Public attitudes toward forest management practices on pulp and paper company-owned forest lands in the southern Appalachian Region

Twenty-three community organizations participated in an educational program that addressed forest management practices on pulp and paper company-owned forest lands (for clarification, pulp and paper companies will be referred to as forest industry) in the Southern Appalachian Region. Initial attitudes were assessed using a pre-program questionnaire that focused on forest management practices on industry-owned land in the Southern Appalachian Region. An educational program was presented that addressed clearcutting, pine management, and erosion and sedimentation. The same questionnaire was then administered to identify any attitude changes that could be attributed to the educational program. This program was presented to several group-types which included church, civic, environmental, and professional groups in Asheville, North Carolina, Chattanooga, Tennessee, and Knoxville, Tennessee.

The results suggest that the study population had generally supportive attitudes about industry. The educational program produced significant changes in attitudes in that respondents were more supportive in general. Finally, the attitudes of environmental groups changed most noticeably from non-supportive to generally supportive of industries current management practices.