As part of a study of the quality of life in northwestern Wisconsin, 1974 sample populations (N=150 residents per county) from each of 5 Wisconsin counties (Bayfield, Douglas, Price, Taylor, and Washburn) were presented with a list of public service programs and asked if they should be "expanded", "kept the same", or "cut back". Percentages on comparable items from a 1973 study of Ashland, Burnett, and Rusk counties in northwestern Wisconsin were used for comparative analysis. The list of services included programs for: teenagers; drug prevention and treatment; public housing (including the elderly); the aged; medical services and doctors; mental health; social services (welfare and food stamps); state and Federal highways; local streets and roads; public transportation; schools; vocational training; other adult education; university extension; library and bookmobile services; art and music; police; water pollution control; areas for wildlife protection; public parks/forests; public promotion of tourism. In general, results indicated: a consensus regarding priority expansion of programs for teenagers, drug prevention/treatment, the aged, public housing, health and medical care, and public transportation; support for spending was higher in the Lake Superior counties and had increased since 1973; support for increased spending increased with education, income, and youth; rural residents were more likely to want programs to remain the same. (JC)