417those interested in education also tended to be more knowledgeable, with at least
one university degree; those interested in monitoring were more concerned about
weeds than di sinterested respondents, but did not differ in terms of demographics or
knowledge; and those interested in restoration were well educated and more likely
to have urban backgrounds.
A recent study of federal land managers assessed infl uences on their willingness
to use volunteers in ecosystem restoration , including activities to control and pre-
vent exotic plant invasion (Bruce et al. 2014 ). About two-thirds of respondents were
either positive or neutral toward the idea of using volunteers in restoration. Those
who intended to use volunteers were more interested in increasing community sup-
port for their efforts, liked working with motivated individuals, and believed they
could get more work done that way. They also were less likely to be concerned
about constraints su ch as time, access to trained volunteers, safety, and funding.
Little is known about the extent to which people attempt to control exotic annual
grasses on their own properties. Christensen ( 2010 ) asked respondents in four small
farm communities in Northern Utah and Southern Idaho about prevention strategies
they used on their own properties. The most commonly used were limiting soil dis-
turbance (44–54 % depending on the community), limiting off-road vehicle access
to their properties (44–51 %), and cleaning vehicles and equipment (28–56 %).
Christensen also asked landowners about barriers to their use of prevention strate-
gies, fi nding that the most important factors were lack of fi nancial resources (41–50
%), knowledge (30–50 %), and lack of ability to see visible results (30–47 %). This
is consistent with theories about innovation adoption in agriculture which suggest
that landowners are less likely to adopt new practices if time or income are limited
and if be nefi ts of adoption are not easily observed (Peterson and Coppock 2001 ;
Didier and Brunson 2004 ; Pannell et al. 2006 ).
In a survey of Utah “ranchette” landowners who own 2–50 acres of rangeland,
Brunson and Kalnicky (unpublished) found that the likelihood of reporting actions
to control exotic weeds was higher in agricultural counties (61 %) than areas with
higher proportions of respondents who commuted daily to urban areas or who
owned their property chiefl y for recreation use. About half of those who reported
controlling exotic weeds had done so by using grazing to reduce “fi ne fuels” (i.e.,
plant materials that dry readily, such as grass, twigs, or pine needles, and thus allow
a fi re to spread). Respondents were more likely to control exotic plants if they had
larger properties and had lived on the la nd for more than 10 years.
14.3 Policies and Institutions
Management and control of exotic annual grasses require collective action. While
individuals make decisions about their own lands and their beliefs may infl uence
decisions by government offi cials, the success of weed management ultimately rests
with institutions (governments, professional organizations, advocacy and education
groups) whose decisions are infl uenced by social and political forces. Therefore,
14 Human Dimensions of Invasive Grasses