Environmental ethics and wilderness management: an empirical study

The underlying hypothesis of this study is that environmental ethics influence public attitudes toward wilderness management. To study this hypothesis, environmental ethics were defined, categorized, and measured empirically. Additionally, attitudes toward selected wilderness management issues were measured. Associations were found between beliefs in selected environmental ethics and attitudes toward selected wilderness management policies. These findings support the study hypothesis and suggest that environmental ethics can be studied empirically and provide insights into the future direction of wilderness management.