Support for Neoliberal Conservation Strategies in State Park and Recreation Service Delivery: Privatization, Trust, and Place Attachment

While state park visitation has increased significantly in recent decades, tax-based funding has been inconsistent. As such, neoliberal conservation practices including various forms of privatization have received increased attention as potential strategies to fund state park and recreation service delivery. Though several factors influence public attitudes toward privatization, research suggests that trust influences perceptions of alternative funding strategies, and that contextual factors related to place attachment may also play an intermediary role. As such, we assessed the role of agency trust as a determinant of support for privatization and the potential role of place attachment as a mediator in this relationship. Our results indicate greater trust is generally related to support for privatization in the state park and recreation service delivery, and that place dependence partially mediated this relationship. Managers and policy-makers may wish to prioritize building organizational trust and functional attachment, particularly when considering the implementation of privatization practices.