Abstract

  In 1993 and 1994 patrons of the Mid-America Boat Show and the American-Canadian Sport, Travel and Outdoor Show, both held in Cleveland, Ohio were asked to respond to an Ohio Sea Grant survey on Great Lakes issues. In 1993 and 1994, a list of issues, identified from previous surveys and citizen advisory groups, were presented to show patrons at the Ohio Sea Grant exhibit. They were asked to rank the importance of each issue on a scale of 0 to 6. A total of 1,751 and 987 boat show and sport show patrons responded in 1993 and 1994 respectively. The four highest ranked issues and their arithmetic means and standard deviations in 1993 and 1994 respectively, were: Lake Erie water quality (5.60 + 0.79 and 5.53 ± 0.81); Eliminating persistent toxic substances in the Great Lakes (5.54 + 0.88 and 5.49 + 0.89); Protecting the Great Lakes ecosystem (5.49 ± 0.87 and 5.51 ± 0.80); and Toxic contaminants in fish (5.49 + 0.97 and 5.36 ± 1.00). A t-test was used to compare means of 1993 and 1994 responses. Significant differences (0.05) occurred in mean responses for 9 out of 14 issues common to both the surveys. Factor analysis of 1993 data suggested that patrons of the 1993 shows: (1) have a strong concern for the Great Lakes ecosystem; and (2) recognize that individual actions count. Factor analysis of the 1994 data indicated that show patrons continued to have a concern for the Great Lakes ecosystem. Boat and outdoor show patrons (recreational resource users) are a constituency that can, if politically active, validate and support efforts to protect and preserve the Great Lakes ecosystem.

Keywords: public opinion, water quality, recreation, survey