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Table of Contents

Democracy and Participation I: National Case Studies 

Communities and Tourism

Managing the Wild I: Wildlife and Wilderness 

Evolutionary Perspectives 

Maintaining Human Ecological Integrity 

Democracy and Participation II: Local Case Studies 

Household and Community 

Managing the Wild II: Parks and Recreation 

Macro-Comparative Perspectives 

Family/Education/Adaptation 

Democracy and Participation III: Theory and Methods 

Environment and Health 

Managing the Wild III: Working Landscaping 

Identity and Self 

Managing Land and Resources in a Changing Human Milieu 

Can Democracy Survive the 21st Century? 

What have we learned about Democracy and Sustainability? 

Democracy and Participation IV: Ecosystem Management 

Humans and Other Animals I 

Biodiversity 

Fisheries and Coasts 

Sustaining Biological, Cultural, and Economic Systems through Adaptive Modeling and Management: A U.S. Geological Survey, U.S.A. - Yunnan Province, Peoples Republic of China, Trans-Cultural Project 

Democracy and Participation V: Experiences in Mexico 

Humans and Other Animals II 

Water and Development 

Democracy and Participation VI: Stakeholder Participation and Resource Management 

Humans and Other Animals III 

Social Construction of Nature I 

Rural/Urban Tensions 

Meaning and Interpretations of Nature I 

Sustainability I: Theory 

Social Construction of Nature II 

Transactional Social Support and the Ecology of Community Change 

International Forum: How SHE Can Play a More International Role in Communication, Education and Consultation: The Challenge of the New Era 

Meaning and Interpretations of Nature II 

Sustainability II: Theory and Case Studies 

Social Construction of Nature III 

Building Wilderness: The Integration of Humans into a Non-human World I 

Modeling and Planning for Population Change in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem 

Meaning and Interpretations of Nature III 

Sustainability III: Craft and the Global Economy 

Networking among Practitioners in Adaptive Management 

Building Wilderness: The Integration of Humans into a Non-human World II 

 

Democracy and Participation I: National Case Studies

 

National Councils on Sustainable Development and Their Role in Public Participation: An Evaluation of Their Effectiveness in Terms of Input and Output

         Bachus, Kris, The Higher Institute of Labour Studies, University of Leuven, Belgium

Left aside whether the chosen level would indeed be the most appropriate, Agenda 21 calls on national authorities to establish national councils for sustainable development for the realization of participation by social groups. This chapter 38 initiative has had widespread following and has led to the establishment of national, regional and global fora for these national councils.

This paper aims at evaluating their effectiveness in terms of input and output: which groups are involved in what way (input) and what do they contribute in terms of participatory Praxis and effects (output).

The evaluation is based on the analysis - through effective interviewing and field research - of the Belgian, the Swedish and the Finnish national councils. Depending on the participatory tradition of the different countries we see very different outcomes, which leads to the conclusion that CSD's are not as such effective in promoting participation. They have to be seen as part of a participatory institutional context to which they can contribute.

Action-Oriented Participation in Local Sustainability (LA21)

              Bruyninckx, Hans, Higher Institute of Labour Studies, University of Leuven, Belgium

The traditional approach in theoretical works on participation tends to be on the input of social groups (stake holders) during agenda setting and/or early stages of actual policy making. The emphasis is thus on providing stakeholders with 'a say' in the (early) planning stages of policymaking. This approach is congruent with the overwhelming majority of the observed praxis in most countries in Europe.

This paper suggests that:

1. This approach and praxis ignores the history of public participation which has been based on 'legitimacy through action' first and then 'having a say in negotiation' later which has been observed during the 20th century when groups found their way to policy making processes (unions, health groups, early environmental movements, peace movements, etc.)

2. This reductionist approach limits the possibilities for much broader input in policy processes during implementation and feedback stages.

3. The approach tends to formalize participation to the extent that only recognized; official and 'sanctioned' participation becomes visible in analysis.

Using Local Agenda 21 in Western European countries as an example this paper demonstrates the importance of broader, more action oriented participatory processes to strengthen local policy making by engaging more local capacity.

Democratic and Inclusionary Practices? Public Participation and Government Policy in the United Kingdom

Toogood, Mark & Waterton, Claire, Centre for the Study of Environmental Change, Lancaster University, England

This paper describes and analyses how public and individual action has been modeled in UK sustainable development policy and environmental management. The extent to which these deliberative approaches have made the decision-making process more open and transparent, have had learned lessons from North America about consensus building will be critically appraised.

A range of official bodies with responsibility for encouraging and delivering environmental sustainability (through such policy domains as environmental planning, regulation, nature conservation, rural recreation), now have a duty to 'consult' with the general public and to maximize their input into decision-making and policy implementation on the environment. A range of techniques have developed that have attempted to move away from a solely economic appraisal of the environment, towards a more qualitative, human-centered and deliberative involvement. These techniques have been criticized, on the one hand, as subjective and producing ill-defined results for environmental managers to use. On the other hand, they are also regarded as poor models of inclusion and not properly engaging a full range of concerned publics. Using a series of UK and examples, this paper will

discuss whether deliberative participatory practices use the public as 'tools' to deliver environmental objectives, or whether they are a reconfiguration towards a more open and democratic forum of environmental management

Linking Science to Society: The Role of Government Science Organizations

                Shapiro, Carl, U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia

Response of the 'Group of Ten' to Participatory Localism

                 Welsh, Michael, Political Science/Environmental Studies, Albright College

Analysts seem to be coming to consensus that environmental politics has entered a "second generation." In the first, politics followed a centralized pluralist model: interest groups formed about specific issues, transferred their work to Washington, D.C., and fought for the passage of environmental protections. Environmental leadership in this first generation came from a collection of Washington-based organizations known by insiders as the "Group of Ten." This Group of Ten still commands Washington environmental politics, however, in the past decade their influence on the policy process has waned as a second generation of more local and ostensibly more participatory processes has come into prominence. These second-generation policy making efforts are united by an attempt to formulate policy closer to its point of implementation and through the participation of individuals from an array of backgrounds and interest. Predictably, in the rare instances when the organizational members of the Group of Ten have reacted to this policy making trend, the reaction has been negative. This paper will assess this reaction to participatory localism by these prominent environmental groups.

 

Communities and Tourism

 

Mountains Under Urban and Tourism Pressures: Some Examples of Public Land Management

Taken from Grenable (France)

Allie, Louis ; Bryant, C. R.; Vanier, M.; & Bertrand, N., Department of Geography, University of Montreal; Alpine Geographic Institute and Cemagref Grenoble, France

One of the recent French government's objectives is to preserve natural "patrimoine" for actual and future generations by controlling urbanization and tourism impacts on specific rural lands. Like many searchers and scholars we think that these objectives are hardly reachable in a context of European construction and in the particular French administrative system restructured by a decentralization process initiated in the early 80s. It contributes to a superimposition of many centralized administrative territories (e.g. 22 regions, 100 departments and around 36 000 communes); and to the creation of a variety of projects and contractual arrangements (e.g. 40 Regional Natural Parks, 105 "pays" and so on) set up between the State and other levels of governments. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate how this context (1) blurs the distribution of responsibilities and expertise amongst politicians and technicians; and (2) increase public alienation towards governmental decision-making process, which for instance allows urbanization to continue unabated despite general opinion being unfavourable to it.

By way of illustration, some examples are taken from the sought-after region of Grenoble (France) located in the pre-Alpine mountain range. The study area is divided in 4 departments, 150 communes, 2 Natural Regional Parks (NRP of Vercors and Chartreuse) and in many inter and supra communal arrangements and projects. Preliminary results show that the actual territorial structures aren't promoting a sustainable land management. It creates tight professional networks (composed of advisors, planners) which, on the one hand, have strong difficulties to initiate a common reflection and, on the other, is limiting public participation.

Tourism, Agriculture, and Community Economic Development: Creating Innovative IT Solutions

Milne, Simon, Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand; McShane, Frank & Engle, Stephen, Victoria University, New Zealand; & Mason, David Boston.

While tourism and agri/aquaculture are vital components of many economies, the two sectors are not always characterized by particularly harmonious relations. Many commentators argue that economic linkages between these sectors require further strengthening. Others point to the conflicts that arise over differing uses of scarce terrestrial and marine resources. In this paper we review past attempts to understand and improve the relationships between tourism and agri/aquaculture. We then move on to outline how innovative information technology applications can assist in creating a closer alliance between these two important sectors and in improving prospects for community economic development.

We focus on two technologies: geographic information systems (GIS) and the internet. We examine the role that GIS can play in assisting stakeholders to understand the differing uses that are being made of common pool resources, while also highlighting potential development 'hot-spots'. We then look at the role that the internet and 'web-raising' can play in creating alliances and networks between hotels, local agricultural suppliers and other components of the tourism product. Using cases drawn from our New Zealand research, we focus on the development of rural web-portals, and related concepts, that can enhance visitor access to agricultural elements of the tourism product, improve local economic development and also strengthen business to business relationships.

Whose Rural Legacy is it Anyway?: Ethical and Cultural Problems with Maryland's Rural Protection Programs

Womersley, Mick, Division of Liberal Studies, Unity College, Maine & Wasserman, David, Institute for Philosophy and Public Policy, University of Maryland, College Park

Considerable fiscal and other resources have been allocated to Maryland's rural protection programs; employing various public policy justifications: traditional notions of the public good in both planning policy and ecological protection, and the less traditional notion of protecting cultural resources in landscape and history. We question whether these programs efficiently achieve any of their goals. Using ethnographical fieldwork in fishing and farming communities, and policy analysis of the programs themselves, we collected sufficient evidence to support the hypothesis that presently rural protection in Maryland is more a form of neighborhood and class protection for recent and new migrants from city and suburban neighborhoods, most of whom are middle and upper class, than it is protection for "authentic" rural people, their livelihoods, and traditions. We conclude that adoption of Maryland's programs across the United States and in other countries should not take place without careful policy consideration of their goals and socio-economic effects.

 

Managing the Wild I: Wildlife and Wilderness

African Heartlands: Recent Experiences Integrating Landscape Conservation and Rural Livelihood Approaches in Eastern and Southern Africa

Farley, Cary S., African Wildlife Foundation, Uganda, Muruthi, Philip, African Heartlands Program, African Wildlife Foundation, Kenya, & Frohardt, Katie, African Wildlife Foundation, United States

In Eastern and Central Africa there occur some of the most remarkable ecosystems, unique natural phenomenon and concentrated wildlife populations on the planet. Concomitantly, this region is characterized by political and economic instability, rapid population growth, and some of the lowest per capita annual incomes in the world. Across these increasingly threatened and often fragile environments, the challenge to identify new ways to conserve biodiversity and meet evolving human needs is both immediate and critical among conservation and development organizations alike. The African Wildlife Foundation (AWF) has developed two new and innovative programs to improve wildlife conservation, natural resource management and rural livelihoods in the region. Firstly, the African Heartlands Program (AH) works to link protected areas with public and private lands to improve biodiversity conservation and maintain ecological processes across a large landscape. The AH aims to bring together diverse landholders, resource users and resource managers to develop and implement long-term "landscape conservation" plans for areas that encompass national parks and reserves, as well as the community and private lands that border them. Examples of existing African Heartlands include Amboseli-Longido, Tarangire-Manyara and Greater Virungas. Secondly, the Conservation Services Centers (CSC) Program works with government and non-government organizations, the private sector and communities to develop and diversify nature-based enterprises and other tourism-related businesses. The CSC also works to develop local ("community level") capacity to manage and sustain these enterprises, increasing the equitable distribution of the benefits within communities, and expand the role of local organizations and communities in conservation decision-making. This paper will review the AH and CSC programs' goals, activities and successes on the ground, and the challenges they currently face in Easter and Central Africa.

Local Perspectives on Wilderness and Conservation: The Case of the Adirondack Park

          Simpson, Charles R., Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice, SUNY, Plattsburgh

The designation of some portions of rural America as "wilderness" presents residents of such regions with a number of problems. These are political, economic, cultural, and broadly ideological. Politically, regional land-use control associated with designated wilderness consolidates state control over local land use in ways which are inconsistent with doctrines of local control and personal property rights operating in society broadly. Rural residents, then, find their landscape and development decisions pre-empted by appointed officials and state bureaucracies in ways which may lack political legitimacy. With relatively small populations, rural regions cannot utilize the political process for balancing the interests of their residents against state-mandated agendas.

Without the ability to shape land use, local communities cannot make the decisions which may enhance their economies. To the extent that wilderness designation and regional land-use regulation promotes the decline of traditional occupations, it removes the material basis for historic patterns of community culture and identity. Regional zoning, by appointed officials, to protect wilderness areas requires ideological justification, including assumptions about the clearer moral vision and technical competence of state bureaucracies. In the system of wilderness area designation and safeguarding presently in place in the United States, the environmental movement acts as the guardian of this moral vision. Lacking land-use controls to promote economic vitality, rural residents may develop a political culture characterized by resentment and protest rather than efforts at collective community-based self-definition.

This paper seeks to provide what is lacking in the literature on wilderness preservation: a model of rural land use which is both environmentally sensitive and which empowers local residents and communities as active participants shaping their own rural ways of life.

Wolves in Yellowstone: A Policy Analysis

        Tucker, Paige, Environmental Science and Public Policy Program, George Mason University, Virginia

The Gray Wolf, Canis lupus, historically occupied most of North America. Official extermination of large predators began in the Western United States in 1914. 1944 marked the last documented wild wolf killed in Yellowstone. Yellowstone, established in 1972 as the first National Park of the U.S., is an extremely symbolic location comprised of multiple dynamics. The passage of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA), and the subsequent listing of the original wolf of Yellowstone, Canis lupus irremotus, as endangered opened a door to reintroduction efforts. The ESA created a mandate that the U.S. government must attempt by all means possible to recover the populations of species listed as endangered. This analysis will review the procedures taken to reintroduce endangered gray wolves into the Greater Yellowstone Area and Yellowstone National Park. The process to implement policy into action took over twenty years in this case. This analysis reveals lessons that may be learned from the successes and setbacks of the wolf reintroduction process.

 

Evolutionary Perspectives

Pre-Industrial Agricultural Systems: A Reference for an Ecologically Sustainable Agriculture in Modern Society

Korsman, Tom, Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies and Department of Ecology and Environmental Science, Umea University, Sweden & Englemark, Roger, Department of Archaeology and Sami Studies, Umea University, Sweden

In the course of history, humans have conducted several long-term "agricultural experiments" in terms of different types of agricultural systems. An improved knowledge on the environmental impact of these agricultural systems could form an important basis for decisions on agricultural management strategies and for the shaping of an ecologically sustainable agriculture. For instance, palaeoecological reconstruction of environmental conditions in pre-industrial southern Sweden suggested that the expansion of an agrarian economy during the Iron Age resulted in an enhanced transport of nutrients from soils to surface waters. This resulted in, e.g., an increase in pH in acid sensitive lakes 96 a situation that prevailed until the 19th century, when acidification started due to acid deposition and probably altered land use. A similar situation has also been interpreted from a study of the environmental impact of Medieval mountain pastures in northern Sweden. Such early agricultural impacts probably made these ecosystems more sensitive to modern airborne pollution. The pre-industrial environmental development, which is often referred to as natural, is more dynamic than usually recognized. The study raises the questions about what is an "acceptable" agricultural impact, and what "restoration" means in environmental management. These are not merely scientific questions with experimentally confirmed answers, but questions of values and valuation.

The Holocene Origins of Agriculture and Its Probable Demise

Richerson, Peter J.; Bettinger, Robert L., Environmental Science & Policy, UC Davis; & Boyd, Robert, Anthropology, UCLA

Recent work by paleoclimatologists on ice cores from Greenland and Antarctica reveals that climates of the last glacial were dramatically hostile to agriculture. Weather variation remains one of the major hazards for subsistence and factory farmers. Glacial climates were much more variable than in the Holocene on time scales down to the limits of the ice records (ca. 10 years). Last glacial climates were also lower in Carbon Dioxide and were generally more arid than contemporary climates. Probably not coincidentally, sustained intensification of hunter-gather subsistence leading to agriculture begins nowhere in the world until the amelioration of the last glacial, and then it begins virtually simultaneously in several places. In the Pleistocene, agriculture seems to have been impossible, while in the Holocene farmers have tended to outcompete hunter-gatherers practically everywhere. The Holocene is just the current interglacial. The Vostok Antarctic ice record suggests that the last four interglacials may have been sharp upward spikes unlike the 11,500 of relatively very stable climate we have enjoyed in the Holocene. Other data suggest that the last interglacial did also have perhaps 10,000 years of stable climates. For at least the last million or so years, the earth's climate has been in its glacial mode more than in its interglacial mode. If the history of the past million years repeats itself, the current interglacial will soon come to an end. Designing a food production system to feed billions of people under glacial climate conditions is a formidable challenge, to say the least. The current greenhouse gas induced global warming might seem like a desirable phenomenon given the alternative. Unfortunately, fossil fuel deposits are probably not extensive enough to delay the cooling more than a few centuries. Worse yet, the last several spike-like interglacials all peaked at temperatures a little warmer than the Holocene. Currently, the formidable uncertainties that plague our understanding of the operation of the earth's climate system make useful prediction impossible. We do know that the earth's climate system is quite unstable and can jump from cold to warm modes with stunning rapidity (a few years!) and from warm to cold almost as fast (a few decades). Current global heating is, for example, rapidly thinning Arctic Ocean sea ice. An ice free Arctic Ocean would rather sharply perturb the earth's heat budget and high latitude humidity with utterly unknown effects. The role of uncertainty in our greenhouse gas "experiment" with the earth's climate is greatly underestimated. Surprise effects driven by poorly understood couplings in the climate system could easily have much more impact than any of the predictable first-order effects.

