Assessing Public Preferences of Landscape and Landscape Attributes: a Case Study of the Proposed Appalachian Geopark Project in West Virginia, USA

Photographs have been utilized as substitutes for on-site scenes in the assessment and evaluation of landscape’s visual quality, perspective, preference. Visual perception, preference are assessed through human eyes their judgment. However, judgement is often generally categorized expert vs. citizen. Literature searches show that expert-based dominates over citizen level judgement. There a lack information on methodologies to assess public landscape attributes. This paper discussed two different approaches assessing preferences (local visitors) proposed Appalachian Geopark Project (hereafter referred pAGP) covering Fayette, Greenbrier, Raleigh Counties West Virginia (WV). A set questionnaire surveys were administered. questions answering cognitive exercise photographs rating stimulation exercise. Both instruments delivered respondents anonymous links using Survey123 Qualtrics software respectively. The results from both revealed highest was found forested landscapes followed by water features associated landscapes. study’s findings how multiple methods can strengthen justify methods. Surveys completed 47 respondents.