Public Support for Remedial Action Planning: Willingness to Pay in Brown County, Wisconsin

Abstract

This article examines public support for the Remedial Action Plan for the Upper Fox River and Lower Green Bay watershed of Lake Michigan by analyzing the results of a telephone survey. The survey found support for a remedial action plan, measured in both willingness to pay and willingness to support a new agency to implement the plan, was significantly greater among those familiar with the plan. The survey also found willingness to pay for the plan greater among the young and better educated, a strong preference for industry fees and user charges over taxation as a method of payment, and little support for the creation of a new agency to implement the plan. Unlike previous research on public support for growth management and land use reform, the survey found the support was based not on self interest but on general preferences for a clean environment. These results suggest that the key to public support, and perhaps for successful RAP implementation, lies less in fostering recreational use of the watershed and more in continuing efforts to provide education and information to the young, the dedication of user fees for RAP implementation, and continued leadership by state government.