In 1991 and 1992, patrons of the Mid-America Boat Show randomly passing the Ohio Sea Grant exhibit were asked to complete a survey to assess potential changes in opinions. In 1991, a sample of people from among the 10,000 attending the Fairport Fishing Symposium were also asked to complete the same survey. Their responses were combined with the 1991 Boat Show data. Respondents were asked to indicate their degree of agreement or disagreement with 14 issue statements on a completely anchored five-point scale. People who boat and fish on Lake Erie have a positive perception of it.
Most respondents view Lake Erie as a valuable resource worthy of protection.
This trend of viewing agriculture as a water polluter should be of concern to the agriculture industry and Extension. Efforts to clean up Lake Erie and other surface waters may conflict with current agricultural practices. Resource user groups, if politically active, may have a substantial impact on the regulations developed to reduce agricultural impacts on our waterways. Results suggest Extension needs to address the issue of agricultural impacts on the environment more vigorously than in the past, particularly with nontraditional resource-user groups. The total design method.