 

Maintaining Human Ecological Integrity

Gray or Green? Stewardship in an Aging Society

                       Wright, Scott D., Gerontology Center, University of Utah, Salt Lake City

An aging society presents many potential challenges to preserving and enhancing the environment and thus represents both as an opportunity and a challenge in the next century. Changes in resource demand due to population aging may be as significant as changes due to population increase. Conversely, an aging society may also point the way to effective strategies of environmental protection and sustainable communities. This presentation will focus on the environmental and economic impact of retirement "hot spots" using the microcosm of southwestern Utah as a geographic case study example. The phrase "hot spot" conveys the dynamic of rapid demographic and economic growth associated with older age groups is a specific geographic area that is characterized by an abundance of natural environmental resources. A significant number of older adults relocate in their retirement years and migrate to gateway communities (In Search of Arcadia) that offer amenities associated with landscapes that offer scenic beauty and recreational opportunities. However, these "hot spots" often lead to rapid development and sprawl, thus altering the "quality of life" in the area and creating challenges of land use planning. Implications of aging society for human ecology are discussed.

How will a Change in the Population Structure Influence Environmental Loads? - The Approach from Lifestyles of Each Generation

                     Kuribayashi, Atsuko, NLI Research Institute, Tokyo, Japan

This presentation shows the result of the prediction of the environment load by human behaviors. This prediction was done using a change in the population structure, environment preservation behaviors that differ from the generations, and "Eco-points" which show the environment load for each behavior.

According to my former research, it was clear that elderly generations are more environmental-friendly than younger generations in Japan. People those who have experiences in suffering from the storage of supplies during and after the World War II tended to hate wasting. However, baby-boomer generation, which was born postwar, is expected to be the center of upcoming aging society in Japan. The first generation introduced lifestyles consuming large quantities. IN my prediction, the environmental load will decrease in 20 years, supposing that the boomers continue today fs their lifestyles in the future, because the volume of the older generations than boomers will have less influences on the environmental loads.

Biography: Ecological Method and Narrative Craft toward Holistic Practice

Kurlfink, Win, Department of Family and Child Ecology, College of Human Ecology, Michigan State University, East Lansing

The paper offers an argument justifying biography of ecosystems as a useful methodology in Human Ecology. It describes traditional biography in literary practice and outlines the objectives of the biographical method in social science. Following this outline of biography’s place in a methodological continuum, the paper locates biography as method within the parallel ideological continuum of the ecological academic disciplines.

Biography, then, is a method of epistemological and ideological significance in ecological inquiry justified most effectively via philosophical discussion of method offered by Feyerabend and some of his critics. The paper offers several literary examples of ecosystemic biography. Finally, it concludes with implications for research and practice.

 

Democracy and Participation II: Local Case Studies

The Creek Project: Engaging Decision-Makers, Community Stakeholders, and Discipline Experts to address Collaboratively, Environmental Issues in an Urbanized Watershed

                       Karl, Herman A., US Geological Survey, Menlo Park, California

INCLUDE (Integrated-science and Community-based values in Land Use Decisionmaking), an activity of the USGS Center for Science Policy, engages decision-makers, community stakeholders, and various discipline experts in a collaborative process to make decisions about land use and environmental policy. An important, and perhaps unique, element of an INCLUDE project is the use of science synthesizers, individuals who have an appreciation for and understanding of a wide range of natural and social science disciplines and the humanities, as translators of complex information.

The INCLUDE process is the foundation of a project that addresses land use and environmental policy issues in a small urbanized watershed in northern California. Thousands of communities in small watersheds across the nation are or will be facing issues of flooding, habitat restoration, aging dams, and stream impairment by sediment and pollutants from non-point sources. There is an immediate need to develop a participatory decision support system based on sound science that incorporates economic information and community values that will help inform decisions on these issues. These issues are vexing decisionmakers in San Francisquito Watershed, California. Here municipal governments, regional and state regulatory boards and resource agencies are partnering with USGS to develop an integrated decision support system. Diverse values need to be considered by environmental managers as they develop a plan that accommodates both the ecological needs of the watershed and the sometimes conflicting land use desires of the community. The Creek Project engages citizens in an adaptive planning and management process

The Humanities Component of the USGS INCLUDE Project: Community Values and the Decision-Making Process

                 Turner, Christine, US Geological Survey, Denver, Colorado

Social and government institutions tend to reflect the culture of their times. Thus, the current shift in the role of government institutions reflects the change in societal concerns over the last several decades. The shift from issues of resource use to the consequences of that use has given rise to an increasing concern over environmental issues and the recognition that there are limits to our ability to exploit our planet. Acknowledgment of these limits requires that we make choices, and the public is asserting itself in the debate over choices. The Smart Growth caucus is one manifestation of the growing public concern over the consequences of unchecked growth.

In the decision-making process in the public arena, the choices involve conflicting values, which are beyond the traditional scope of government science agencies such as the USGS. The humanities component of the USGS INCLUDE (Integrated-science and Community-based values in Land-Use Decision making) is an effort to define and articulate the community values that are beyond the scientific and economic aspects of the concern but figure prominently in land-use decisions. The INCLUDE approach is to engage stakeholders directly in the definition of land-use issues to ensure that the science we do truly reflects the needs of the citizenry. The humanities component of INCLUDE addresses the "values" issues, which, although intangible and often resistant to quantification, may override other considerations (scientific and economic) in the decision-making process.

Crossing Boundaries in Land Management: A Case Study of the Brooks Township Land Use Vision Project

                  Romsdahl, Rebecca, George Mason University, Virginia

Traditional land management has produced many serious problems in the United States, such as land fragmentation resulting from suburban expansion; this can undermine conservation efforts and community development by reducing connectivity and communication. However, new land management strategies are involving more landowners in voluntary partnerships that can promote conservation while still allowing development. These strategies focus on crossing social, political, and ecological boundaries.

A case study of seventy-six landowners in Brooks Township in western Michigan was employed to assess the effectiveness of community participation in developing a uniquely proactive Land Use Vision. Although no statistically significant relationships were found, two important conclusions can be drawn from the study. Through partnerships between citizens, government, and conservation organizations, a diverse mixture of proactive planning, education, and new leadership roles can prevent, or control, a number of negative externalities resulting form suburban expansion. However, creating the right incentives for voluntary participation represents a significant challenge for further conservation and community development.

The Yellowstone River and Paradise Valley: Sustainable Ecosystems and Democratic Institutions

              Wojtowicz, Richard, Renne Library, Montana State University, Bozeman

For the past century and a half the Yellowstone River and Paradise Valley, its waters, floodplains, and riparian areas have provided battlegrounds over use, abuse, and preservation. Disputes sometimes led to violence. But, over time U.S. federal, state, and private democratic institutions have evolved to provide an alternative to a "showdown at the OK Corral."

Over the millennia, the Yellowstone River had eroded a narrow opening through limestone formations at Allenspur Gap. Here the river leaves the Paradise Valley as it flows toward Livingston, Montana. Beginning in 1902, some Livingston, Montana citizens proposed constructing a dam in this canyon, financed by St. Louis capitalists. During subsequent years various private and public studies and schemes proposed to harness the water and power of the Yellowstone at the gap, which would have inundated the valley with a thirty-one mile lake.

Government agencies, such as the Army Corps of Engineers, Bureau of Reclamation, and Federal Power Commission, committees like the North Central Power Study Coordinating Committee, and politicians including the Secretaries of Interior and Agriculture, Senator Thomas J. Walsh and Congressman James F. O’Conner of Montana expressed designs and opinions on the fate of the Yellowstone. At the state level Governor Dixon, the Montana Fish and Game Commission, Montana Legislature, Montana Environmental Quality Council, and Yellowstone County (Montana) Commissioners also expressed their varied desires. The Livingston Chamber of Commerce, Livingston Special Dam Committee, Livingston Enterprise, local and national environmental organizations represented private citizens’ concerns in this struggle.

This paper examines the long battle among these various democratic institutions to determine which visions for the use of Yellowstone River ecosystems would take precedence and serve as the core for sustainability.

Stakeholder Involvement in the Jackson Area Bison and Elk Management Planning Process

Caughlan, Lynne M., Social, Economic & Institutional Analysis Section, US Geological Survey, Fort Collins, Colorado

Natural resource management is becoming more complex as the number of participants in the decision making process continues to increase. Land managers are now required to cooperate with a variety of public and private interest groups when making resource management decisions. These stakeholders have conflicting values, objectives, and preferences about resource management. Institutional factors will determine the roles and levels of power each stakeholder has for influencing the policy outcome. For successful collaborative planning, managers must understand the opinions and values of the involved stakeholders as well as the complex institutional constraints and opportunities that influence the decision-making process. One such case is the planning process for the Jackson bison and elk management plan. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) has initiated a planning process to manage bison and elk herds that winter primarily on the National Elk Refuge (NER) in Jackson, Wyoming and surrounding public lands. USFWS and NER, together with the National Park Service and the Wyoming Game and Fish Department have acknowledged the need for a comprehensive management plan for these "Jackson Herds." The intent of this research is to aid the Jackson Elk and Bison Management Planning decision making process by providing meaningful information about stakeholders' preferences and their ability to influence the decision making process. A form of decision analysis will be applied to this problem, using the "Legal Institutional Analysis Mode" to aid in accomplishing this application.

 

Household and Community

Renovation as Pedagogy: A Strategy for Community Development

            Niessen, Sandra, Department of Human Ecology, University of Alberta, Canada

The Human Ecology Theme House (HETH) officially began in April 1999, an innovative experiment in combining Human Ecology teaching and research with a University of Alberta (Edmonton, Canada) residence. IT is a charming three-bedroom house on the edge of the campus. The house heeds renovation and the goal of the first phase of the partnership has been an environmentally friendly renovation.

The integrative effect of this experiment is proving instructive. It is also "fraught with educational opportunities 1) for the U of A campus, 2) for the academic sphere of the university 3) for the larger community:

1) Daily management of the university is usually a quite separate backdrop to the academic activities that take place on campus. The role of the HETH in cross-cutting the usually separate jurisdictions of Housing and Food Services, Facilities Management, and Academic programs has given rise to unusual and unexpected challenges that point to the importance of the house as a catalyst for greening the university.

2) The green management and renovation of a household on campus has not been recognized as research within the academic sphere of the university. Nevertheless, it is only in the process of renovating and managing the house that the principles of sustainability may be realized. The logocentric bias of the university/academe is shown to be an impediment to realizing important change towards sustainability.

3) The profile of the house within the community allows it to fill a leadership role. It thereby also becomes contested terrain on which different institution within the community wish to lay claim. The political management of community relations is a significant component of the process of sustainability.

This paper will outline the challenges experienced with respect to this house, the potential of the HETH experiment, and the successes to date.

Towards a Sustainable Design Model: Transformation of a Domestic Home

             Strickfaden, Megan, Department of Art and Design, University of Alberta, Canada

Since the 1970's, environmental issues have become more prominent in the design world, which has affected relationships between industry, consumers and culture. A sustainable design model employs a complex methodology requiring an understanding of materials, production processes, people and cultures in an attempt to design holistically for humanity.

This presentation will outline the ways in which principles of sustainable design can be applied practically to a set of design problems. The Human Ecology Theme House (HETH) is a three-bedroom, University of Alberta residence built in 1926. In collaboration between professionals and academia, the kitchen is the first phase of a two-year plan for sustainable refurbishment of HETH. The kitchen plans will be discussed as an example of ecodesign in progress. A sustainable model, as applied to HETH, demonstrates how theory can be applied to the design of a domestic interior and with what environmental and ecological consequences.

Reducing Energy Consumption: The Human Ecology Theme House as a Community Model

                     Sharp, Nyree & Niessen, Sandra, Department of Human Ecology, 
                     University of Alberta, Canada

The Human Ecology Theme House is a University of Alberta residence designated for Human Ecology students and programs. Our project focuses on converting this 1926 home to one that is environmentally sustainable, comfortable, healthy and energy-efficient. One of the main components, based on the findings of the federal Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation, is to develop and energy plan of the house. Consumption of energy in Canada is not sustainable, and dwellings constitute a large portion of this use. Our goal then is to develop a strategy for bringing the energy use of the house in line with targets determined by the Kyoto Protocol, perhaps even surpassing them. The energy plan and its associated decision-making processes will be made available to the public in a variety of ways, such as workshops, a webs site and publications. In this way it is hoped that the house can serve as a valuable resource and model for the community at large, assisting in a more general effort to live sustainability.

Food Management in Everyday Life: Increasing Households Capacity to Make Ecologically Sound Decisions, Based on the Environmental Impact of their Own Consumption

Shanahan, Helena & Ekstrom, Marianne Pipping, Department of Home Economics, Goteborg University, Sweden, & Carlsson-Kanyama, Annika, Stockholm, Sweden

The aim of this ongoing project* is to develop effective methods of increasing households 92 capacity for ecologically informed decisions related to food management in everyday life. An action research approach is used.

Households have themselves kept diaries as well as been interviewed about their food habits, as a part of the organization of everyday life in the household. Their food consumption has thereafter been analyzed for environmental impact, i.e. total energy use during life cycle of food. Based on this information a manual is being developed guiding households in planning food habits to more efficient environmental resource use. The households will implement new food habits be for a given period of time. The experiences gained will be shared among the participating households, documented and analyzed. The project will suggest efficient ways in which results from environmental evaluation of food habits may be communicated to a large population of households. The ambition is to contribute to a change in food habits towards more sustainable ones.

The project is a joint endeavor between the Department of Home Economics, Goteborg University and the Environmental Strategic Research Group. The latter is a joint undertaking between the Swedish Defense Research Establishment (FOA) and the Department of System Ecology, Stockholm University.

 

A Healthy Environment Assessment of Keene, New Hampshire

                  Minton, Gael Rockwell, Lifestyle Dynamics, Stoddard, NH

In a healthy environment all life thrives, recovery from perturbations occurs, and there is long-term ecological integrity. The components of a healthy environment form a web of complex interdependent relationships whether the study subject is a cell, an individual organism, an ocean, planet Earth, or a city. The environment of Keene, New Hampshire, is the subject of this study. Ten indicator categories: air, water, land use, waste, energy, transportation, business and industry, occupational health, community health, and city government re the foundation of this healthy environment assessment. Data are presented on selected indicators in each category from city, state, and federal reports and from interviews with government and organizational representatives. A healthy environment in Keene is indicated by a number of positive findings: general compliance with National Ambient Air Quality Standards; abundant supply of clean water; a significant percentage of open and protected land; a recently upgraded solid waste/recycling facility; energy conservation awareness including participation in the Rebuild America program; traffic redesign in process with development of multi-use trail system for alternative transportation use; light manufacturing and some industry pollution prevention initiatives; few hazardous jobs and good health and safety compliance; a community health council committed to improving human health;; and a city government committed to maintaining a healthy environment and economic vitality. Findings indicating that a healthy environment in Keene may be at risk include: seasonal high levels of ground-level ozone and particulate matter; seasonally high drinking water levels of trihalomethanes; open space lost to development of industry and commerce; household hazardous waste generation and high poundage per day per capita of solid waste; primary reliance on nonrenewable energy sources; minimal public transportation; potential hazardous material transportation incidents; business and industry hazardous waster generation; workplace chemical exposures; and potential compromise of Master Plans. The environmental indicator model used in this study has potential for measuring and tracking Keene's environment and for acting as a tool for policy development aimed at improving and preventing decline of the city's healthy environment. Communities beyond Keene may find this healthy environment model useful.

