a better position to enhance people's understanding of the importance of plants for our survival.  This, in turn, will help justify the time, money, and space that people are willing to devote to keeping and enhancing nearby, as well as distant, nature.
 
 

What recommendations might you make for community foresters or others who might benefit from your project?

Most people who are involved in tree programs with children intuitively believe that they are important to the future attitudes of the children.  These results help to justify such programs and could be used to justify their expansion.  Getting children actively involved with nature, for example, through tree planting, seemed to be particularly valuable, but even passive contact, such as simply playing in parks with trees also had value.  This indicates that any and all types of contact with nature are valuable for children.  Community foresters and others who are working with people of various ethnic backgrounds would benefit citizens by getting involved with any type of nature program, such as tree planting or urban vegetable gardening. 
 
 

How were the results disseminated to the public?

The raw data from this project is available for use by other researchers to develop hypotheses and stimulate additional research.  The data will not be copyrighted.  For information about obtaining the data, contact Caroline Pearson-Mims).

The Social and Economic Sciences Research Center (SESRC) entered all questionnaire data into a machine-readable format as a survey database on computer disks.  The data set can be provided in ASCII format, as a SAS data set, or as an SPSS set.  The SESRC also created a code book and instructions for accessing the database.  All open-ended comments to questions in the interview will be available as a text file that can be imported into any word processing software.  A brief report on the response rates achieved for the survey and the principal findings according to the objectives of the survey were provided.  Copies of all survey materials and the computer assisted telephone interview screens can be provided, as well.

Data summaries and their implications have been communicated to national audiences through poster presentations at the 1999 National Urban Forest Conference and the 1999 annual meeting of the American Society for Horticultural Science.  A presentation was made at the Sixth International People-Plant Symposium (July 2000), and the slides from the presentation are available for viewing.  The written proceedings from this symposium are expected to be available in 2002.