Values of protected area landscapes shape the behaviors of subsistence users in Interior Alaska

Abstract

Diverse values expressed by people living around protected areas provide insight into shared reasons why agreements and tensions may exist yet are underrepresented in research with subsistence users. We administered a mixed-mode survey to residents living near Denali National Park and Preserve and Denali State Park in Interior Alaska, USA, to understand how values placed on landscapes by multiple interest groups could lead to actions benefitting the environment. We discovered four dominant groupings of specific values-centered on pristine nature, communal cohesion, relational fulfillment, and capacity growth-that signaled broad agreement on reasons why Denali landscapes are important. Results from a latent variable path model showed that these values worked in conjunction with previous experience to explain levels of environmental concern, and in turn, pro-environmental behavior. Communal cohesion, in particular, drove subsistence users' concerns and behaviors, whereas pristine nature was the basis for behavioral decision-making among non-subsistence users.

Keywords: Behavior change; Environmental concern; Indigenous peoples and local communities; Protected areas; Social science.

Fig. 1

Hypothesized model of the theoretical relationships among twelve specific values, previous experience visiting Denali National Park and Preserve, environmental concern, and pro-environmental behavior. Squares represent observed variables, while circles represent latent variables. γ represent paths from observed to latent variables; λ represent paths from latent to observed variables; and β represent paths between latent variables. δ and ε represent measurement error for observed exogeneous and endogenous variables, respectively. H1–H15 represent fifteen hypothesized relationships between variables which were hypothesized to be positive (+)

Fig. 2

Map of the Denali study region, including the protected areas of Denali National Park and Preserve and Denali State Park and the surrounding communities (published with permission from Johnson et al. (2023))

Fig. 3

Results from a principal component analysis biplot for the specific values data, demonstrating clustering among twelve individual items into four groupings of specific values. Points on the biplot represent individual observations among survey respondents, while vectors represent direction and impact of specific values on the principal components

Fig. 4

Results from the structural regression model of relationships among specific values groupings, previous experience visiting Denali National Park and Preserve, environmental concern, and pro-environmental behavior for A the pooled sample, B subsistence users (n = 215) [model fit: χ2 = 152.369, df = 61; CFI = 0.931; SRMR = 0.077], and C non-subsistence users (n = 98)[model fit: χ2 = 105.012, df = 77; CFI = 0.919; SRMR = 0.083]. Significant (p < 0.05) hypothesized paths and coefficients are indicated by solid black lines. Non-significant hypothesized paths are shown as gray dashed lines