UE001

Adult Stewardship in 25 Natural Areas in the Portland-Vancouver Metropolitan Area from September 2011 through June 2012

• Creator(s): Marion Dresner, Gretchen Rollwagen-Bollens, Steven Braun
• PI(s): Marion Dresner, Gretchen Rollwagen-Bollens, Steven Braun
• Originator(s): Marion Dresner
• Other researcher(s): Larissa Figley, Kerissa Fucillo, Vanessa Rose
• Dates of data preparation: Sep 1 2011 - Jun 1 2012
• Data collection status: Study collection is completed and no new collection is planned
• Data access: Online
• Access constraint: User must cite our study. Users must request permission to publish a study using our data.
• Last update: Feb 8 2013 (Version 2)

<Citation>     <Acknowledgement>     <Disclaimer>    

Dresner, M.; Rollwagen-Bollens, G.; Braun, S. 2013. Adult Stewardship in 25 Natural Areas in the Portland-Vancouver Metropolitan Area from September 2011 through June 2012. Portland-Vancouver Urban Long-Term Research Area. Forest Science Data Bank, Corvallis, OR. [Database]. Available: http://andlter.forestry.oregonstate.edu/data/abstract.aspx?dbcode=UE001. Accessed 2024-11-24.

Data sets were provided by the Forest Science Data Bank, a partnership between the Department of Forest Science, Oregon State University, and the U.S. Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station, Corvallis, Oregon. Significant funding for these data was provided by the National Science Foundation Long-Term Ecological Research program (DEB-02-18088).

While substantial efforts are made to ensure the accuracy of data and documentation, complete accuracy of data sets cannot be guaranteed. All data are made available 'as is'. The Andrews LTER shall not be liable for damages resulting from any use or misinterpretation of data sets.

ABSTRACT:
	We designed and conducted a survey of volunteers who work in city parks in Portland, Oregon and Vancouver, Washington to understand natural area volunteer commitment and motivation, as well as the effect that volunteering has on participants’ behavior and attitudes toward the environment. We contrasted volunteer motivation, attitudes, and behaviors between the two cities to better understand the role of governance in organizing volunteer efforts. Participants were sampled over the course of late winter and spring of 2012 during 25 different events. Volunteers’ motivations ranged from environmental reasons to those of personal health. Portland volunteers indicated that helping the environment was their primary motivation, more often than Vancouver volunteers. Portland area volunteers had significantly higher tendency to indicate that their primary gain from volunteering was helping the environment, while Vancouver area volunteers tended to indicate that they were helping their community. Frequency of participation was significantly different between Portland and Vancouver, with 35% in Portland volunteering more than 10 times per year; 21% of Vancouver participants engaged more than 10 times per year. Those engaging in the highest participation level were more likely to engage in public environmental behaviors, such as contacting local officials about environmental issues. Portland volunteers were more likely to feel connected to their volunteer site, and consider themselves environmentalists. A total of 131 Portland volunteers and 44 Vancouver volunteers were sampled during the 9-month study. They were asked 48 attitude and behavior questions, including other questions to solicit demographic information including gender, income, and age, and asked about travel time to the site.

Study Description

Download Study Location Information: (CSV) Ecological Metadata Language: (EML)

ENTITY TITLES:
1	Event Information (Feb 4 2012 - Jun 9 2012)	METADATA	DATA
2	Subject motivation and attitudes (Feb 4 2012 - Jun 9 2012)	METADATA	DATA
3	Subject behavior at a specific event (Feb 4 2012 - Jun 9 2012)	METADATA	DATA
4	Subject contribution to event (Feb 4 2012 - Jun 9 2012)	METADATA	DATA
RELATED MATERIALS:
	Portland-Vancouver ULTRA - The Portland-Vancouver Urban Long-Term Research Area Webpage
RELATED DATABASES:
	Effects of land cover, topography, and built structure on seasonal water quality at multiple spatial scales in Clark County, WA and the metropolitan area of Portland, OR (UW001)
	Interviews with Portland-Vancouver region government officials about water resource policies collected in 2011 (UG001)
	Analysis of riparian vegetation loss in Hillsboro, Oregon City and Portland, Oregon from 1990-2008 (UI001)