Managing the Wild II: Parks and Recreation

Protecting Wilderness in the United States: The National Park Service and Front-County Promotion

              Beltz, Michael, Cultural Studies Department, George Mason University, Virginia

In order to provide long-term protection of Wilderness in the United States, the democratic nature of public policy has to be reconciled with the need to limit impacts on this threatened resource. The National Park Service provides a model for this reconciliation by managing a front-country region. Here, the general public is given information about Wilderness and has opportunities for experiences in a wilderness setting while at the same time their impacts on this delicate resource are limited. The National Park Service promotes the front-country experience as a form of wilderness experience, but the areas citizens explore are generally environments that are not as fragile. By crating the appearance of a wilderness experience, the National Park Service can maintain and build on its political base. The members of this political base believe they have had a wilderness experience. This belief, in turn, strengthens support for protected Wilderness lands. In short, the National Park Service provides a mediated middle ground between large numbers of democratic citizens and the need to protect fragile Wilderness Resources by creating a front-country that is packaged as a form of wilderness.

A Potomac Prospect

              Briggs, Don, National Park Service

The National Trails System of the United States is today comprised of 20 national scenic and historic trails/trail corridors recognized by the Congress. This paper describes activities over the past four years to determine interest in one of the twenty--the Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail, a corridor between the Chesapeake Bay and the Allegheny Highlands (upper Ohio River Basin of western Pennsylvania)--and efforts to develop a concept for use of the designation by local jurisdictions and a set of federal administrative roles based on significant participation and responsibilities assumed by NGOs. The experience provides an opportunity to discuss topics associated with the conference theme: public participation and community-based conservation; regional planning; and sustainability.

Minority Populations and Their Concern for Urban Parks and Forests

Sasidharan, Vinod, Leisure Studies Program, The Pennsylvania State University & Johnson, Cassandra Y., USDA Forest Service, Forestry Sciences Laboratory

The ethnic minority population of the US continues to increase due to rising minority birth rates coupled with the influx of ethnic immigrants to America's cities, suburbs and towns (Parrillo, 1994). Based on present immigration trends, by the year 2050, 22 percent of the US population will be Hispanic and 10 percent will be Asian (US Bureau of the Census, 1994). For legislators, biologists, developers, regional planners, and others to make sound decisions concerning the research and management of parks and forests in the urban environment, knowledge about the preferences and attitudes that urbanites (including under-represented communities) hold toward natural areas and the environment, in general is quintessential (George, 1982). Ethnicity may potentially influence environmental concern through indirect effects on beliefs, attitudes, and values. Thus, concern for urban parks and forests among ethnic communities may be a joint product of social structure, socialization, and social psychological processes. We introduce the concept of collective memory and explore its usefulness for helping to elucidate the cultural component of environmental interaction. Ethnic and racially specific influences have been referred to only indirectly in theories explaining the lack of minority visitation to wildland recreation areas. However, a consideration of these historical structures may be useful in helping to better understand the lack of a black presence in natural areas.

 

Macro-Comparative Perspectives

A World System Perspective on Environmental Degradation and Infant Mortality in Developing Countries

Burns, Thomas J.; Kentor, Jeffrey D.; Jorgenson, Andrew; & Gubin, Oleg I., Department of Sociology, University of Utah

While a number of researchers have examined environmental degradation as an outcome of social processes, there is a dearth of research linking environmental degradation and well-being outcomes using a cross-national, quantitative approach. We develop a macro-level theoretical framework that builds on prior research in the sociology of health and the environment, and which draws on a number of intellectual traditions, including human ecology, demographic, institutional, modernization and world system theories. We adduce a number of hypotheses that address the direct effects of macro-social causes of infant mortality, as well as the indirect effects of those causes as they are mediated by resource depletion. We use national data collected from a number or sources, including the World Bank and World Resources Institute. Analysis of the data largely supports the hypotheses. Particularly noteworthy are the interaction effects of world system position with domestic variables such as urbanization and welfare spending. These effects on infant mortality operate directly and indirectly, as m3

The Comedy of the Commons: Lessons on How to Live into the Future from Mexico, Cuba and South America

                 Cox, Gray, College of the Atlantic, Bar Harbor, Maine

Using Cuba, the Republic of South Africa and Mexico as examples, I show that globalization actually inverse the logic of Garret Hardin's analysis of the 'Tragedy of the Commons' when social goods are allocated at macroeconomic levels. Drawing on Heilbronner and others I show that classic capitalist development used privatization of commons to cause precisely the phenomena usually ascribed to common ownership of commons. I then argue that socialist solutions to commons problems - when based in community locales instead of state regimes - have succeeded in resolving key tensions in sustainability democratic development. I then argue that these models provide a framework for better understanding of the tensions in sustainability and democratic development. I then argue that these models provide a framework for better understanding of the tensions between local and global processes of development, democratization, sustainability and ecological deterioration - and specific strategies for practical action in "developing countries".

The Environment-Poverty Nexus: An Institutional Analysis

                    Naqvi, Asad Abbas & Khan, Shaheen Rafi, Sustainable Development Policy 
                    Institute,  Pakistan

Development and demography are key to understanding the linkages between environmental degradation and poverty. Considerable debate surrounds the question of whether affluence or poverty is more to blame for degradation. In effect, both contribute to environmental degradation but in different ways (Mink: 1992: 1). Essentially, degradation is rooted in an unsustainable development process, while poverty is an outcome of such development: moreover, the poor suffer the effects of degradation, which such development engenders. Consequently, it is possible to visualize how poverty induced degradation, if and when it dos occur, tends to reflect inevasible responses, rather than deliberate and voluntary acts.

Critical Roles of Technology Transfer in the Global Warming Regime and its Systemic Impacts: From the Regime to a Mega-Convergence among Environment, Trade, Economy, and Development

            Sungnok, Andy Choi, The Graduate Institute of Peace Studies, Kyunghee University, 
            Korea

The objective of this paper is to provide analytical perspectives of Technology Transfer in the Global Warming Regime and its broader systemic impacts on the relations among environment, trade, economy, and development.

Technology Transfer (TT) is not everything but something you can find in most of multilateral negotiations for not only environment but also trade and development. I would like to proclaim, however, that TT would the first and the best thing to go with for fulfilling our goal of making the better system of living when we strategically bring past and current values into account, I.E. environment, trade, economy and development. And this case should have been given a significant attention by developing countries for their capacity building and sustainable development, or Clean Development Mechanism.

Exploring Sustainable Consumption: Environmental Policy and the Social Sciences

Cohen, Maurie, J., Environmental Studies Program, Binghamton University, New York & Murphy, Joseph, Oxford Centre for the Environment, Ethics, and Society, Mansfield College, Oxford

Since the 1992 Earth Summit non-governmental organizations, learned societies, secondary policymaking bodies, and national governments have been taking an active interest in sustainable consumption. For instance, the UN Commission for Sustainable Development and the OECD launched work programs to explore the issue. The councils of the Royal Society of London and the United States National Academy of Sciences released a joint statement in 1997 entitled "Towards Sustainable Consumption" calling for a "better understanding of human consumption and related behaviors and technologies." Sustainable consumption has also become central to the research and advocacy agendas of groups such as the International Organization of Consumer Unions. Despite the apparent emergence of sustainable consumption as a novel policy domain it has been very difficult to overcome a legacy of exclusively resourcist thinking with respect to the impacts of consumption on the environment.

At the same time, several branches of the social sciences have begun to develop an understanding of the social and cultural significance of consumption as a central feature of modernity. In a world of growing complexity material goods are important for reproducing social meaning and solidarity. In this sense, consumption is also a vehicle that gives people flexibility to define themselves, express who they are, and modify how others perceive them.

This paper seeks to link this body of social science research with environmental concerns about resource constraints and growing volumes of waste in an increasingly globalized economy. Such a synthesis promises to provide a more theoretically sound and empirically rigorous basis for environmental policies that will be part of any possible path toward more sustainable consumption.

Family/Education/Adaptation

The Human Ecology of Education in a Northern Community

            Ruttan, Lia, Department of Human Ecology, University of Alberta, Canada

As parents, we all have hopes and goals for our children’s future. Public education is a collective resource meant to prepare children for successful futures. In today’s multicultural societies, we see an increasingly complex mix of parent’s expectations and assumptions about educational programs. In light of current educational budgets, disagreement amongst parents on what those futures may be can result in a failure to work cooperatively in efforts to support and enhance school programming. Differences amongst parents related to culturally based norms, communication and decision-making styles can further exacerbate this situation.

This presentation will focus on this issue as experienced in a northern Canadian community made up of both aboriginal and non-aboriginal groups. Differing perceptions on the human ecology of education in the context of culture and locally situated knowledge are striking. Many aboriginal parents are concerned that without offering a locally relevant education that enhances the transmission of a culturally based identity children will not succeed. Non-aboriginal parents tend to see their children’s futures as based in the context of southern Canada and are concerned with meeting southern educational standards. The impact of these issues as being explored in current research will be discussed. Potential contribution to understanding the phenomena of cooperation in resource sharing in cross-cultural contexts will be presented.

Learning, Education, and the School Calendar

             Cabot, Harry

Do teachers have a working hypothesis about learning in relation to time? From four interviews with teachers and professors, I contrasted their etic views of time in school with their emic views of learning time. Time in school in its etic form is the schedule with its testable variances of, summer and winter, morning and afternoon, blocks of 45 or 90-minute classes, total instruction time, and quality of engagement over time. These times in school are graded in standardized international tests that suggest American schools need to reevaluate time in school. The interviewees emic views of learning time in school differs from scheduled time for learning in school suggesting that the reevaluation of time in school be such that the differences in student's learning styles be recognized in the proposals of new schools schedules. This inquiry seems to verify that teachers understood learning times differed from time in school. The participants volunteered ways to improve the time in school and suggested that further research into year round schools is needed.

Interactions at the Microsystem and Mesosystem Level to Create Greater Adjustment for the Adolescent Girl

          Haddow, Julie, Michigan State University, East Lansing

Data from the NLSY 97 was used to examine factors that improved the adolescent girl's adjustment. Using an ecological framework, the factors assessed on the Microsystem level were the mother-daughter attachment and the teacher-student attachment. On the mesosystem level were family-school involvement and family-peer involvement. It was found that all of these factors had a significant relationship to the adolescent girl's adjustment and that the combination of these factors were particularly efficacious

The Virtual-Environmental Educators Network

            Haque, M. Maksudul, The Children Trust, Bangledesh

VEEN - The Virtual Environmental Educators Network is an initiative of the Children Trust, Bangladesh. VEEN seeks to promote networking among environmental educators across countries and regions. VEEN tries to network teachers to promote exchange of information and ideas, and foster mutually beneficial relationships amongst individuals and institutions involved in EE. VEEN is intimately linked to Trust's initiatives in Environmental Education for schools including the National Environmental Education Program in Schools (NEEPS) and the school eco-clubs program.

Second Time Around Families: Cultivating Community Partnerships to Sustain Families and Relationships

     Smith, Andrea B. & Dannison, Linda, College of Education, Western Michigan University

Grandparents comprise a unique group of skipped generation parents. Recent statistics indicate that well over three million children currently live with their grandparents in a home where no biological parent is present. Parental alcohol and other substance abuse, incarceration, teenage pregnancy, the death of one or both parents, divorce, child abuse and neglect, and other conditions are contemporary problems contributing to this expanding family typology. Many grandparent caregivers find their personal resources stretched to the limit. Issues of health, financial stability, and parenting are prominent. Grandchildren in the care of grandparents often exhibit multiple needs. A partnership was formed in Kent County, Michigan, in 1999 between Western Michigan University, the County Head Start Program, a rural public school district, and Spectrum Health, a new amalgam of several large hospitals under a single delivery system. The partnership’s goal was the development and implementation of a pilot project aimed at servicing custodial grandparents, their preschool aged grandchildren, and early childhood personnel. The pilot project was launched in December 1999. All three populations participated in pre- and post test assessments to determine the effectiveness of the services provided. Grandparents from both rural and urban sites were invited to participate in an eight week program focused on educational and support service provision. A second component of the program was to provide programs for the grandparented children, and the third programmatic component was focused on educating early childhood personnel about the unique strengths and challenges associated with grandparent-headed families. This presentation describes the program and measures its success.

 

 

Democracy and Participation III: Theory and Methods

Managerial Ecology and Democracy: Exploring the complexities of Control, Coping and Consent

         Bavington, Dean, Department of Science, Policy, and Management, University of 
         California, Berkeley             

Managerial ecology and democratic politics are embedded within a complex set of historical relationships. The institutions and processes of resource and environmental management have traditionally been the means by which a select few (managers) have side stepped democratic politics in favor of top-down administration. By assuming an unlimited human capacity to eliminate indeterminism and achieve certainty through technology and science, resource management has proven itself to be extremely undemocratic and unsustainable with respect to human and natural communities. Recent developments within human ecology have challenged resource management by shifting attention away from certainty, command, and control while emphasizing uncertainty, complexity, and coping. This shift within managerial ecology from "control" to "coping" strategies highlights the importance of the political that is the need to make decisions in the presence of conflict and in the absence of universal Truth. When knowledge is certain and control feasible, there is little perceived need for democratic politics, and administration often takes central stage. However, when irreducible uncertainty, partial knowledge, and the need for democratic consent are recognized the foundations upon which top-down management has been legitimized are disturbed and opened to democratic challenge. Adaptive planning and management emerges from this context as a broad number of citizens demand to be included in environmental decision making, while the knowledge of ecological science used to legitimate managerial interventions in the past is increasingly understood as being contingent and unable to provide certainty beyond narrow limits. This paper examines the shift within resource management from projects of "control" to projects of "coping." The need for democratic consent in the context of coping is emphasized by discussing the irreducible complexity and uncertainty that forms the context for most contemporary environmental issues. The paper’s central thesis is that resource and environmental management involves an unresolvable paradox between projects of "control" and "coping." Drawing on complex systems theory, postmodern philosophy, and radical democracy the paper will situate trends toward adaptive planning and management within "management-as-coping," while advocating the need for a strong democratic program to evolve beyond "management-as-control."

Decision Support Systems: A bridge between Democracy and Sustainability

          Gunther, Thomas, Office of Water and Science, US Department of the Interior,  
          Washington, D.C.              

A fundamental condition for democracy is information not only about the condition of a community but also about eh choices it faces and the consequences of those choices. But understanding choices and consequences has traditionally been dependent on the expensive and limited personal service of experts. Recent developments are increasing the ability of managers and stakeholders to explore and project current conditions and alternative futures using place-based decision support systems. This presentation will outline a framework for PBDSS that incorporates both objective science and human values, and discuss recent activities promoting future development.

Social and Professional Differences in Environmental Perception: Two Studies

                         Gabidulina, Svetlana E., Moscow Linguistic University, Russia

This presentation is devoted to the problem of eco-diagnostics. Eco-diagnostics is the study of ecological components of human consciousness, which influence ecological behaviour (i.e. behaviour regarding natural objects) and decisions concerning nature (e.g. burial of radioactive waste near settlements or dumping municipal waste in the forest). According to V. Yasvin and S. Deryabo, ecological consciousness has the following structure: patterns of ecological behaviour, values, and moral judgments about natural objects and interdictions. The other important component of ecological consciousness is cognitive complexity of personality, which can be investigated with psychosemantic tests such as Semantic Differential Techniques and Repertory Grids Test. The author will describe an empirical study based on such an approach, dealing with the social differences in the urban perception and estimation.

Democracy and the Management of Global Commons: From Hunters - Gatherers to the Information Society

              Ruiz, Juan P. & Rubio, José L., Ecology Department, Autonoma University, 
              Madrid, Spain

The 21st century will doubtless bring many challenges to the management of global commons. The paper deals with this problem, from local to global levels, and examines the evolution of political systems throughout the phases of the ecological history of humankind (Stephen Boyden's biohistorical model). There are intrinsic difficulties in the management of collective property systems and the implications for the development and improvement of democratic societal arrangements will also be discussed.

We are particularly interested in: 1) the behavioural/social traits and constraints of the original H. Sapiens ecological role as hunter/gatherer; 2) the organization and management of commons by traditional peasants and livestock raisers in the agricultural phase, such as those we have studied in Spain and abroad; 3) the current transition from the industrial/urban high energy phase to the very controversial globalized/high information society.

There is evidence showing the incompatibility between the omnipotent Market forces and the desirable advancement towards a sustainable society. The proclaimed freedom of the economic agents results in unsustainable lifestyles which are jeopardizing the prospects of survival and development of our complex humanized ecosystems. At present is hard to imagine how those lifestyles are going to be limited or controlled under the market rules in liberal democracies. Globalization and ecological sustainability will have to be based on different types of societal arrangements.

