Wetlands Regulations and Public Perceptions in Massachusetts
Leschine, T.M. and S.R. Casella
Coastal Zone ’80, pp. 1789-1808, 1980 WHOI-R-80-023
This paper reports on the results of a 1979 survey of wetlands property owners in two Massachusetts coastal towns (Marshfield and Falmouth). The survey obtained socioeconomic information, as well as information on the characteristics of wetlands property and its ownership, on property owners’ perceptions of wetlands and wetlands values, and their perceptions of and experience with wetlands regulations at the state and local level. Among the findings discussed in the paper, the authors concluded that those wetlands resources which are viewed as public may evoke different sympathies than those which are viewed as private. Also, the public sense that wetlands resources are valuable and worth protecting is stronger than the public awareness of what the goals and procedures of existing state and local regulatory programs designed to protect wetlands are.