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Background
In May of 1995, the Richmond Committee on Open Space Preservation initiated a survey of the preferences of Richmond residents concerning open space preservation. The purpose was to clarify for the town what types of open space land should be prioritized for preservation. The survey was paid for by the Richmond Planning Office and Town Council, as well as by the Washington Trust Company, The Nature Conservancy, the Wood-Pawcatuck Watershed Association, and the University of Rhode Island (URI). It was overseen by Professor Stephen Swallow of the University of Rhode Island.

Survey Methods
The survey was mailed to a random sample of 340 of Richmond's 3,241 registered voters. 264 voters (77.4%) returned the survey. The survey design was such that respondents were given a series of two parcels, which they had to evaluate based on which one, if either, they would like to see preserved. Respondents had to consider the Town's limited taxdollars available to spend on open space preservation, and so had to choose which features of a parcel made it the most important to preserve. A "first-cut" statistical analysis of the results was made.

Preliminary Results
• Most preferred location is for parcels along a river or water body
• Most preferred land type is a wetland or marshland, followed closely by a forested area
• Ecologically unique land and scenically unique land are more preferred, sometimes even to parcels along a water body but not ecologically unique
• A farm located along a water body is preferred to forested land located off roads or behind other properties
• Town ownership and control over access is the most preferred form of ownership
• Many respondents would not support any preservation program if it required new tax money
• However, "For parcels that Richmond voters said they preferred to see preserved, their responses to the survey indicated that the average survey respondent would be willing to pay up to $35 or more in new taxes (each year for five years) in order to see preservation on a parcel. Higher willingness to pay new taxes for preservation was associated with ecologically unique parcels, especially when located along rivers, with wooded or wetland
>land-cover, and with public access managed by the town. Management of public access by the town (rather than preservation of land with no public access or land where access would be managed by state or federal agencies) added between 10% and 75% to the average respondent's willingness to pay new taxes for land protection."

source: Swallow, Stephen, "A Preliminary Report on the Richmond Open Space Survey," submitted to the Richmond Committee on Open Space Preservation, 1/18/96.