                                 Environment and Health

Medicinal Plants and the Atlantic Forest (Brazil): The Role of Gender and Age in Conservation

Begossi, Alpina NEPAM - Center of Environmental Studies and Research; UNICAMP - State University of Campinas, Hanazaki, Natalia Graduate Group in Ecology, UNICAMP, & Tamashiro, Jorge Y. Department Biology, UNICAMP, Brazil

Medicinal plants reveal very important linkages of people and natural resources. This study, using quantitative ecological methods, show differences of gender and age in the knowledge of medicinal plants of the Atlantic Forest coast, Brazil. It focuses on medicinal plants as the main category of plants collected or cultivated by the caiçaras, the native inhabitants of the southeast Brazilian Atlantic Forest coast. We search for: i) general patterns of plant resource uses observed among caiçara communities, and cultural variations within the caiçara communities, such as based on gender and age; ii) specific patterns of uses, such as based on the category of medicinal plants (native, introduced or weed); iii) information that might contribute for the conservation of the Atlantic Forest. Data were collected through 458 interviews at 12 caiçara communities located at the coast of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo States. Plant specimens were collected for identification. The plants most frequently quoted are plants introduced or weeds, and are especially used to treat pains, fever, respiratory, and gastrointestinal disorders. We show the importance of gender and age in the knowledge on medicinal plants and its implication for the conservation of the system Caiçaras-Atlantic Forest.

Environmental Depletion and Health Outcomes in the Former Soviet Union

Burns, Thomas J.; Gubin, Oleg I.; Kentor, Jeffrey D.; & McKell, Russell, Department of Sociology, University of Utah

Over the past decade in the former Soviet Union, radical political reforms have been accompanied by fast-paced social and economic changes. Much of the Russian economic establishment has been privatized, as the centrally planned system was transformed, with a redistribution of economic power from the federal center to regions and the entrepreneurs in them. These political and economic reforms have had drastic implications for social policy, the former welfare system and income distribution. Largely as a function of these social and political changes, there have been tremendous changes in environmental and health outcomes. Using newly available data for the eighty-nine regions of the former Soviet Union, we examine several of these environmental and health outcomes in the post-Perestroika era. We then develop multivariate statistical models relating these outcomes to a number of indicators of social transition. Consistent with our hypotheses, we find that rapid social changes are accompanied by hypotheses; we find that rapid social changes are accompanied by dramatic changes in the environment and human wee-being. We conclude with a discussion of the human ecological implications of our findings.

Human Health and Natural Environments: Relationships, Expectations and Probable Outcomes

        Ewert, Alan W., Department of Recreation and Park Administration, Indiana University

At an increasing rate, the public is expressing its concern over the relationship between the ecosystems they are part of and their personal lives. Although this concern has historically been centered on the impact that humans have on ecosystems. More recently, this concern has shifted to the ecosystem's effect on human characteristics such as health-related issues and cathartic responses. The purpose of this presentation is to explore the connection between ecosystem health and quality of life issues such as human health. For example, in what ways does a damaged or dysfunctional ecosystem provide vectors that serve to impair human health and other quality of life indicators? In another example, does a lack of wildlands and wilderness areas provide a serious defacement of the human condition? Using the converse, how does direct involvement with a "healthy" natural environment enhance, both human health and perceptions of quality of life. This presentation concludes with a discussion on the "importance" of human health and other quality of life issues within the broader context of ecosystem management and policy making. That is, any policy-making on ecosystem management must include the effects those actions will have on human-health and quality of life issues or risk being considered ill conceived and unworkable by many of the stakeholders.

 

Human Dimensions of Wildlife Disease: Developing a Federal Program for Chronic Wasting Disease in Captive Elk

                         Rob Werge, APHIS, U.S. Department of Agriculture

Like any natural resource, wildlife are the focus of differing values and interests in our society. The ability to deal with problems of wildlife, such as disease, requires processes that mediate potential conflicts between groups, legal jurisdictions, and ideologies. This poster describes initial steps to create a program for chronic wasting disease (CWD). CWD is a form of transmissible spongiform encephalopathy that affects both free ranging and captive elk and other cervids in the United States. A framework is offered for examining the roles of public and private organizations in finding partial solutions to complex disease situations.

Modelling, Monitoring, and Prediction of Malaria in the North Eastern States of India

Singh, Shikha; Gosh, Mini; & Shukla, J. B., Department of Mathematics, Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur

In this paper, a survey of research work conducted on the spread of Malaria in the North Eastern States of India is presented regarding modelling, monitoring and prediction. It is noted that in these areas malaria is spread by lethal parasite called Plasmodium Falciparum. The role of reservoir population, who carries gametocytes in their blood, infecting biting mosquitoes, on the spread of Malaria will also be discussed. Further, the importance of immigration from neighboring countries influencing the spread of this disease will also be presented in the form of a case study.

Modelling and Analysis of Carrier Dependent Infectious Diseases: Effect of Human Ecology and Demography

Singh, Shikha; Gosh, Mini; Chandra, P.; & Shukla, J. B., Department of Mathematics, Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur

In this paper, a non-linear model to study the spread of a carrier dependent infectious disease such as Measles, Cholera, T. B. etc. is proposed an analyzed by considering the effects of human ecology and demography. The logistic growth of carrier population caused by ecological and environmental factors in this habitat is taken into account in the model. Two types of demographics, namely, constant immigration and the logistic growth of human population are considered. The model is analyzed by using qualitative theory of different equations and simulation.

It is shown that as the density of the carrier population, caused by ecological and environmental factors, increases the infectious disease spreads faster and it becomes endemic. The growth of human population due to demographic changes further enhances the spread of infectious disease. The study suggests that to control the spread of infectious diseases, various ecological, environmental factors as well as human population should be controlled.

 

Managing the Wild III: Working Landscaping

Citizens Participation in Watershed Protection in Russia: Analysis of Successes and Failures

Tysiachniouk, Maria, Department of Environmental Sociology, Center for Independent Social Research, St. Petersburg, Russia

There are many governmental and non-governmental institutions in Russia whose declared main focus ins water quality monitoring and watershed protection. Currently, governmental and academic institutions are struggling because of the Russian economic and financial crisis. Many of the non-governmental organizations (NGOs) involved in protecting watersheds focus their efforts mainly on educating youth. As part of their educational programs they often develop water-monitoring programs, but their data is never used by scientists and decision makers. There have been some cooperative efforts for watershed protection between governmental and non-governmental institutions; however, there is currently no substantial cooperative program that includes citizen stakeholders in the data collection and policy development making process.

At this time the overall level of involvement of the Russian Public in environmental protection activities is very low. The authorities and business sector are either unwilling or unable to initiate and promote public participation. At the same time, several surveys have demonstrated that citizen awareness of environmental problems is very high. This suggests that the energy, concern and abilities of the citizenry could be mobilized on behalf of the environment if appropriate mechanisms could be identified. Under these circumstances, Russian NGOs might be able to play a crucial role in fostering public participation in environmental decision-making.

The paper evaluates what catalyzes and what blocks the effectiveness of citizens' participation in environmental decision making in Russia.

Comparing U. S. and Canadian Approaches to Sustainable Forest Ecosystems

               Ryan, Clare M. & Waldron, Kim C., College of Forest Resources, University of      
               Washington

British Columbia and the United States have both struggled with complex forest management issues, and in response have begun to develop and implement adaptive management programs. A central recommendation of the Forest Ecosystem Management Assessment Team report (FEMAT) called for creation of a system of 10 Adaptive Management Areas (AMAs) across California, Oregon, and Washington. The Model Forest program is a parallel effort to conduct adaptive management in selected forests in Canada. British Columbia's resource managers face similar controversies and concerns, as forest management undergoes changes in response to a number of different regulations and initiatives related to environmental protection, sustainable harvest, and biodiversity.

While adaptive management efforts are taking place in a number of areas in North America, formal evaluation of those efforts has not been reported in the literature. The efforts in British Columbia and Washington State provide an excellent setting for investigating differences in how institutions respond to complex resource management issues and organize themselves in order to implement adaptive management. This study explores and compares experiences in attempting to implement adaptive management in a forestry context. The comparisons in this study focus on whether organizational structure affects decision-making and implementation, what barriers prohibit or stalemate planning projects, and how if "learning" takes place and in what context.

Owls, Salmon and Western Water Wars--Lessons from Watershed Planning for Future Challenges of Bioregional and Sustainable Planning in the Future

            Baril, Katherine, Community Learning Center, Washington State University, Pullman

Bioregionalism and watershed planning reflect a new frontier and a new hope for natural resource conflicts. Reflecting new systems thinking including chaos theory, cross cultural education, and cyber-sociology these new citizen forums have begun to demonstrative effective ways to bring together former enemies to manage complex natural resource conflicts.

Collaborative community based planning is widespread and yet little understood in the West. Slogans of "win win solutions" and new coalitions grossly underestimate the fundamental changes that are possible with new approaches. Twenty years of research on natural resource conflicts and collaboration in the West will be reviewed to demonstrative that significant, fundamental shifts are taking place through western watersheds in ways little understood by professional managers. Case studies taken from conflicts arising through growth management, spotted owl, water distribution, and salmon restoration are analyzed and demonstrate that a new form of local citizenship and governance is developing. This paper will discuss the lessons of twenty years of watershed planning and natural resource management and identify some key management options and skills used in successful projects. It will also discuss the trend from site specific performance negotiations to a more wide spread bioregional movement focusing on sustainable and livable communities.

 

Identity and Self

Plain Members of the Biotic Community: Are We Kidding Ourselves?

Throop, William & Graham, Charley, Humanities, Arts and Natural Sciences, Green Mountain College

In "The Land Ethic," Aldo Leopold argues that genuine solutions to environmental problems will require us to adopt an ethic that arises out of a felt awareness that we are "plain members of the biotic community." Fifty years later, not only are we far from recognizing our community membership, but our experiential distance from non-humans has increased. Our relations with the land are often mediated by technology. Most people in developed countries remain blissfully unaware of the specific ways in which they depend on nature. Moreover, we have such technological power that it seems naive to claim that our membership in ecosystems is on par with other species.

We argue that Leopold's community metaphor, and the ethic that it grounds, can be salvaged only if it is radically reinterpreted. After outlining several objections to basing an ethic on lour shared membership in the land, we use metaphors such as baseball's player/manager to show how our notion of community membership can accord without distance from nature and our inordinate power over it. We show how this type of community membership can ground obligations to others, and we sketch the form which some of these obligations take.

Science and the Public Self

              Frodeman, Robert, Center of the American West, University of Colorado, Boulder

Science presents an exemplary case of the role of knowledge in society. More than any other figure in culture today, the scientist functions as the arbiter of truth-even though the sight of competing experts lined up on opposing sides of an issues has become a familiar occurrence.

This presentation will discuss the distinctive ethical responsibilities of publicly funded scientists. It has been a point of honor within the scientific community that the work of the scientist must remain objective and value- free, preserving the integrity of science, and thereby allowing science to serve as an impartial contributor to societal debates. Today, however, the very stance of principled distance from societal debates has opened the scientist to charges of irrelevance. But neither is it acceptable for government scientists to slip into a stance of advocacy in which they use their position to advocate some personal views on a subject. How, then, does the scientist, and especially the public scientist, avoid the twin dangers of irrelevance and bias?

I will argue that the means for overcoming this predicament turns on examining the notion of selfhood that underlies the current debate over the role of the scientist in society.

Reflections on a Life of Dialogue with Nature

           Friskics, Scott, Augusta, Montana

The beings and things of nature have a word to speak to us as we encounter them in the myriad relations that make up our everyday lives. The truth of this assertion is born out in personal experience and corroborated in scripture, myth, poetry, and philosophical reflection. In their self-speaking address, our fellow creatures call us forth, invite us to engage them in dialogue, and place us in a position of responsibility. Their eloquent speech sponsors and nurtures our concern for them and empowers us to respond to their claims in an ethically decisive manner. I suggest that our dialogical encounters with our fellow creatures furnish the experiential ground of ethical action with respect to them. Unfortunately, this ground is seldom realized or recognized in our society: our capacity for ethical action remains unmoored from its animating sources. Preoccupied with our own subjecthood and agency, we have, for a variety of reasons, become very poor listeners. Yet despite our habitual inattentiveness, Nature's creatures may still grace us with their presence in dialogue. Over time, these seemingly episodic occurrences take on an enduring quality, and we find our lives directed along a path of dialogue. This path is characterized by the spiraling interplay of immersion and commitment, which together provide our lives with a sense of vocational integrity and inform our actions with a decisiveness born of 'responsibility in depth.'

 

Managing Land and Resources in a Changing Human Milieu

Winter Feeding of Elk: Benefits, Costs, Sustainability

                 Smith, Bruce L., Biologist, National Elk Refuge, Jackson, Wyoming

The first institutional feeding of elk in North America was in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where several thousand elk are fed most winters at the National Elk Refuge. Winter feeding of elk is employed on an annual basis by state agencies in Idaho, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. Over the past 5 years, an average 31,000 elk were fed in those 5 states at a cost of $1.6 million. Most feeding programs originated due to conflicts between elk and agricultural uses of historic elk winter range. Wildlife managers generally resorted to feeding to reduce damage by elk to crops, and to provide economic benefits of maintaining more elk than diminished winter habitat could sustain. Several negative consequences result from feeding elk. These include 1) the monetary costs of feeding, which divert dollars from other resource programs, 2) excessive herbivory that alters plant community structure and consequently affects the value of habitats near elk feedgrounds to other wildlife species, 3) changes in elk behavior that are both spatial and philosophical significance, 4) diseases, which are more readily transmitted among densely concentrated animals, threaten the welfare of elk and other species, and shape resource management, and 5)public perceptions that may lead to the devaluing of habitat. Finally, I suggest proactive alternatives to winter feeding, which may avert conflict situations that precipitate public and political pressures to feed elk.

Public Involvement and Wyoming's Hunting Seasons

                  Goeke, Mark, Wyoming Game & Fish Department, Jackson

Jackson Hole lies within the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem and is blessed with a unique array of some of the most charismatic wildlife species this continent has to offer. Combine this with the spectacular mountain landscapes of Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks and it becomes a highly desirable place to live. Jackson has attracted an environmentally aware, and active, public from around the world. The social values of this area are often in sharp contrast to the rest of the state. This makes wildlife management in the area both challenging and enlightening.

As a state agency, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department is generally not bound by the public involvement requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). However, they do have policy governing their public involvement requirements. We will discuss these requirements and how public involvement is actually done for hunting seasons in Wyoming. We will also review public involvement on a recent hunting season proposal for mountain lions in the Jackson Region.

Managing Conflict in a National Park Setting: with Wolves, Grizzlies, Cattle and Bison

                      Haynes, Steve, Grand Teton National Park

Fire in the Forest: Dealing with Public Reaction

                    Norman, Andy, Bridger Teton National Forest, Jackson & Taylor, Jonathan, USGS 
                    Fort Collins, Colorado

 

Can Democracy Survive the 21st Century?

What have we learned about Democracy and Sustainability?

All Conference Round Tables – Thursday through Saturday

Moderators: Sando, Rodney, Idaho Department of Fish and Game; Dietz, Thomas, George Mason University, Virginia; Straus, Donald B., College of the Atlantic, Bar Harbor, Maine; and Borden, Richard J., College of the Atlantic, Bar Harbor, Maine

Each day of SHE XI concludes with a round-table discussion. The goal of these sessions is to integrate ideas and insights from the day's presentations. These roundtables are intended to continue the exchange at SHE X in Montreal, which led to our overall conference theme of "Democracy and Sustainability." We face many unprecedented challenges, and in parallel with them, we are engaged in many exciting experiments in new forms of democracy. However, what are the new strategies that we need? What is working? What isn't working? How can we increase collaboration and the quality of decision making? What can improve citizen participation and lead to more dynamic ways in governing? What is the role of computers in democracy and the management of complexity? All conference participants were invited to join.

 

Democracy and Participation IV: Ecosystem Management

Collaborative Biodiversity Decision-Making: Using Networked GIS to Structure Discussion and find Consensus on Conservation Priorities

           Meredith, Thomas C., Department of Geography, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec

Sustainable ecological management requires the use of complex, specialist, knowledge and expert judgment. But because ecological management inevitably involves human systems, a simple technocratic approach is both ethically unacceptable and functionally ineffective hence the particular urgency of finding effective means for public participation. Geographic Information Systems (GIS)

Assessing Democracy and Sustainability in Canada through Ecosystem-Based Management: Boundaries, Understanding, Planning and Management

Brown, Rob, Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, Wilfrid Laurier Univ., Canada & Bavington, Dean, Department of Science, Policy, and Management, Univ. of California, Berkeley

Ecosystem-based management has been adopted by a growing number of resource management agencies in the United States and Canada.  The shift toward ecosystem-based management has been characterized by an increased focus on adaptive management tools that are nested within decision-making processes that actively promote greater public participation.  In Canada, democratic and sustainability goals have been incorporated into the activities of diverse resource management and planning agencies in complex and interesting ways.  Our paper reports on a detailed survey of the Canadian literature surrounding fifteen ecosystem-based management cases including: fisheries, forestry, land-use planning, coastal zone planning, parks and protected areas, watershed planning, Great Lakes management, Nunavit, and urban waterfront renewal.  We explore some of the complexities surrounding sustainability and democracy in Canada by examining ecosystem-based management activities.  Our paper focuses on the importance of: 1) How boundaries are defined within ecosystem-based management projects. 2) How understanding is (co)created in ecosystem-based management processes. 3) How procedural and substantive goals are incorporated into the adaptive planning and management frameworks that are associated with ecosystem-based management.  Our paper concludes by discussing the positive lessons learned, and areas which need improvement, if Canada is to create more sustainable and democratically accountable ecosystem-based management initiatives.

