CECS, Survey of wildlands professionals and the general public in California, 2022

Natural resource managers are increasingly required to make tradeoffs between the economical, ecological, and social outcomes of different management actions, in many cases making the ability to ensure public acceptance an important part of the effective management of natural resources. However, in comparison to our knowledge of the drivers of the economic, and ecological aspects of natural-resource management, our understanding of the drivers of social acceptance remains limited.

Relying on survey data collected in California, we examine what factors drive a belief among the general public in the capacity of managers to limit the occurrence of natural-resource events related to wildfires, water shortages, and utility failures. These results are also compared with a sample consisting of natural-resource professionals. Our results show that the general public had a more positive view of management capacity than did the professionals sampled, also displaying greater levels of trust and belief in the efficiency of management, while being less concerned about potential future risks.

We also found structural differences in attitude formation between the public and the natural-resource professionals. Personal experience with natural-resource events and perceived future risk drove beliefs about management capacity in both samples, while level of trust and belief in the efficiency of management only had statistically significant effects in the public sample. These findings suggest that natural-resource management in California is likely to enjoy high levels of social acceptance among the public, as long as interventions continue to be perceived as effective. Findings also highlight structural differences in attitude formation between the public and natural-resource professionals in California.

Methods
Sampling and data collection:
This dataset was gathered from a web-based survey administered participants from March to September 2022, as part of the Secure Water Future project. Participants were recruited through snowball sampling, in which central individuals within targeted actor groups are contacted to refer researchers to other people or distribute information throughout their respective networks. 

Snowball sampling increases the chances of reaching central actors relevant to the research conducted, and relying on individuals with social capital within their own networks to spread information has been shown to lead to increased survey response rates.  For a short introduction on snowball sampling see Wright R, Stein M 2005 (Snowball sampling) in The Encyclopedia of Social Measurement.

For the purposes of the project, we focused on three groups of actors growers, water managers, and eco-system managers. Central individuals in CA, NW, and UT were identified through previous working relationships with representatives at relevant local, state, and federal agencies, collaboratives, NGOs, and private interests.