ABSTRACT:Data were collected from residents of a rural community at two time periods to assess attitudes toward uses made of a reservoir which had been recently constructed in the area. The findings revealed that attitudes became significantly more favorable for flood control, water supply, and recreation uses of the reservoir. Attitudes toward fish and wildlife conservation use were not significantly different over time but these uses were perceived positively at both time periods. The data were also analyzed in the context of a vested interest perspective using cross‐sectional design. The findings demonstrated that the theoretical model used to guide the investigation was quite useful in predicting attitudes toward the four uses examine