Adapting Together: The Challenge of Adaptive and Collaborative Management in Forest Environments

Edmunds, David with Center for International Forestry Research, Adaptive and Collaborative Management Program - CIFOR

Adaptive management has the potential to make forest management more democratic. Adaptive management, however, is associated with a learning model that may not be appropriate in all contexts nor for all stakeholders. Making scientific experiments of management interventions - with claims to precision, control, and neutrality - raises at least two problems. First, it can constrain other ways of learning from forest management experiences. Second, it can place some stakeholders, typically those outside government bureaucracies and research institutions, at a disadvantage in influencing management decisions. We draw on literature from social learning theory and indigenous technical knowledge, as well as case study material associated with CIFOR's Adaptive Collaborative Management Program, to suggest how to accommodate different ways of learning among diverse forest stakeholders. We discuss the potential for developing a pluralistic approach to what constitutes good evidence in evaluating management problems and the kinds of institutional arrangements - such as multiple and redundant fora for learning, rotating leadership, downward accountability for decision-making - that encourage such pluralism.

 

 

Humans and Other Animals I

Wolf Watching in Yellowstone National Park: The Nature of The Interaction as Discussed by Wolf Watchers

              Montag, Jessica; Freimund, Wayne; & Patterson, Michael, University of Montana, 
              Missoula, MT

There is a new recreational activity occurring in Yellowstone National Park (YNP) and it is wolf watching. Since the wolves were reintroduced in 1995, thousands of people have been arranging their vacations and lives around the possibility of getting a glimpse of a wild, elusive wolf in YNP. Yellowstone National Park not only provides visitors with a good opportunity to see wolves in natural surroundings, it also affords the opportunity to explore the nature of recreational experiences individuals seek with respect to wolves. This thought examines how the visitors try to experience wolves. What do the wolf watchers want to see? Does just a glimpse of a wolf mean the same as observing behavior? Do observations of particular wolf behaviors affect the experience?

Through the analysis of in-depth interviews with wolf watchers, this study explores questions such as these. What emerges from the interviews is that although people may have different preferences as to what they want to see there are some reoccurring themes. A common theme connecting many of the wolf watchers is their desire to see some interaction between wolves and other species. There is a great draw to being able to see wolves interacting with other species, be it bison, elk, or bears because there are such few places to see that interaction. This discussion hints at the larger discourse of what wolf watchers desire. The interaction valued is one of the lived experience; that seeing wolves in YNP allows visitors the ability to see wolves 'in their world', to be participants, not merely observers of a television show. However, although wolf watchers have in mind what they would like to see, the truth of the matter is that wolf watchers would settle for much less than the perfect scenario. While seeing a wolf would be the "icing on the cake, the cherry on top" there seems to be an underlying sentiment of just knowing that the wolves are there is satisfying enough.

Solo Female-Canine Outdoor Recreation: An Experiential Journey

                Krause, Katrina, USDA Forest Service

Canine companionship has the potential to offer unique experiential qualities to the solo female outdoor recreationist. As willing, able, non-critical, recreational partners, canines can help to expand the female soloist’s recreational opportunities by providing comfort and increased perceptions of safety. There has been an expressed fundamental difference between recreating with a canine and a human partner. As perceptions of a solo recreational experience, and limited social obligation, can be maintained while recreating with a canine companion. Solo experiences, and the perceptions of solitude within, may provide for extended moments of leisure autonomy, introspection, and discovery. In-depth interviews conducted with solo female urban and wildland outdoor recreationists, who incorporate canine companions into their activities, described various experiential journeys. As dedicated recreationists, these women discussed why they participate in their outdoor activities, and how the dynamics of their activity and perceived relationship with society shifts when recreating alone with their canine companion.

There appeared to be an experiential difference between recreating with a canine companion primarily for the dog’s needs, for the female soloist’s needs, or when recreating as mutual partners. These differences depicted a transformational relationship between society, form of recreational activity, the role of canine companionship, and various perceptions of situational and physical environments. Discussions and implications of the interrelationships between a perceived ‘isolated’ environment, need for fear mediation, and the role of a canine companion are offered.

Experience Preferences at McNeil River State Game Sanctuary

Burtz, Randall T., Department of Natural Resource Recreation, Colorado State University; Bright, Alan D., Department of Natural Resource Recreation, Colorado State University; and Fulton, David C., Minnesota Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, University of Minnesota

McNeil River State Game Sanctuary (MRSGS) provides a unique opportunity for viewing Alaskan Brown Bears in their natural habitat. Permits and user fees are required at MRSGS by the Alaska Department of Fish & Game, which limits the number of permits to 10 per day. Successful permittees are selected by random lottery. We compared differences in experience preferences between (a) successful, standby, and unsuccessful permit applicants and (b) Alaska residents and nonresidents. Two thousand two hundred sixty-one questionnaires were mailed and 1290 were returned (57.1%). Respondents indicated how important specific experiences were when they considered a trip to MRSGS. Nearly all experiences were at least moderately important to a trip to MRSGS. Factor analysis identified five experience types: interaction with bears, social interaction and learning, viewing bear behavior, having uncrowded conditions, and other viewing experiences. Multivariate tests explored the relationship between preferred experiences (dependent variable) and residence and permit application success (independent variables). No interactive effects on experience preferences were found between residence and success type. No main effects were found for residence. Main effects were found for success type. Experience with bears was less important for unsuccessful permit applicants than for standby and successful applicants. Unsuccessful applicants reported social interaction and learning about bears as less important than did standby and successful applicants. No significant difference was found for viewing bear behavior. Unsuccessful and standby applicants reported uncrowded conditions as less important than did successful applicants. Successful and standby applicants reported other viewing experiences as less important than did unsuccessful applicants. Since successful, unsuccessful, and standby applicants at MRSGS are selected at random, one would expect that the importance of desired experiences would not differ between groups. This research suggests that the experience of taking the trip does influence the reported importance of experiences.

Citizen Participation in Wildlife Management: Theory and an Application in Alaska

Matthews, Marguerite A., Alaska Department of Fish and Game & Gates, C. Cormack, University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Public ownership remains one of the fundamentals of wildlife management in North America requiring that management agencies be responsive to public interests and values. Wildlife management evolved in the 1800s as a response to the destruction of some species under a system of unregulated commercial exploitation. It remained focused on game species until the early 1970s when public interest in the environment awakened. While a client-professional service relationship once adequately served the interests of hunters and anglers, agencies must now respond to a much wider range of pubic interests and values, along with a higher level of public interest in wildlife resources. For this reason, more sophisticated models of citizen involvement in the management of wildlife resources are now required. We review the theoretical basis for citizen involvement in decision making, a range of levels of citizen involvement, and the basic approaches to conflict resolution. An interest-based participation model of conflict resolution is described which provides for a high level of citizen involvement in decision making. The Fortymile caribou herd in eastern Alaska/western Canada is described as an example of this model.

 

Biodiversity

Floral Biodiversity Survival in the India Thar Desert

           Khan, T. I., Indira Gandhi Center for HEEPS, University of Rajasthan, Jaipur, India

The Indian desert is estimated to be only 10,000 years old and occupies nearly 3,000,000 sq. km in North Western India. The main part (61%) is in the State of Rajasthan. It extends to Haryana and Punjab in the north (9%) and Gujarat in the South (20%). In the west, it merges into the fertile plains of the Indus River in Pakistan. It is a significant politically sensitive area. It has been used in part for underground nuclear testing in 1998 but it continues to be important in providing a future source of food, fodder and fuel for its increasing population. Pastoral activities in the Thar Desert contribute to wide spread desertification. Each of the various habitats and landforms in the desert supports distinctive plants. Six hundred eighty-two plant species have commercial purposes. There are about 300 species of plants with recognized medical uses in the desert. The medicinal usefulness of others is yet to be established. Commiphora wightii, Withania somnifera and Urginia indica have high glycoside content and are valued for gums and used in ayurvedic medicines for enhancing mental retention and memory enhancement. Such plants are being indiscriminately exploited for fuelwood.

This is one of the several pressures on biodiversity. IT is imperative that the region be designated as a Biosphere Reserve so that a sustainable management strategy can be implemented to insure the continued survival of diversity and improved quality of life for the indigenous and immigrant desert populations.

Adaptive Design: An Ecosystem Approach to Biodiversity Conservation Planning

Lister, Nina-Marie E., School of Urban and Regional Planning, Ryerson Polytechnic University, Ontario

Increasing land use pressures in urbanizing regions, has put biodiversity at risk as habitats are lost to development. While created (in part) to protect biodiversity, parks are often afterthoughts of development, with little possibility for proactive planning. The intense and growing land use pressures of urbanization are compounded by the dynamic cycle of normal, but unpredictable ecosystem changes that are exacerbated in fragmented landscapes. As such, there is considerable scientific uncertainty surrounding ecosystem changes at the landscape level, particularly in urbanizing regions. The high degree of uncertainty, coupled with an urgent need for effective protection of biodiversity necessitates a fundamentally different and more creative approach to planning and management.

Specifically, an interdisciplinary, ecosystem-based approach is essential. Based on a recent study of decision-making in 3 Canadian urban-area parks, this paper presents an ecosystem-based approach and resultant model for decision-making termed "Adaptive Design". Adaptive Design is characterized by flexibility in learning through change; integration of emerging ecological science with human values; and resilience through a diversity of innovative tools, methods, strategies and perspectives. The model encompasses a four-way intersection of ecological and social analyses, synthesis of planning scenarios, resolution of management choices, and ultimately, adaptive change according to feedback in monitoring data and learning outcomes. Through an integral reliance on community partnerships and collaboration, this model embraces ecosystem change at the local landscape scale while simultaneously creating positive feedback loops through civic engagement.

Cabaclo Plant Diversity at the Negro River, Amazon, Brazil

Leme, Andrea, Graduate Group in Ecology, University of São Paulo & Begossi, Alpina, Center of Environmental Studies and Research - NEPAM; State University of Campinas - UNICAMP

An ethnobotanical study was conducted within four rural communities: Barcelos, Carvoeiro, Piloto and Cumaru, located at the banks of the Negro River, Amazon, Brazil. Barcelos is a small town, and Carvoeiro, Piloto and Cumaru represent small villages. We focused on the different categories of plant uses, such as plants used for food, medicine, handicrafts, and construction. Procedures included interviews, direct observations, and plant collection. In85 interviews, 147 species were quoted as used for medicine, 70 for food, and 33 for handicraft and construction of houses and canoes. We collected plant species used by caboclos for identification. We used diversity indices (Shannon) in order to compare the plant using diversity between different habitats (flooded and non-flooded forest), among the communities, and within communities, taking into consideration gender and age.

 

Fisheries and Coasts

Is Fisheries Management Missing the Boat?

                  Brooks, Meriel J., Department of Natural Science & Mathematics, 
                  Green Mountain College, Vermont

Management of inland fish communities appears to lag 50 years behind that of terrestrial communities. While terrestrial system management has increasingly focused on restoring and maintaining native biodiversity, aquatic system management remains primarily game-fish oriented. This orientation leads to the following three problems: First, aquatic non-game native species are virtually ignored unless they either are endangered or are a predator/competitor of a game fish. Second, non-native game fishes are routinely hatchery bred and stocked in lakes and rivers. Third, non-native fish species are considered a problem only when they interfere with game species. Examples include the active eradication of the sea lamprey in Lake Champlain and Lake Ontario drainages (despite the fact that this animal is native to Ontario and probably Champlain) and the hatchery rearing and stocking of German brown and rainbow trout in all northeastern states.

This paper outlines several explanations for the discrepancy between aquatic and terrestrial management goals, one of which is the use of an inappropriate model for democratic decision making in fisheries management.

It then proposes mechanisms for moving fisheries management from a dominant species paradigm to the biocentric ecosystem approach more common in terrestrial systems.

Learning from the Limits of an Adjudicatory Strategy for Resolving United States-Canada Fisheries Conflict: Lessons from the Gulf of Maine

Prelli, Lawence J., Department of Communication, University of New Hampshire, Durham & Larsen-Becker, Mimi, Department of Nature Resources, University of New Hampshire, Durham

Growing concern about the world's fisheries and the capacity of international institutions to sustain them led us to reexamine the use of World Court Chamber to resolve a boundary conflict between the US and Canada in the Gulf of Maine. Among the case's unique features was an unprecedented argument, mounted by the US, that turned fisheries conservation and management into a legal principle for boundary delimitation. We raised the question whether the Court is an appropriate institution for addressing problems of managing and conserving fisheries. To test its appropriateness, we examined the rhetorical practices associated with that institution as manifested in the Gulf case. Those practices include (1) framing the natural resource problem primarily as a political problem, (2) use of strategically designed, linear arguments in behalf of preestablished claims that conceal systemic features of the fisheries problem, (3) use of evaluative standards based on politics and equity but without regard to ecological concerns, and (4) selective use of science to support predetermined claims rather than selecting claims based on understanding the problem's ecological dimensions. These practices indicate that the fisheries conflict did not belong in the adjudicatory processes especially since an important alternative was then and still is available. We argue that institutional arrangements modeled after the Convention on Great Lakes Fisheries and the Great Lakes Fishery Commission have greater capacity to induce rhetorical practices more conducive to addressing the fisheries problems in the Gulf of Maine, both then and today.

Adaptive Management of Coastal Resources - Lack of Experience and Abundance of Knowledge

          Bruckmeier, Karl, Human Ecology Section, Göteberg University, Sweden

The use of coastal and maritime resources has been studied intensively during the past decades. With the present reappearance of local and participatory approaches to resource management time has come to assess the yields of more than thirty years of dispersed discussion and research after the seminal analysis of "the tragedy of the commons". The question to be answered is that of how to build institutions for democratic decision-making and ecosystem sustainability. Although scientific knowledge is available abundantly - mainly in form of comparative analysis based on case studies, less in theoretically reflected forms - the problems of initiating and sustaining participative and adaptive management strategies seem more and more difficult. In this paper - based on the Swedish research program "Sustainable Coastal Zone Management" - the policy-driven discourse on integrated coastal zone management is used to discuss problems of the development of adaptive institutions.

 

Sustaining Biological, Cultural, and Economic Systems through Adaptive Modeling and Management: A U.S. Geological Survey, U.S.A. - Yunnan Province, Peoples Republic of China, Trans-Cultural Project

Sustaining Biological, Cultural and Economic Diversity in Yunnan Province, P.R.C.: Background and Progress

                  Xia, Zhang, Biological Resources Innovative Development Project, 
                  People's Republic of China,
& Johnson, Richard L., US Geological Survey, 
                 Fort Collins, Colorado & Brigham Young Univ.

A pervasive barrier to adaptive decision making is the inability to integrate vertically the information and common understanding that always accompanies adaptive modeling. Managers and scientists working together in focused workshops bridge organizational and disciplinary differences to gain important advances toward the solution of complex problems. But transference of shared knowledge and agreements up organizational decision ladders, and across broad constituencies that have come to characterize decisions in the public sector, remains problematic. The recent development of mapping, GIS, and GAP analysis can provide a much more accurate and accessible way to communicate shared understandings. By digitally recording some of the short course lectures and filed trips, we can learn something about the value of flexible, relatively low marginal cost per information recipient, digital technology and mapping for broadening the base and focusing the vertical pathways at the intersection of public and private sector decision.

China's rapidly adapting cultural/economic/political system is a new window for looking into public-private enterprise decision processes. The primary short course objective is to serve Yunnan and Sichuan Province's needs for enhancing economic opportunities while conserving ecological and cultural diversity. We expect that as intellectual lighting varies during the short course, the window will at times reflect back images that will improve our understanding of the US's interacting economic and ecological systems.

