Gender Differences in Recreational Use, Environmental Attitudes, and Perceptions of Future Land Use at the Savannah River Site

Abstract

Perceptions are critical to making decisions about our environment, particularly contaminated sites. Gender differences in recreational use, attitudes toward environmental problems, and perceptions of land use for the Savannah River Site (Department of Energy) were examined in people living near the site. Bird-watching, photography, and fishing were the most common activities. Men engaged in more hunting, fishing, hiking, and camping, and women photographed more than men. There were significant gender differences in attitudes toward future land use, with women showing lower scores than men for hiking, camping, fishing, hunting, nuclear production, factories, building houses, and storage of nuclear waste. Maintaining the Savannah River Site as a National Environmental Research Park was the highest priority for both genders, whereas storing nuclear wastes and building homes ranked lowest for both. Planners should consider recreational use as an important future land use of this Department of Energy site, taking into account gender differences.