Because everyday citizens and nonexpert stakeholders are either directly or indirectly involved in ocean health restoration plans and engage in activities that may place fisheries at risk, it is important to understand the scope and depth of their policy-relevant knowledge. Using a mail survey of more than 3000 Pacific Northwest U.S. citizens, we investigated levels of coastal and ocean policy-relevant knowledge, information sources associated with higher levels of policy-relevant knowledge, and relationships between knowledge and support for Pacific fisheries restoration. We found that citizens knowledgeable about ocean conditions were most supportive of ocean and coastal protection; that somewhat malleable situational factors are important predictors of knowledge; and that some sources of information are more directly connected to knowledge than others. This study concludes that public knowledge is a critical component of support for ocean and coastal management and that there are effective means for enhancing public knowledge.

In the later years of the twentieth century and into the twenty-first century, there has been an increasing emphasis among many decision-makers, interest groups, and citizens about the importance of science-based environmental policy. The assumption is that scientists can facilitate the resolution of public environmental decisions by providing scientific information to policymakers and the public, and by becoming more directly involved in policy arenas than they have traditionally been. However, at the same time, there are those who question the value of science, especially for ideological reasons. This study empirically examines the impact of ideology on attitudes toward science, scientific research, and scientists among various environmental policy participants. The data utilized to investigate these orientations were collected from surveys of five different groups involved in environmental policy and management in the Pacific Northwest including ecological scientists at universities and federal agencies; natural resource and environmental managers of state and federal programs; members of interest groups (e.g., environmental groups, industry associations, etc.); the “attentive public” (i.e., citizens who have participated in the environmental policy process); and the general public. Preliminary results reveal significant differences between liberals and conservatives in their orientations toward science, with self-identified liberals generally more likely to see science and scientists as objective and conservatives having a contrary view.

Water is an unpredictable and often overallocated resource in the American West, one that strains policy makers to come up with viable, and politically acceptable policies to mitigate water management concerns. While large federal reclamation projects once dominated western water management and provided ample water for large scale agricultural development as well as the urbanization of the West, water engineering alone is no longer sufficient or, in some cases, a politically acceptable policy option. As demand for water in the West increases with an ever-growing population, climate change is presenting a more challenging and potentially untenable, reality of even longer periods of drought and insufficient water quantity. The complexity of managing water resources under climate change conditions will require multifaceted and publicly acceptable strategies. This paper therefore examines water policy preferences of residents in four western states: Washington, Oregon, California, and Idaho. Using a public survey conducted in these states in 2019, we examine preferences pertaining to infrastructural, education, incentives and regulation specifically examining levels of support for varying policies based on climate change and environmental efficacy beliefs as well as geography, demographic variables, and political ideology. Results show support for all water policies surveyed, with the exception of charging higher rates for water during the hottest part of summer. The most preferred water policies pertained to tax incentives. Some variation of support exists based on gender, education, environmental values, efficacy, state residency and belief in anthropogenic climate change.