Place Attachment and Marine Recreationists' Attitudes toward Offshore Wind Energy Development

Offshore wind energy initiatives are increasingly prevalent and cited by developers and agencies as viable avenues to provide energy for a growing population, increase energy security, and mitigate global climate change (Devine-Wright, 2011; Pasqualetti, 2011). In 2010, the U.S. Department of the Interior (USDOI) released its "Smart from the Start" program intended to facilitate siting and construction of wind energy along the U.S. eastern seaboard. In 2012, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced new wind energy leases in Maryland, Virginia, New Jersey, and Delaware (Clayton, 2012). Also in 2012, the largest offshore wind farm (102 turbines producing 367.2 megawatts) was launched in the United Kingdom (REM, 2012). The BOEM anticipates future commercial leases along the eastern seaboard and the USDOI reports a high commitment to continue initiatives that accelerate the siting, leasing, and construction of new offshore wind energy projects (Clayton, 2012).Public involvement processes aimed to assess project support from community stakeholders are standard in offshore wind energy planning and are often required prior to actual development (Ellis, Barry, & Robinson, 2007; Pasqualetti, 2011). Although these assessments employed varying methods (Devine-Wright, 2005), most studies used public opinion polling to identify the levels of acceptance for proposed projects within a community or region (Szarka, 2006). Often missing from these assessments are focused investigations into subpopulations that may be more sensitive to development or more affected by offshore wind energy development than the general public (Ellis, Barry, & Robinson, 2007). One relevant subpopulation is marine recreationists (e.g., boaters, anglers, beach users) because they may frequently use and enjoy the near shore waters proposed for turbine siting.Concurrently, many locations cited as "ideal" for offshore wind energy projects are close to important marine recreation resources, including tourism destinations (Gamboa & Munda, 2007). Marine recreationists engage in activities such as general beach use, boating, and angling in many of the areas proposed for offshore wind energy and often seek out these areas for their unique site attributes, such as unobstructed waters and viewsheds (Woosnam, Jodice, Von Harten, & Rhodes, 2008). For example, the Cape Wind project in Massachusetts proposed siting 132 turbines in the shallow waters of Horseshoe Shoal (Nantucket Sound; Firestone & Kempton, 2007), an area highly frequented by anglers and tourists (CCHFA, 2009). Additionally, people often return to nature-based recreation areas repeatedly to experience the benefits derived from recreation activities (Manning, 2011).Because of this repeated activity involvement in one location, recreationists often develop strong emotional and cognitive connections with a specific place (i.e., place attachment or place bonding; Hammitt, Kyle, & Oh, 2009). The strength and type of these bonds can lead to varying levels of acceptance for recreation resource management actions (Kyle, Graefe, & Manning, 2005), such as opposition and support for offshore wind energy development (Devine-Wright & Howes, 2010). Development action or even proposed wind energy projects may interrupt or potentially enhance these place-based bonds (Devine-Wright, 2009). Furthermore, high place attachment may lead to increased opposition or support for offshore wind energy, which could result in civic actions that could decrease or promote project success (e.g., voting, attending public meetings, writing opinion articles; Devine-Wright, 2005; 2009; Devine-Wright & Howes, 2010). Therefore, evaluating and identifying marine recreationists' levels of place attachment may help explain variation in their opposition and support for offshore wind energy, and their potential civic action in response to proposed projects.Although, offshore wind energy development is increasing, and its development often converges with marine recreation resources where place-based bonds develop, there are lim- ited investigations of marine recreationists' attitudes toward offshore wind energy development Furthermore, researchers have not created, tested, and validated scales to capture marine recreationists' levels of opposition and support for offshore wind energy development. …