Further evidence concerning local control of land use

An important issue was raised in a recent Land Economics debate concerning citizen preferences for local versus state government control over the use of land and other critical resources. In the initial and subsequent rounds of debate, Geisler and Martinson maintained that local government control is preferred by most citizens to extra-local control, regardless of the land use issue in question. An attempt is made to provide additional evidence of area residents' perceptions as to the appropriate role of various levels of government regulation of land and other critical resources. The results are reported of a survey taken in January, 1979, of residents living in a 20-county area in Northern Wisconsin. The overall purpose of the survey is: 1. to assess the impact of the mining development that was occurring in the region, and 2. to determine the nature of controls residents desired in shaping any development which might occur.