RESULTS 



The scenic preferences reported here are from several 

 individual studies of timber harvesting and roadbuilding. 

 Usually several different panels have been used to replicate 

 the tests from a given area. But since results presented 

 correspond to raw means that have not been tested be- 

 tween panels, the reader is cautioned against making these 

 comparisons; valid comparisons are limited to within- 

 panel. The studies are grouped together under various 

 topics to highlight different aspects of the studies. 



In total, the results summarize the ratings of approxi- 

 mately 15 panels with an average of about 30 viewers per 

 panel. Each viewer rated 140 to 200 slides, for a total of 

 about 75,000 individual viewer-rating responses. 



Undisturbed Forests: 

 The "Baseline" 



Often, when a timber harvest or similar activity is 

 planned, the impact is assessed by comparing it to the 

 undisturbed preharvest condition. This raises the question 

 of how viewers rate different undisturbed "baseline" forest 

 scenes. 



Several panels were used in rating scenes from 

 undisturbed forests. Only mature forests were used in 

 this evaluation since this is where most harvesting is 

 done. The views represented were what a person would see 

 in the foreground either in walking or driving through the 

 stand. Color slide pictures were taken in random directions 

 at random points in the stand. About 25 slides were taken 



in each stand to allow a random sample to be shown to the 

 viewer panel. Panels were shown slides of different scenes 

 in random order, and they rated each slide on the to 9 

 scale. The mean ratings of all slides in a given stand were 

 then compiled, along with the SBE ratings, as described 

 in the SBE technique. 



The ratings given by panel viewers for different mature 

 forest scenes are shown in figure 1 , along with some typical 

 photos of the scenes being rated. It should be recognized 

 that the photos in figure 1 , and in others that follow, are only 

 typical of what the viewers rated. In the actual evaluation 

 they rated five to ten slides of each forest condition, and 

 the ratings shown are the mean ratings of all those slides 

 for all judges. The ratings in figure 1 show the range in 

 ratings given by different panels. Extensive repetition and 

 testing indicates that the rankings of different scenes are 

 nearly always the same between panels. 



The rating of mature forest scenes was usually toward 

 the "like" end of the sc^le, with some difference in mean 

 ratings between stands of different species. These stands 

 were somewhat open with little or no debris evident. 

 Ratings, however, were significantly lower in a decadent 

 lodgepole pine stand that had a large amount of down 

 material, even though there had been no logging. The SBE 

 method as used in these studies did not determine which 

 elements of a scene contribute to likes ordislikes; however, 

 the preference for open and natural looking conditions and 

 a dislike for clutter and debris is borne out in studies by 

 Arthur (1977) and Daniel and Schroeder (1980). Detailed 

 summary of the mean ratings is given in table 1. 



Table 1.— Mean ratings of mature forest stands 



Species type Viewer panel' 



Mean rating 



Larch 6.27 6,29 7.39 6,60 6,17 



Douglas-fir .... ^26 



Grand fir .... 5 g4 

 Lodgepole pine: 



meadow edge 6 22 6.15 6,56 6 92 5.68 



mature stand 5 79 5.93 6,72 6 19 5,12 



decadent stand 4,30 4.72 4.58 . ' 4,98 4.22 



(Critical diff.)^ (.60) (.60) (.60) (.60) (.45) 



'Panel numbers refer to following: 

 1, University of Montana psycfiology students, 1973, 



2 University of Mictiigan psychology students. 1973, 



3 Montana public scfiool teachers, 1973; 



4 USDA Forest Service researchers, 1973; 



5 University of Montana forestry students. 1980 



•Differences between means that exceed this are significant at the 95 level 

 'This panel did not evaluate this scene. 



2 



