Turnaround Migration And Environmental Conflict In Northern Lower Michigan: The Implications Of Social Change For Regional Resource Management (population Growth, Environmental Attitudes, Reverse).
Blahna, Dale Jeffrey
1985
Abstract
The 1980 census revealed that during the 1970s, for the first time in U.S. history, rural areas grew faster than urban areas. This study investigated the relationship between rural population growth and environmental conflict in an area of turnaround migration in northern Lower Michigan (NLM). Two data sets were collected. First, environmental conflict events were recorded for the 33 counties of NLM during the years 1967, 1970, 1975 and 1980. The unit of analysis was a Local Citizen Group Environmental Action and 140 such events were recorded from newspaper accounts. Second, a mail survey was made of the environmental attitudes and decision-making participation behavior of resident property owners in a nine-county sub-region of NLM. The characteristics of newcomers (NC) and long-term residents (LTR) were compared to help explain trends in environmental conflict. Environmental conflicts increased more in rapid-growth areas of NLM than in slow-growth areas, especially in rural areas. While the attitudes of NCs and LTRs differed concerning the importance of social and economic problems, there were no significant differences in their responses to items measuring the importance of crowding, environmental problems, or the impacts of population growth. Both groups also agreed on most measures of preferences for different resource management policies. NCs were more likely to participate in a larger number of different types of actions related to environmental decision-making, and more likely to belong to special interest groups that were active in environmental issues than were LTRs. The results suggest there is a relationship between population growth and conflict, but that the culture clash hypothesis (normative conflict between NCs and LTRs) probably accounts for only a small proportion of growth-related conflicts. Growth-related conflict in areas of turnaround migration appears to be explained better by the cultural infusion hypothesis which posits that, in addition to normative conflict between NCs and LTRs, other forms of growth-related conflict may occur due to (1) the sheer increase in the number of residents, (2) more residents living in proximity to the resource base, and (3) the participation characteristics of NCs. NCs may instigate conflicts in which LTRs are not involved, or in which NCs and LTRs form a coalition to fight a common foe. In addition to attitudinal variables, social structural and organizational variables must be considered in future research.Subjects
Attitudes Change Conflict Environmental Growth Implications Lower Management Michigan Migration Northern Population Regional Resource Reverse Social Turnaround
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