Mapping a Values Typology in Three Counties of the Interior Northwest, USA: Scale, Geographic Associations Among Values, and the Use of Intensity Weights

Abstract

Spatial attribution mapping is one method of eliciting the relationship between people and place. I use a landscape values typology and environmental values theory to investigate how people attribute values to the landscape in three counties of Idaho and Oregon. Using geographically referenced values data collected in a mail survey (n = 767), I examine the use of intensity weights when implementing a mapping exercise and the spatial scale and geographic associations between values in the typology. The results demonstrate that places within a landscape can offer multiple values, and that when geographically operationalized the landscape values typology can be divided primarily into two categories: material (socioeconomic quality) and postmaterial (personal/environmental quality) values. The findings reflect the linkages between spatially operationalized values and established environmental values theory, and the need for land use planners, natural resource managers, and local decision makers to facilitate both material and postmaterial values in their decisions.