Larry Gigliotti
USGS, South Dakota State University
Larry Gigliotti is currently an Assistant Unit Leader for the South Dakota Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit. Prior to this position at the South Dakota State University Larry worked for the South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks Department from 1993 – 2011. Larry’s expertise is in the “human dimensions” of fish and wildlife management, which he used to help guide the agency’s effort to become more connected with and responsive to South Dakota citizens, and especially hunters and anglers. During Larry’s 18 years of working for GFP he conducted over 150 surveys of South Dakota hunters, anglers, landowners, and residents. Prior to this position Larry was a Research Associate with the Human Dimensions Research Unit at Cornell University. Larry received his B.S. from Pennsylvania State University (1975) in Biology/Wildlife Ecology and his M.S. (1983) and Ph.D. (1989) from Michigan State University.
The Plains & Prairie Pothole Landscape Conservation Cooperative identified habitat loss (factors influencing land use and land conversion) as a key research need. This grassland-wetland ecosystem provides essential habitat for an array of wildlife, especially waterfowl. Temperate grasslands are one of the most threatened biomes worldwide. While many factors contribute to loss of wildlife habitat, ultimately it comes down to decisions made by private landowners. This project surveyed landowners in five states (IA, MN, SD, ND, and MT). Each state wildlife agency developed their questionnaire based on their agency’s needs for information about landowners. The main objectives were to: (a) measure characteristics, attitudes, values and behaviors towards participating in a variety of conservation programs and practices, and (b) identify meaningful segments of landowners for understanding conservation behaviors. Although each state’s questionnaire was unique all five questionnaires included a 13-item Wildlife Value Orientations (WVO) scale.
A total of 4,040 completed questions were received from the five states and 656 shorter nonresponse questionnaires were received. Nonresponse bias was not considered a problem; however, the survey under-represented younger landowners so age-weighting was used based on each states’ agricultural statistics. Overall, The WVO scale labeled landowners as: Utilitarian (60%), Mutualist (10%), Pluralist (15%), and Distanced (15%) with significant but very small variation among the five states (p < .001, Cramer’s V = .07). Farmers/ranchers were more utilitarian than non-agricultural landowners: Utilitarian (66% vs. 54%), Mutualist (7% vs. 14%), Pluralist (14% vs. 19%), and Distanced (13% vs. 13%) (p < .001, Cramer’s V = .13). Age was significantly related to WVO type, but not as might be expected based on previous research, with utilitarian landowners being younger than mutualists: Utilitarian (55 years old), Mutualist (62), Pluralist (63), and Distanced (59) (p< .001, eta = .21). Males were more utilitarian than versus females: Utilitarian (63% vs. 46%), Mutualist (8% vs. 19%), Pluralist (14% vs. 17%), and Distanced (15% vs. 18%) (p < .001, Cramer’s V = .16). The WVO types had significantly different participation rates for 14 of 22 land use practices. Additional characteristics, attitudes, values and behaviors analyzed by WVO type will be discussed.
Topics: Wildlife in an Ecosystem Services Paradigm , Topics: Private Lands Conservation , Topics: Conservation Planning and Evaluation
