The Complexities of Decision-making Related to Health Risk Assessments

Maine, like the nation, has focused a great deal of recent attention on determining acceptable levels of environmental and human health risk. Barbara discusses the role and uses of scientific information in risk assessment and public policy debate. Similar to Kevin Boyle\u27s previous article (featured in the December 1994 issue of Maine Policy Review), Knuth discusses the 1992 Maine Board of Environmental Protection hearings which focused on the human consumption of fish potentially contaminated with dioxin

Tailoring Communication about Suburban Deer Management to Stakeholders' Concerns

Click on the PDF for an Executive Summary and the full report. Visit the HDRU website for a complete listing of HDRU publications at: http://hdru.dnr.cornell.edu

Communicating about suburban deer management: Tailoring the message to the stakeholders

Public input plays an important role in selecting suburban deer management alternatives. Agencies often communicate with the public to ensure that citizens have accurate information when judging management alternatives. Research has shown that suburban residents evaluate deer management alternatives on the basis of different sets of criteria (e.g., effectiveness, humaneness, etc.). We explored whether people\u27s attitudes were more likely to be influenced by information if it addressed the criteria about which they were concerned. We conducted our research through two mail surveys of randomly selected residents of Irondequoit, New York, implemented 20 months apart. Some 512 people responded to both surveys. The first survey was used to: (1) determine those considerations respondents used to judge deer management alternatives; and (2) measure their attitudes toward contraception and other alternatives. We used these results to categorize respondents according to how important it was to them that a deer management method be: (1) effective; and (2) humane. The second survey contained a subset of questions from the first survey. Three versions of the second questionnaire were used, varying in the type of explanatory information contained: (1) effectiveness of contraception; (2) humaneness of contraception; or (3) neither topic. We used general linear models and logistic regression models to explore whether receiving effectiveness or humaneness information influenced attitudes toward contraception and whether the effect of the information was influenced by how important the concern described in the information was to respondents. We found that people were more likely to change their opinion about contraception if they received information addressing their concerns

Communicating about Suburban Deer Management: Tailoring the Message to the Stakeholders

Public input plays an important role in selecting suburban deer management alternatives. Agencies often communicate with the public to ensure that citizens have accurate information when judging management alternatives. Research has shown that suburban residents evaluate deer management alternatives on the basis of different sets of criteria (e.g., effectiveness, humaneness, etc.). We explored whether people\u27s attitudes were more likely to be influenced by information if it addressed the criteria about which they were concerned. We conducted our research through two mail surveys of randomly selected residents of Irondequoit, New York, implemented 20 months apart. Some 512 people responded to both surveys. The first survey was used to: (I) determine those considerations respondents used to judge deer management alternatives; and (2) measure their attitudes toward contraception and other alternatives. We used these results to categorize respondents according to how important it was to them that a deer management method be: (1) effective; and (2) humane. The second survey contained a subset of questions from the first survey. Three versions of the second questionnaire were used, varying in the type of explanatory information contained: (1) effectiveness of contraception; (2) humaneness of contraception; or (3) neither topic. We used general linear models and logistic regression models to explore whether receiving effectiveness or humaneness information influenced attitudes toward contraception and whether the effect of the information was influenced by how important the concern described in the information was to respondents. We found that people were more likely to change their opinion about contraception if they received information addressing their concerns

Bribing Biodiversity: Corruption, Participation, and Community-Based Management in Venezuela

Widespread alarm over the continuing decline of marine and freshwater fisheries has prompted research on the theory and practice of community-based management (CBM). Considering the suite of possible CBM benefits--including local involvement, compliance with regulations, reduced enforcement costs, and sustainable resource use--it is understandable that CBM projects are on the rise. However, there is insufficient examination of the challenges to CBM and the context-specific feasibility of grassroots stewardship. In response, we applied an assessment framework to a Venezuelan fishery to evaluate the feasibility of CBM and to identify barriers to its fruition. We used a variety of methods in concert (including observation, Rapid Rural Appraisal, a survey, and interviews) to assess the characteristics of the 1) resource, 2) user group, and 3) governing institutions. Our results show that resource and user group characteristics are CBM compatible. The negative influence of all institutional characteristics--particularly impediments to local participation and the prevalence of corruption--makes CBM unfeasible in the study site at this time. We discuss these barriers and their implications. The details of reforms necessary to facilitate CBM and prevent fish species loss are, however, beyond the scope of this study

Human Responses to Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia Virus in the Great Lakes

Click on the PDF for an Executive Summary and the full report. Visit the HDRU website for a complete listing of HDRU publications at: http://hdru.dnr.cornell.edu

Factors Affecting Fish Consumption among New Mothers Living in Minnesota, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin

Click on the PDF for an Executive Summary and the full report. Visit the HDRU website for a complete listing of HDRU publications at: http://hdru.dnr.cornell.edu

PERCEIVED RISKS OF DEER-RELATED VEHICLE ACCIDENTS: INFLUENCE ON DEER POPULATION PREFERENCES OF THE RESIDENTS OF TOMPKINS COUNTY, NEW YORK

High populations of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) in much of the eastern United States have increased the probability of deer-related vehicle accidents (DRVAs). These accidents are very costly in terms of vehicle repair and have the potential for serious physical injury to motorists. DRVAs are increasing rapidly in suburban areas, where deer may also cause other types of damage (i.e., to gardens or ornamental shrubs). In these suburban areas, wildlife professionals have limited deer management options. We hypothesized that the peoples\u27 perception of the potential risk posed by DRVAs interacts with the perceived benefits provided by deer, to influence their desired deer population level. We conducted a mail survey of 624 randomly selected Tompkins County, New York residents (68% response rate, n = 424), to explore this hypothesis

Risk-Based Consumption Advice for Farmed Atlantic and Wild Pacific Salmon Contaminated with Dioxins and Dioxin-like Compounds

We reported recently that several organic contaminants occurred at elevated concentrations in farmed Atlantic salmon compared with concentrations of the same contaminants in wild Pacific salmon [Hites et al. Science 303:226–229 (2004)]. We also found that polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), toxaphene, dieldrin, dioxins, and polybrominated diphenyl ethers occurred at higher concentrations in European farm-raised salmon than in farmed salmon from North and South America. Health risks (based on a quantitative cancer risk assessment) associated with consumption of farmed salmon contaminated with PCBs, toxaphene, and dieldrin were higher than risks associated with exposure to the same contaminants in wild salmon. Here we present information on cancer and noncancer health risks of exposure to dioxins in farmed and wild salmon. The analysis is based on a tolerable intake level for dioxin-like compounds established by the World Health Organization and on risk estimates for human exposure to dioxins developed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Consumption of farmed salmon at relatively low frequencies results in elevated exposure to dioxins and dioxin-like compounds with commensurate elevation in estimates of health risk