Natural Capitalism and Micro-enterprise for Advancing Systems Sustainability

         Adolphson, Donald, Romney Institute of Public Management, Brigham Young University

The transition to a global economy is filled with opportunities and dangers. If accepted patterns of economic growth continue, then communities and ecosystems are at increasing risk. On the other hand, if economic growth stops, then the have-nots of the world will be permanently consigned to this sate. Natural capitalism provides a way out of this dilemma by transforming capitalism in a way that economic, cultural, and ecological incentives are aligned. It accomplishes this by building into the economic system the value of natural and human capital, as well as more traditional forms of financial and manufactured capital. In such a system, competitive advantage goes to those who are best at caring for the communities and ecosystems that support the economy, The key tenets of natural capitalism are resource productivity, biomimicry, sale of service rather than products, and reinvestment of service rather than products, and reinvestment of profits in human and natural capital. Natural capitalism holds the promise of directing technology is ways that will create healthy economies, communities and ecosystems. This presentation will highlight the ways in which natural capitalism can guide the transition to a global economy that is just and sustainable.

Conservation Biology

            Stendell, Rey, US Geological Survey, Fort Collins, Colorado

Biological diversity is the variety and variability among living organisms and the ecological complexes in which they occur. It includes the entire range of species found on the earth. China is one of the most biologically diverse countries in the world. A diverse biological system is essential for maintaining ecological economic, cultural, and recreational values. Many human-related activities such as habitat destruction, exploitation of species and pollution threaten biological diversity. During the last thirty years there has been an increasing popular interest in protecting the world's plants and animals. Conservation biology is a multidisciplinary science that deals with the crisis confronting biological resources. A primary goal is to develop and support sustainable ecosystems by protecting and using biological resources in a way that does not diminish the variety of species and their habitats. A balance between economic development and conservation will insure preservation of resources for future generations. The success of conservation biology will be measured by its ability to preserve the world's biological diversity.

Connecting Biological, Cultural, and Economic Systems through GIS/GAP Analysis Mapping

                    Mosesso, John, US Geological Survey, Fort Collins, Colorado

Gap analysis (GAP) is a scientific method for identifying the degree to which native animal and plant species are represented within the conservation lands of a region. Those species not adequately represented constitute conservation "gaps." The purpose of a "Gap Analysis" is to provide broad geographic information on the status of species and their habitats in order to provide planners, scientists, and policy makers with the information they need to make better-informed conservation decisions. Using geographic information technologies, GAP can provide an assessment of the conservation status of native species and natural land cover types in Yunnan Province. Further, A Gap Analysis can help identify issues surrounding the conservation of native species, facilitate reserve selection and design, and develop means of preserving minority values and traditions in areas with high biodiversity values. This is accomplished through the following five objectives:

1. Map the land cover of Yunnan Province to the level of dominant vegetation type;

2. Map predicted distributions of native species for Yunnan;

3. Document the representation of vertebrate species and land cover types in areas managed for the long-term maintenance of biodiversity;

4. Provide this information to the minority organizations and those entities charged with policy, planning, and resource management;

5. Build institutional cooperation in the application of this information to conservation activities.

Connecting Biological, Cultural, and Economic Systems: An Evolutionary Economics Approach

         Johnson, Richard L., US Geological Survey, Fort Collins, Colorado & Brigham Young 
         University

Competitively successful ecological systems (nature's household) and economic systems (man's household) both depend upon diversity. Both household systems are best sustained when they evolve in spontaneous orders of self-organization. The challenge for economic and ecological systems is not to arrest change in each other's systems, but to-co-evolve in ways that will be mutually sustaining. This paper describes an adaptive process that places culture at the intersection of coevolving natural and human households. It outlines a short course on Conservation of Biological and Cultural Diversity Through Ecological Economics and Mapping. The month - long short course was co sponsored by the US Geological Survey and Brigham Young University. Fifteen scientists from Yunnan and Sichuan Provinces, PRC, attended. The short course linked principles of economics, natural capital, micro-enterprise, conservation biology, and geographic information systems in a chain of bicultural self-learning. Field trips to National Parks in the U.S., coupled with previous field trips to Nature Preserves in China, punctuated the process. Multi-media digital recording was employed to extend information across diverse cultures and up organizational decision structures.

Major short course topics will be summarized by four other presentations in this sub- plenary session of the Cultures and Biodiversity Congress 2000. It is hoped that discussions during Congress meetings and field trips will deepen our understanding of diverse cultures, and broaden cross-cultural access needed to sustain economic and ecological systems through spontaneous orders of competition and cooperation.

 

Democracy and Participation V: Experiences in Mexico

Democratic Public Policy and Sustainable Development: A Study of Two NAFTA-related Border Institutions

          Doughman, Pamela M., Department of Government and Politics, The University of  
          Maryland

Embedded in the concept of sustainable development is a struggle between maintenance of current ecological, social, and economic conditions and their sustained improvement. Supporters and critics of sustainable development draw boundaries around the concept in different dimensions and with varying levels of permeability. The following discussion delineates the discursive territory within the sustainable development terrain that is carved out by the Border Environment Cooperation Commission (BECC) and the North American Development Bank (NADBank) in their mission statements and program materials. Their views of nature, decision-making processes, knowledge, and target groups are evaluated by the standard for democratic public policy put forward by Schneider and Ingram (1997) in "Policy Design for Democracy". To promote genuine democracy, public policy should 1) solve problems, 2) enable communities to engage in collective action for the common good, 3) reflect and respond to the mobilization and exercise of political power, 4) engage, enlighten, and emancipate citizens, and 5) serve justice.

Setting Environmental Priorities: A Learning Process Between Environmental Managers and Public

Castañares Maddox, Eric J., Departamento de Ecología Humana, CINVESTAV - Unidad Mérida, Mexico

The planning instrument used to define the environmental priorities in the state of Yucatán, Mexico, is called "Agenda Estatal de Prioridades" (AEP). Before the multiplicity of problems that are identified as "environmental" it was absolutely necessary to identify those that had precedence over others to be able to take responsible actions. This instrument helped to define the ten basic lines of action from the perspective of the ecological needs of the state of Yucatán and that are the responsibility of the Public Federal Environmental Administration (PFEA). Identifying the priorities has been of great use to communicate with the different sectors of society - social, academic, private, NGO's and the three levels of government - federal, state and municipal - the orientation of the actions to be taken and the role to be played by each one in the search of solutions. The level of interest and engagement of the public differs in time and between priorities, but nevertheless, it has become quiet clear that sustainability can only be edified in a continuous process of consensus building.

Cross-Cultural Participation in Sustainable Development: Canadian Academic Involvement with Mexican ENGOs

                Meredith, Thomas C. & Frias, Gisela, Department of Geography, McGill Univ., 
                Montreal, Quebec

The Brundtland Commission vision of sustainable development informs subsequent dialogue on the subject. That vision is rooted in recognition of a "common future" that requires North-South partnerships for addressing the interlinked problems that threaten human well-being and environmental security in both the industrial "North" and the largely agrarian "South." These partnerships must obviously avoid the destructive, if well-intentioned, hegemonies of past relationships and they must provide for a two-way flow of information. This paper describes a partnership between one Canadian and one Mexican environmental non-government organization (ENGO). The partnership is intended to provide a rural Mexican community with environmental analysis and decision support tools that are based in modern science while, at the same time, providing insight to Canadian students about the knowledge and experience of people who live in an ecological relationship with local land resources. One of the challenges of the project is to determine the extent to which "the medium is the message," that is, to determine how science-based tools can be inappropriately changing those concerns. A partial solution, based on involving a third ENGO, is described.

 

Humans and Other Animals II

 

Eating as Environmental (In)Action: The Relationship Between Food Animals, Animals in the Wild, and Us

             McDonald, Barbara, USDA Forest Service

Animals living in the wild are facing a number of challenges stemming both from human action and inaction. One of the most insidious threats to these animals is coming from a daily action that is often staunchly defended by otherwise ardent environmental activists and environmental supporters. That daily activity C the human consumption of animal products and by-products for food C has been slowly harming populations of animals living in the wild and their habitats. The overall impact of animal consumption on wildlife habitats and populations has not been documented, however the accumulation of evidence from disparate sources points to an alarming trend. The first part of this paper will examine the largely unrecognized relationship between food animals, the people who consume them, and damage to populations of animals living in the wild.

Aspects of Animals in Human Lives Extracted Via Qualitative Analyses of Four Data Sources

Vining, Joanne & Scrogum, Joy JoAnn, Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

It is important for wildlife managers to understand how members of the public think and feel about non-human animals, in order to deal more effectively with conflicts between humans and other animals, and to anticipate potential conflicts or highly charged issues when formulating management strategies. Exploring our relationships with other animals is also important for society as a whole and for human ecology as a discipline, because the values we attach to animals may provide some insight into broader human worldviews and environmental ethics. The purpose of this study was to explore the range of meanings of non-human animals in human lives by performing qualitative analyses of four text-based data sets. The data sets included public commentary submitted to a National Forest during management plan development, personal environmental history interviews, process-tracing transcripts from environmental decision-making tasks, and written environmental autobiographies. References to non-human animals were extracted and content analyzed. Preliminary results indicate that animals were associated with twelve main categories of meaning. These included animals as sources of learning, ecological understanding, identity, connection with nature, emotions, sense of place and time, companionship/familial bonds, and aesthetics. Animals were also seen as objects of caretaking, resources to be used or dominated, metaphors, and as parts of individual moral and ethical schemes. Some results were consistent with previous studies and theory on human-animal interactions and environmental values. The results of this study demonstrate the diversity of meanings that non-human animals have for humans.

Catch and Release Fishing: A European Perspective

Thailing, Carol E., Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences, Texas A & M University, Aas, Oystein, Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, & Ditton, Robert B., Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Science, Texas A & M University

As catch and release emerges as a proposed sustainable fisheries management solution by fisheries managers and anglers in the United States, fundamental questions regarding various stakeholder views of the practice require investigation. Before targeting specific catch and release issues in the United States, a broader look at the views expressed in other areas of the world, such as Europe, will enhance our total understanding of the activity. Besides specific fisheries management regulations imposed by various European countries, it is also vital to know more about the cultural and ethical beliefs that underlie management. Analyzing the language in the relevant European literature is one method of improving our understanding of these perspectives.

This study identified multiple views of catch and release ranging from strong support of the activity as a sustainable resource management strategy to strict opposition by animal welfare/rights arguments. These diametrically opposed positions, as well as the various perspectives in between, were examined using content analysis of European natural and social science literature.

The content analysis used in this exploratory study employed methods suggested by Weber (1990). Biological and sociological database resources, journal articles, symposium proceedings, and direct correspondences were used for analysis. The sources were analyzed to identify and categorize principal themes in the literature.

Among the prominent themes expressed in the literature were welfare, subsistence, management, conservation, recreation, and sport. The literature from Finland and Norway expressed strong "subsistence" and animal "welfare" themes, whereas the focus of the German literature was more specifically "welfare." The dominant themes from the United Kingdom were "management" and "conservation" as well as "recreation" and "sport." The importance of the individual themes as well as their combinations will aid in a more comprehensive perspective of this practice.

The Role of Human Values and Attitudes in Managing Deer: The Case of Cuyahoga Valley National Recreation Area

Dougherty, Erin M., Minnesota Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, University of Minnesota & Fulton, David C., US Geological Survey; Minnesota Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, University of Minnesota

Overabundance of white-tailed deer has emerged as a significant management issue among public agencies responsible for natural resource management. Much of the social concern about overabundant deer is related to deer damage to crops and ornamental plants, as well as risks to human health and safety such as injuries caused deer-vehicle collisions and the spread of Lyme disease. Concern is growing, however, among state and federal agencies that increasingly large deer populations may be causing harm to other native animals and plants. Agencies are focusing on lethal control of deer as the only viable alternative to reduce deer populations due to the widespread overabundance of deer and the lack of effective contraceptive delivery systems. Obviously, lethal control actions may be controversial when the public perceives it to be unnecessary or when it is implemented in areas where deer populations traditionally have been protected such as national parks.

A public survey (n = 681) of northeast Ohio residents in the region adjacent to Cuyahoga Valley National Recreation Area was conducted to gather information about attitudes toward lethal deer control and the potential social impacts of lethal deer control. Two strata were examined: those very near the park (n=369) and those more distant from the park (n =312). Beliefs about the consequences of 1) lethal deer control and 2) taking no action to reduce deer populations were examined to help clarify the reasons local residents would support or oppose lethal deer control. Understanding the basis of public support or opposition to lethal deer control and assessing the potential social impacts of alternatives are crucial to developing a viable deer management plan for Cuyahoga Valley National Recreation Area. Study results indicate that most respondents find lethal control acceptable and do not perceive strong social impacts of lethal control. Results also indicate few differences between near and far strata suggesting that geographical residence is not a valid surrogate for social psychological constructs such as values and emotions that influence people’s perception of natural resource decisions.

 

Water and Development

Bio-Monitoring for Pollution Control: A Case Study of River Yamuna, Delhi, India

           Mohan, Jag, Department of Geography, Shivaji College, University of Delhi, India

The first step in the direction of pollution control of water bodies is to assess their state of pollution. Usually the physical and chemical properties of water are monitored in order to initiate damage control measures. However, it is also a fact that the number of chemicals which can be found in flowing river water is unending. There has to be a measure that is an aggregate of all the pollutants found in water. Bio-monitoring is one such measure which adds up to the physical and chemical monitoring. It is the introduction of biological variables for assessment of the structural and functional aspects of the aquatic ecosystems. Through bio-monitoring, the cumulative effect of all the pollutants can be determined and the over all health of the aquatic ecosystems could be properly assessed. For bio-monitoring of river Yamuna three sample collection centres were set up-one at the point where Yamuna enters the city-near Wazirabad; second mid-way in the city at ITO and the last at the point where the river leaves the city at Okhla barrage. Water was collected from these three centres at regular intervals and checked for their saprobic values and the diversity of benthic macro-invertebrate families.

Bounding the Drought: A Case of India

              Sharma, Renu, Independent Scholar, India

Simply stated, drought is rainfall deficiency for an extended period. Hydrological drought involved critically low groundwater tables and reduces stream and river flows. In India, 3 severe droughts occurred in 1979, 1982,1987 and the present year 2000. But out of all the natural calamities, droughts are the easiest to manage and cope. Both governmental, non-governmental organizations work hand in hand with the society for Drought relief. Various programmes like the Desert Development Programme (DDP), Drought Prone Area Programme (DPAP) and Food for Work Programme have been in operation for a long time now. Drought in India mostly affects the states of Rajasthan and Gujrat. Along with the coping programmes of the Government, NGOs and Village committees (Gram Panchayats) offer assistance in distribution of relief, fodder for cattle, food and water etc. They also help in the water conservation techniques like minor check dams, roof-top rain water harvesting, revival and development of bawlis to collect surface run-off of water and also to recharge the ground water levels.

The paper deals with the primary data collected from six drought affected districts of Gujrat and Rajasthan.(three from each). It is based on the information collected through structured questionnaire and informal interviews with 300 persons. The questions were regarding the water conservation techniques used, present nutritional content of their diet, present occupation, relief agencies, present and past sources of water, diseases as well as status of migration. The paper has been written keeping in view that the coping strategies of both government and non-governmental organizations includes checking the beginning and spread of epidemics, forced migrations, economic destabilization, social conflicts etc. The primary impact of drought is the scarcity of water and the secondary impacts listed above are due to the primary impact. A long stretched drought can bring about permanent changes in the capital stocks, settlements, and economy. Thus, coping strategies should ideally aim at prevention of all these in order to prevent imbalances in the country.

Water Security and Social Sustainability Under the Human Ecological Stress in China

               Wang, Rusong, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences; Chinese Academy 
               of Sciences

Rapid industrialization and urbanization are taking place in China since its opening to the world and transition from planned to market economy. The high pressure of population growth, rapid economic industrialization and urbanization, a strong desire to improve life quality, fragmented institutions, and low eco-awareness in policy making have exerted severe ecological stresses on both local human living conditions and regional ecosystems. The unusual hydrological and inappropriate anthropological processes have resulted in the acceleration of flooding and drought, desertification, soil erosion, biodiversity loss, and service function declination. Social sustainability can only be assured with a human-ecological understanding of the complex interaction among environmental, economic and social/cultural factors and with comprehensive planning and management grounded in ecological principles.

A China Water Vision scenario has been carried out using this understanding. The scenario shows that the compound water security issues will become a critical issue in China in 10 years, and will threaten land productivity, food availability and accessibility, human health, nature’s service, rural industrialization, regional urbanization, life quality and social stability if appropriate technical, institutional, and behavioral measures are not taken in time. If not appropriately dealt with, they will affect first and foremost newly industrializing regions, especially those in rapid social and economic transition, such as in the east coastal areas the Yangtze and Yellow river basins. On the other hand, as the word Crisis (Wei Ji) in Chinese has both the meaning of risk (Wei) and opportunity (Ji), the water vision has in China both optimistic and pessimistic perspectives. Having a long tradition of sustainable water management practice and human ecological philosophy, the risk could hopefully be relieved by the implementation of TSD measures.

Bridging the Physical and Social Environments of U.S. Water Projects

Snyder, Robert B., York University; Brooks, Jeffrey J. & Titre, John P., Colorado State University

The process of mapping the dynamic attributes of U.S. water projects revealed a complex negotiation of social and physical environments. Traditionally, mapping of environments equated with enumerating ecological features. This type of inventory dominates current recreation planning paradigms. The flawed underlying assumption here is that recreation places and the things they contain are universally experienced by a homogeneous group of individuals.

Similarly, management plans based on a project’s myriad interpretations would be disjointed.

We closed the gap between a-historical inventorying of environments and individual interpretation of place by mapping the physical and social aspects of U.S. water projects. Methodologically, we asked visitors if they have attached meaning to portions of five U.S. water projects. Concurrently, we mapped the physical attributes that are part of the places visitors find meaningful. A process emerged whereby U.S. water projects’ physical attributes became part of personal and social histories because of meaningful experiences in these places.

U.S. water projects remain contested places. Management of U.S. water projects could benefit from incorporating the temporal meanings people develop at places into ecologically driven management plans.

 

 

Democracy and Participation VI: Stakeholder Participation and Resource Management

Public Participation Related Beliefs: Explaining Differences

Halvorsen, Kathy E., Department of Social Science, School of Forestry and Wood Products, Michigan Technological University

Those who advocate for full public participation in environmental decision-making have tended to cite one or both of the following reasons. The first has been that such involvement will lead to more efficacious decisions. Efficacy may derive from the inclusion of a broader range of information or from increased support for a decision, which incorporates a broader range of concerns. The other argument for full public participation has tended to focus on impacts peripheral to the decision itself. These impacts have been asserted to include improved relationships between publics and agencies, improved participant sense of efficacy in the decision making spheres, and the tendency for participants to gain greater respect for fellow citizens, including those with different opinions from their own. This paper reports on the results of a research project designed to test these relationships. Participants in a series of meeting based discussions about public forest management completed pre and post meeting surveys. These surveys were designed to assess whether participants' beliefs about the USDA Forest Service's performance and relationship to its publics changed after their involvement in the meeting. The surveys also included pre and post questions about participants' beliefs regarding other participants, including those with differing opinions. Differences in aggregate means for the pre and post respondent groups were mostly insignificant thus suggesting that participants' beliefs did not, on average, change much as a result of involvement in the meeting. The lack of change may be explained expectations derived from previous exposure to meetings, as well as other factors.

 

Lay vs. Modeler Expectations of a Good Computer-Based Planning Tool for Local Land Use Management

Tuler, Seth, Social and Environmental Research Institute, Massachusetts; Dietz, Thomas, Department of Sociology, George Mason University, Virginia; Webler, Thomas, Social and Environmental Research Institute, Massachusetts; Antioch New England Graduate School, New Hampshire; & Tanguay, Jasmine, Department of Geography, Clark University, Massachusetts

Efforts to create and disseminate computer-based planning tools for local government planners are increasing. Oftentimes those creating the tools and those targeted to use them complain that they are not used or that they are not useable. Little is known about how differing expectations and perception of what constitutes a useful computer-based planning tool may affect their ultimate use. IN this paper we will present results of a study exploring how users of such tools and those creating them perceive what makes the "good." Specifically, we explore differences and similarities in how each group perceives what types of inputs and outputs are important to include, the role of uncertainty in modeling, and the role of end-users in the design and calibration of the computer-based planning tool. Toward this end we conducted a mail survey with town officials responsible for planning and zoning decisions concerning nitrogen loading in coastal embayments in southern New England. Perceptions of modelers were obtained through interviews and survey responses from scientists who have created nitrogen loading and ecosystem response models of embayments in this region. Improved understanding of the perceptions and expectations of these groups provide insights into how computer-based planning tools can be better designed, disseminated, and applied in local planning contexts.

Comparison of Participants' and Practitioner: Researchers' Concepts of Success in the Evaluation of Environmental Conflict Resolution Processes

Paulson, Deborah, Department of Geography and Recreation, University of Wyoming; Archer, Lisa; Bartlett, Elisabeth; Brown, Wilson; Hitchcock, Robert; Miller, Donna; and Peck, Dannele.

With the rapid growth in the use of alternative models of dispute resolution over the last two decades, researchers and others have begun to ask how we might define success of these processes. Definitions of success have been based on theoretical and normative models, practitioners' experience, and participants' perceptions. A review of the various conceptual models of success indicates much commonality and few contradictions in categories and aspects of success. However, it is not clear that practitioners and researchers place the same emphasis on different aspects of success as do participants and the public when evaluating conflict resolution processes. In this study, participants and observers in two conflict resolution processes in southwestern Wyoming were surveyed and interviewed as part of case studies of the two processes. Participants' perceptions of success are compared to a comprehensive, practitioner/theory-based framework for assessing success developed by Tamra Pearson d'Estree and Bonnie Colby through the Udall Center for Public Policy. Most participants and observers acknowledged the importance of most of the 39 criteria in the inclusive framework, but interviews suggest that their overall evaluation of success hinges on a few select factors, and that those can vary depending on the case.

 

 

Humans and Other Animals III

Problem-Bears in Communities: Strategies to Reduce Conflict

Peine, John D., Southern Appalachian Field Laboratory, US Geological Survey; The University of Tennessee, Knoxville

As gateway communities grow adjacent to protected areas such as national parks and forests, the occurrence of human-bear conflicts have increased. Tourists have witnessed bears shot in dumpsters by hunters in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. Families pushing baby carriages have been followed by bears down the main street of Mammoth Lakes, California. Bears have caused extensive damage in West Yellowstone, Wyoming; Snowmass Village, Colorado; and Juneau Alaska. Communities are being to take action to reduce the incidences of problem-bears. Federal and state wildlife agencies are partnering with community officials to address the problem.

Bear population surges, reduction in natural foods sources and habituation to human-foods are key precursors to human-bear conflicts. A variety of community programs are underway to address the problem. Key elements are elimination of access to human foods and education of both people and bears. It is easier said than done. The solutions are very complex. It is easier to train the bears than the people. Comparison is made of ongoing activities in five communities to address the problem. A model by Kellert and Clark to identify key elements influencing the formation of public policy relevant to wildlife management is utilized to define and evaluate the social, environmental and economic dimensions of the problem. The authors of the model observe that "the multidimensional, interactive and dynamic characterization of the wildlife policy process suggests its extreme complexity and subtlety."

Reconstructing Ecosystems: Native Participation in Wood Bison Recovery

               Gates, C. Cormack, University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada

The interrelationship between Native Peoples and bison (Bison sp.) has a long history in northwestern North America. Available evidence indicates that human communities actively managed landscapes for hunting and had dramatic effects on large herbivore populations prior to European contact. Wood bison (B.b. athabascae) were extirpated from most of their original range in North America by the late 19th century, persisting only in the area south of Great Slave Lake, where they were afforded protection.

Available information supports the hypothesis that changes in the distribution of habitat, combined with hunting of isolated populations resulted in their extirpation and near extinction during the mid to late Holocene. The recovery of wood bison in their original range is currently the focus of an international collaborative effort between Canada, Alaska, and Russia. Native Peoples figure prominently into the recovery strategy. In Canada and Alaska approximately 20 Native groups are involved in planning or management activities for six reestablished populations, remnant herds in northeastern Alberta and southern Northwest Territories, and in the proposed reintroduction of wood bison into interior Alaska. This presentation will describe the history of decline and recovery of the wood bison and the nature of the involvement of Native communities.

Bambi, Babe, and Free Willy: Animal Rights and the Post-Modern Meaning of Animals

Muth, Robert M., Department of Natural Resources Conservation, University of Massachusetts & Jamison, Wesley V., Department of Interdisciplinary and Global Studies, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Massachusetts

The relationship between humans and non-human animals is undergoing profound change in the post-modern world. This is in no small part due to broad macro-structural social forces that have converged in late 20th century advanced industrial societies that provide fertile ground for the emergence of animal protection values. These social forces, or social precursors, are an urban epistemology, the scientific precepts of evolution, anthropomorphism, and the concept of individual rights. Animal protection values and sentiments are increasingly being embraced by a broader spectrum of the general public, and an influential animal rights movement has coalesced into forms of political organization that serve to represent these values in the policy process. In this paper, we argue that specific social conditions of modernity have effectuated changes in the relationship between humans and non-human animals, and that, as a result, animal protection values and the animal rights movement will persist into the foreseeable future. We illustrate our argument with data collected in face-to-face interviews with animal activists at the 1996 March for the Animals and the World Animal Congress held in Washington, D.C., and we discuss the implications of the animal rights movement for the future of wildlife management.

Visitor Attitudes About Deer and Deer-Human Interactions in Shenandoah National Park

             Hocket, Karen

 

Social Construction of Nature I

Are Nonhuman Animals Moral?

              Dixon, Beth, Department of Philosophy, SUNY

In this paper, I identify the definitional nature and role of the emotions in evolutionary arguments for the conclusion that nonhuman animals are moral. For example, Frans de Waal (1996) hopes to convince us that there is a sense in which animals are moral because the are motivated to act out of altruism or compassion. De Wall's work is representative of a broader class of evolutionary arguments for the attributions of emotions to animals that rely on Darwin's "continuity thesis." Briefly, this is the view that the evolutionary development of psychological states from nonhumans to humans is gradual, differing only by degree, not kind. I argue that some evolutionary arguments for the conclusion that animals are moral are defective because either they trade on different definitions of emotions, creating a fallacy of equivocation, or they misconstrue what is implied by Darwin's continuity thesis.

Game Animals

                 List, Charles J., Department of Philosophy, SUNY

Hunting is often defined as killing wild animals. Not all wild animals are hunted, but when they are they are called game animals. This subset of wild animals has been historically variable, attributable to alternating styles and interests of hunters and availability of animals. This implies that the class, game animals, is in part culturally constructed. Ortega y Basset endorses the view that game animals are such because of "nature; creatures . . . to which the only adequate behavior is to hunt them." This second view, closely examined, is difficult to reject. It depends upon the belief that hunting is :a contest or confrontation between two systems of instincts. This implies that game animals are those with instincts which "automatically convert any normal man . . . into a hunter." Ortega’s view is more adequate than the cultural construction view of game animals and answers the objection that hunting (by humans) is not the same as (natural) predation.

Reading Animals

Kalof, Linda, Department of Sociology, George Mason University, Virginia & Tucker, Paige, Environmental Science and Public Policy, George Mason University, Virginia

Animals are of substantial symbolic importance in human society. The significance of the human/animal bond has been reflected in our dance, art, and narrative for thousands of years (Shepard 1996); our language is saturated with animal terms and metaphors (Bryant 1979); and some suggest that our most profound human social problems are better understood in reflection on the human/animal relationship. For example, human slavery had been compared to the enslavement of animals (Spiegel 1986); a connection has been drawn between our cultural image of and attitude toward women and the slaughter of animals (Adams 1990); and cruelty to animals has been found to be tied to the experience and commission of domestic violence and sexual abuse (Ascione 1993; Ressler Burgess, Hartman, Douglas, and McCormack 1986).

Much effort has gone into understanding the hidden assumptions and contested terrains of the symbolic meaning of constructions such as race, gender and class, but sociologists have rarely been interested in decoding animal symbolism, despite its overwhelming presence in our cultural imagination (Bryant and Snizek 1993). Nor have many been interested in interrogating the ideological foundations of the "human" versus "animal" dichotomy or the portrayal of animals in the population culture, particularly as represented in the narratives of the audience or readers of the text. This research begins to fill that void. We examined the dominant messages broadcast about animals in television advertisements and the ways in which the audience interprets these messages.

 

Rural/Urban Tensions

Time to Rethink the Rural and Urban Dilemma

              Carlestam, Gösta, University College of Gävle, Sweden

Cities are civilization with a long history. City life alone gave rise to the authority of the state and complex economies and social development. One important concept of the god city is a built garden- a vision of Paradise- which is demarcated from the wild nature. The garden is an intermediate zone between nature and culture; more

cosmos than chaos to use the Greek words. In Nordic country people are by tradition fond of the humanized nature and the peasant village with aesthetical values. Large cities are often experienced and a hotbed for social- and environmental problems. The Greek city - the polis- is in fact a cultural identity - a cosmos - which the Greek called oecoumene, which means the humanly inhabited world and the home for human being trough the history. It was a important invention we may not forget. The good city saved time and facilitate human transaction. The environment, both rural and the urban landscape - is to day affected by our use of technology - particularly traffic. But our blind spots is mainly a questions of cultural perspective and undeveloped concepts between the urban / rural dialectics a problem of "identity" and " difference" and the borderline between. How can we rethink the rural / urban conflict. We must have peace with the Earth, but also in and between cultures and civilizations. Our urban crisis is manifold, but basically an intellectual / spiritual one which necessitates a strategy for sustainability from a cultural and ethical perspective as well, which should focus on some basic values and concepts. We must better understand the dualistic side of the city which generates the paradoxes about the rural / urban dilemma. However, we must not fall into the utopian trap but bring to life an old historical tradition from the Greek polis. Let us also start with the real landscape itself and the drama we can now read there in the present post-fordist, and high modern restructuring of space with open eyes. It is time to rethink the rural and urban dilemma.

Environmental Implication of Urban Development: Case Study of Manali Planning Area, Kullu Valley, HP, India

                   Mishra, Dushyant, Department of Geography, Delhi School of Economics, Delhi 
                   University, India

The biophysical environment forms a fundamental basis of the existence of human society. It refers to the soil, water bodies, flora and fauna that surround human habitat and from which human beings derives a living. Basic human subsistence requirements are met from the different natural resources. Each component of the natural environment bears significantly upon our livelihood. Furthermore, the environmental components interlink in a complex global ecosystem embodying many subsystems whose indiscriminate disruption would upset the delicate ecological balance, with enormous consequences for human kind. It is a matter of great concern that the quality of the natural environment is deteriorating in many parts of the country at a time when the human population is growing at an accelerated rate. There is a high degree of diversity in land productivity in different regions of the country. The paper will discuss the environmental implications of developmental activities in a Himalayan resort town and suggested suitable urban land use policy for sustainable development.

Are Rural Ecosystems of Bangladesh in a Transition?

Kabir, Dihider Shahriar, School of Environmental Science & Management, Independent University, Bangledesh

This paper envisages whether the ecology of Bangladesh is on a transition or not. Development projects, disintegration of different sectoral activities, population pressure and poverty may pose threat in rural environment. According many environmental scientists that some parts of the country may be regarded as environmentally endangered areas. However, reasonable data is also non- existent. This study, therefore, had been conducted by selection of four rural areas. The selection however, was made on the basis of population densities and as well as based on ecological zonation. Thereafter, to analyze the present state of ecology; soil quality, water quality (both surface and ground water) had been analyzed in the laboratory. In addition state of biodiversity had also been investigated during the study in the year 1998-1999. The analytical results of ground water suggested that arsenic level in ground water is increasing. The enumeration of total coliforms and fecal coliforms (6.0 x 103 CFU/100ml to 1.6 x 106 CFU/100ml) and fecal coliforms (8.4 x 102 CFU/100ml ­ 7.3 x 105 CFU/100ml) were very high in the surface water. The analytical results of surface soil tested also suggested that the nutrient status of the agricultural soil in respect to pH, organic matter, potassium, phosphorus, zinc and copper is very poor. The threatened and endangerment of indigenous trees and fishes also suggested that the rural ecology nowadays is in a transition.

 

The Clash of the Titans - Balancing the Physical and Human-Induced Environment for Urban Growth

           Mladinich, Carol S., U.S. Geological Survey, Rocky Mountain Mapping Center, 
           Colorado

The actions of people have many impacts on the landscape, especially in fast growing urban areas. Cities are a complex mix of natural and human-induced environments. As competition for urban land and resources becomes more intense, the need to integrate and balance the natural and human-induced environments is more critical. An integrated systems approach to identifying the makeup of the urban landscape and to understanding the complex interactions between society and the environment is required to anticipate and accommodate urban growth. policy makers and the public need systems and analysis tools to plan for change.

The U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) Front Range Infrastructure Resources project uses such an approach in its focus on the Denver metropolitan area. The combined data resources of the project will yield credible and comprehensive insights into the character and impacts of land use change; such insights can contribute to balancing urban growth with environmental protection. Temporal land use and land cover data are being used to understand the growth patterns in the region and the historic use of natural resources. THE USGS is also developing a Group Spatial Decision Support System (GSDSS) that integrates physical and human-induced environmental data in a user-friendly geographic information system (GIS). Urban and regional planners, policy and decision makers and the public can use the GSDSS to develop land use scenarios and evaluate development alternatives that incorporate sound science and community-based values.

Meaning and Interpretations of Nature I

The Meaning and Management of Nature: Constructing and Contesting 'Place' in Post-Utilitarian Forestry

              Williams, Daniel R., USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, 
               Fort Collins, Colorado

The goal of this presentation is to examine the implications of a "geographic turn" in natural resource management. The turn toward such themes as ecosystem management, multi-scaled landscape ecology, community based resource management, and "sense of place" thinking reflect two related but erroneously conflated trends: (1) greater recognition of "spatiality" in social and ecological theory and (2) increasing social anxiety about the magnitude and pace of changes to valued landscapes or places. It is important to understand and disentangle the implications these two aspects of the geographic turn if we are to advance scientific understanding and reform social institutions for the management of nature. Building on the first trend, this paper delineates the social processes of "place-making" in which spaces or landscapes are geographically organized and socially constructed into places that carry various meanings. Place making involves the contestation over competing "senses of place" and is fundamental to natural resource planning. Moreover, this contestation is compounded by globalization and related processes that pluralize and accelerate meaning "displacement". Resource management practice, historically anchored in resource utilitarianism, is generally ill-equipped to address and adjudicate among competing meanings and values of places. Recognizing ‘place’ as a geographic force in the constitution of nature and society addresses this problem and responds to growing critiques of the modern enlightenment view of nature and society in four ways: it expands the spatial-temporal context of landscape analyses, it legitimizes a broader and more intangible array of landscape meanings, it recognizes pluralism in the conduct of science, and it accommodates pragmatic (non-economic) alternatives for ordering environmental values. In addition to taking a more spatial approach to social and ecological theory, a ‘place’ discourse has also emerged as a kind of proto-sociopolitical movement among segments of society disenchanted with modern views of nature and society. The pluralization of place meanings, and the acceleration of their production and consumption, leads some social critics to deplore the loss of "authentic" places and extol a return to a romantic, pre-modern relationship to nature. As a normative discourse for managing places, this view can be questioned on social and political grounds and should not be indifferently conflated with the need for greater spatiality in the science and practice of nature management.

Managing Tensions between Human Wants and Ecosystem Needs: Using Citizens' Senses of Selves-in-Place for Adaptive Management

Cantrill, James G., Communication Studies, Northern Michigan University & Senecah, Susan L., Environmental Studies, SUNY - Environmental Science and Forestry

Although it is common practice for resource managers to focus on processes by which human activity in the environment may be adapted to ensure the sustainability of natural ecosystems, we often forget that our perceptions of who we are given where we live greatly influence the political context for regional ecosystem management. These shared "senses of selves-in-place" serve as potent mediators in the process of attending to or embracing conservation-oriented practices and, thus, contribute to the democratic underpinnings of natural resource policy making. This paper uses the sense of self-in-place construct as a foundation for examining the relationship between self-schema and public participation in local-to-global natural resource conflict and decision-making. To advance this argument, we begin by discussing the association between a sense of place, how the self gets related to the environment, and the processing of conservation-oriented advocacy. We then review a series of empirical studies conducted over the past decade, as well as reinterpret other quantitative and qualitative examinations, which demonstrate the psychological potency of one’s sense of self-in-place. In turn, we focus on the tension that often develops given the desires of local stakeholders in competition with land-use advocates from afar (e.g., industrialists, nongovernmental organizations) by exploring two case studies of regional natural resource conflicts. The paper concludes with an argument for continued investment in the study of the sense of self-in-place construct.

Community Comparison of Residents' Special Places on Public Lands in Utah

Blahna, Dale J., Utah State University, Department of Forest Resources, Logan & Taylor, Jonathan G., Social, Economic & Institutional Analysis Section, MESC, U.S. Geological Survey, Fort Collins, CO

Most special place studies use qualitative methods to investigate peoples’ emotional attachments to specific areas or places. In this paper, we present ways to collect quantitative information on special places, and the results of two survey research projects conducted in Utah. The studies investigated aspects of both community sense of place and special places on public lands. One survey was conducted in four community areas near the Dixie National Forest and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in south central Utah, and the other survey was conducted in five community areas in central and southeastern Utah. Both surveys asked respondents to identify unique aspects of their communities and to list special places on public lands, how they use those places, and what makes those places "special." The second survey also included a "resident-employed photography" method where residents took photos in and around their community that depicted scenes that were essential to their quality of life (both positive and negative). The purpose of this paper will be to compare the results of these quantitative approaches to special place attachment, discuss similarities and differences in the results across communities, and make recommendations for using community level special place information in natural resource agency and community land use planning efforts.

 

Sustainability I: Theory

Civil Society for the Commons

                  Lough, Tom & Wellin, Elaine, Sonoma State University, United States

Civil society and the commons are seen as alternative ways to frame and integrate social and environmental issues. Intriguingly, both have been defined, in brief terms, as neither public nor private (e.g., Cohen and Arato 1995, Goldsmith et al 1992). In linking these ideas globally, social organization becomes a key characteristic of the commons, and civil sectors of societies are located within almost infinite and changing varieties of land-based or environmental arenas, none of which is located primarily in either governmental or corporate spheres. The resulting integrative analysis lends further reason to view local political, economic and social power, or democratic control by "the rest of us" as basic to resolving the intertwined issues of social injustice, sustainability, and environmental degradation.

Sustainable Development - All Nice Things Put Together May Not Work?

               Narayanan, N. C., Institute of Social Studies, The Hague, The Netherlands

The paper attempts a conceptual critique of  'Sustainable Development' (SD) through a multi-disciplinary case study in Kerala, South India. SD encompasses multiple concerns like economic efficiency, social equity, environmental sustainability etc. The study examines a suggested SD solution like Integrated Farming Systems (IFS) model with rice-fish rotation, in place of the low returns and environmentally degrading (due to green revolution technologies) rice cultivation. The analysis using an agricultural scientist's frame proved the environmental superiority of IFS (less exogenous inputs, re-cycling and organic enrichment) and a cost-benefit analysis proved it three times more profitable also, which gave a win-win solution to the crisis facing this rice-growing region. The next section looked at the societal constraints of replication of this model, mainly the differentiated social structure impeding a shift from individual rice to collective fish farming. The labour absorption in IFS was only 1/3 of rice farming and the average fall is 112 labour days/ha (86% of displaced labour are landless women). This raised questions of social equity and indications of a job less growth pattern. The trade union of left wing political party launched an agitation, destroying crops and fish farms in reclaimed rice fields, which then hampered the spread of IFS. The right wing parties came out supporting the farmers and two discourses emerged in the political realm with different truth claims competing for legitimacy. This raises questions on multi-disciplinary analysis and coherence of a policy through this and evokes questions of power in options with competing worldviews.

Transdisciplinarity for the Human Adaptation to Complex Changes

          Egnéus, Hans & Bruckmeier, Karl, Göteborg University, Human Ecology Section, 
          Sweden

Adaptive decision making has been discussed normatively to enhance democratic decision-making and sustainability of resource use. In this discussion, the complex problems of using different kinds of knowledge have been underestimated. With the epistemic concept of transdisciplinarity some of the problems of matching knowledge production and knowledge application have been addressed. Nevertheless, theoretical and epistemological reflection of inter- and transdisciplinarity is insufficient. To contribute to this reflection we discuss human adaptation to large-scale societal, technological and environmental changes with regard to transdisciplinary knowledge use in environmental research, in education and in the implementation of resource use strategies

Social Capital and Sustainability: The Role of Trust, Association, and Social Networks in Sustainable Development

              Turina, Frank, Graduate School of Public Affairs, University of Colorado

Social capital refers to features of society such as networks, norms, and trust that encourage cooperation and collective action. Contemporary social and political scientists have gathered empirical evidence that suggests that strong social ties among individuals are critical to the success of government programs and the well being of society. Research has demonstrated an important connection between social capital and the effectiveness of democratic institutions, the success of schools, the pace of economic development, the maintenance of a healthy environment, and the physical and mental health of citizens. Our attempt to steer development toward a more sustainable path can be viewed as a critical test of our potential for positive collective action. Sustainable development will challenge our ability to theorize, create, develop, and implement policies designed to achieve a "common good". If theories based on the concept of social capital hold any merit, we are unlikely to achieve the level of cooperation required for sustainability without high levels of trust, norms of generalized reciprocity, and networks of civic engagement. This paper examines the relationship between levels of social capital and our progress toward a sustainable society. It discusses the role of norms, and social networks in achieving the levels of collective action and cooperation required to develop sustainable development strategies. Without strong stocks of social capital communities will struggle with concepts and practices of sustainable development.

 

Social Construction of Nature II

How Does Nature Speak to our Concern?: The Case of Montana's Rocky Mountain Front

            Friskics, Scott, Augusta, Montana

In our everyday lives, the beings and things of nature speak to us in ways that invite our participation in relations best described as dialogues. In the sacramental intercourse of dialogue, we come to know our fellow creatures in ways that elicit our concern and call forth our committed response. We come to know them as both other and kin, and this participatory knowledge engenders and sustains our deepest respect and compassion for them. In addition, these dialogical encounters off us a glimpse of the value and meaning of our mutually, co-creaturely being-together; they grace our lives with intimations of "finality." Such intimate and meaningful contact provides us with the "deontic experiences"" that ground our ethical responsibility, empower us to meet the exigencies of the situation in which we find ourselves called upon to respond, and inspirit our actions with a compelling sense of necessity. IN order to describe this dynamic interplay of dialogue and responsibility (and, to a lesser degree, finality and necessity) as it actually informs our live sand actions, these ideas rare presented within the context of real-life environmental issue: the contentious debate over oil and gas leasing on Montana's Rocky Mountain Front.

Descriptions of an Ideal Environment

            Clayton, Susan, Department of Psychology, The College of Wooster, USA

There is a multiplicity of ways in which people think about nature and natural environments. The different conceptions may reflect both cultural influences and individual differences. One not uncommon way for people to construct a vision of a natural environment is in response to being asked to form a mental image of a "special place." In this paper I will report on a study in which college students were asked to visualize "a place where you would like to be." They were told that this place could be a real location or one that was only imagined. This paper will examine several questions of interest: What kinds of environments are described? Where they natural or built environments? Where other people present or not? How rich was the sensory detail of the description? What is the impact of cultural descriptions of the ideal? Two participant variables were examined for their impact on the description: gender and score on an Environmental Identity measure. Preliminary results show that the majority of environments described were natural settings and a majority of these were beaches. There were differences between real and imagined place descriptions, as well as differences due to gender and to Environmental Identity. These findings will be discussed in terms of what they suggest about the influences on our image of an ideal environment.

Who Has Access to Nature and Why? Race Matters in Managing Symbolic Landscapes

               Floyd, Myron, Texas A & M University

There is mounting interest from researchers and policy makers in explanations for the dispropriate utilization of U.S. national parks, Wilderness, and other protected areas by people of color. Building on recent theoretical developments in cultural geography and environmental sociology, this paper explores why natural parks and protected areas seem to lie beyond the leisure-travel domain of African Americans. In so doing, an attempt is made to position the concept of symbolic landscape more prominently in theorizing about race, ethnicity, and recreational use of natural resource amenities. Elements of traditional and emerging theory in cultural geography and environmental sociology will be examined and synthesized to propose alternative approaches for conceptualizing race-ethnicity-environmental linkages. The central theme of the paper is that parks and protected areas reflect racial structures found in the broader local and global society. As the U.S. experiences greater racial and ethnic differentiation, and as race and ethnicity continue to be pivotal in the distribution of societal rewards and benefits, developing alternative models for understanding how race impacts natural resource management becomes increasingly important for planning and policy decisions. In particular, progress toward achieving greater accessibility for a wider and more diverse segment of people will depend upon understanding how historic and contemporary racial structure is embedded and reproduced in symbolic landscapes.

African American Land Memories

             Johnson, Cassandra Y.; Bowker, J. M.; & Cordell, H. K., USDA Forest Service

Maurice Halbwachs (1980) writes that memory is only retained in groups or communities of people. In order for events to withstand the test of time, there must be a mutual sharing of information about such events, otherwise memories die. Zerubavel (1996) writes, too, that what we remember is influenced or filtered to a great extent by the social environment, and that others must often help us to remember the past. Certain memories do not exist apart from social milieus and in fact are particular or especially salient only to those whoa re members of a given group or mnemonic community. A ready example of this kind of remembering, called collective memory, is given by the experience of Jews during the Holocaust and the "memory" of such by successive generations of Jews.

We use collective memory as an analytical tool to examine African American perceptions of wild, primitive areas and black interaction with such areas. The middle-American view of wild lands and wilderness frames these terrains as refuges--pure and simple, sanctified places distinct from the profanity of human modification, capable of transforming the spirit of those who enter. To the contrary, we propose that wild, primitive areas do not exist in the minds of all Americans as uncomplicated or uncontaminated places, detached from society's ills. We argue, rather, that black collective land memories--of slavery, sharecropping, and lynching--have contributed to an African American adversarial relationship with wildlands. This paper considers the impact of these three socio-historical institutions on black perceptions of wild, primitive areas. Black perceptions of federally designated wilderness lands are empirically assessed using data from the National Survey on Recreation and the Environment.

 

Transactional Social Support and the Ecology of Community Change

Enabling Transactional Social Support Within Ecologically Impacted Human Systems

                   Boger, Robert P., Michigan State University, East Lansing

The transactional dynamics of person-to-person social support have been shown to have unique, exceptional, and long-lasting impacts on the lives of those involved (Boger, 1983; Roman, L., Lindsay, J., Byes, R., Jones, A. and Haas, B., 1992). When effectively facilitated, these unique transactional dynamics in turn have great positive impact on the ecology of community systems. The effective facilitation and implementation of community social support, however, is not accomplished without careful attention to a specific enabling process. Excellently conceived social support models have often failed to accomplish expected change for the target individuals, families and communities because too little attention was paid to enabling processes. This paper will outline these enabling process dynamics and discuss the theoretical rationale and implementation strategies pursuant to them.

Parents Organizing Positive Parenting: A Social Support Model in Cyber-Space

                 Lewis, Heather, Michigan State University, East Lansing

The Parents Organizing Positive Parenting [P.O.P.P] approach was conceptualized as a model of social support designed to enhance the parent, child, and school triad. In addition, the model looks to facilitate the parent-to-parent connection by empowering parents to become an integral part of their child's development. This model's medium is of the utmost importance. We ground our intervention in cyber-space. In the age of the internet, people have come to utilize the web in increasing number and frequency. P.O.P.P.'s information, support, beliefs, philosophies, and programs are all accessible on the internet. Through this medium, P.O.P.P. draws parents into current research, knowledge, programs and other supports at their convenience, thus enhancing their receptiveness. This presentation will outline the P.O.P.P. model and provide a description of the program's operational components.

The Development of Individual Social Capital, Linking Social Support and Social Capital

                 Haddow, Julie., Michigan State University, East Lansing

The theories of social support and social capital are both founded on the belief that interactions between people change outcomes. The founders of social support theory were epidemiologists who realized that "social support acts as a buffer for the adverse effects of stress" (Vaux, 1988, p. 7). The theory evolved to cross many disciplines as a way of discussing the important psycho-dynamic process between individuals or groups of people and its beneficial outcomes. Likewise, social capital theorists were aware of the fact that there were factors at work between individuals or groups other than the simple exchange of good sand services. Individuals and groups demonstrated preferential treatment and received benefits when they had a relationship with another individual or group. These positive attitudes towards their relationships created social capital. The preferential treatment and benefits increased when the individual or group had feelings of sympathy and obligation to another individual or group. In essence, relationships do matter; they change both the psycho-dynamic process and outcomes for individuals and groups. Not only do social support and social capital value the importance of the human relationship, they share a common root. This paper will discuss the genesis of social support and social capital, their development and their interrelationship.

On the Saturday Morning Soccer Field: A Habermasian Perspective on the British Columbia Commission on Resource and Environment

                 Longo, Justin, University of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

Political discourse surrounding British Columbia's wilderness, natural resource, and land use public policy has evolved through a range of distinct frames over the course of the 20th century. Towards the last half of the century this policy discourse was marked by an escalating conflict of values that, by the 1980s, had heightened into what became referred to as "the war in the woods." As one response to this intensifying conflict, the B.C. government established the Commission on Resources and Environment (CORE) in 1992 to develop a land use and environmental management strategy for the province based on principles adapted from the dispute resolution field.

While dispute resolution has emerged from a rich theoretical and applied background rooted in, inter alia, American legal theory and sociology, there also exists a parallel tradition of discourse theory -- perhaps best articulated by the German philosopher Jürgen Habermas -- which contains important insights for understanding conflicts. Yet much of the American dispute resolution tradition seems not to have embraced the discourse theory literature. The potential for integrating discourse theory into the dispute resolution tradition, and by extension imagining how CORE might have evolved had its crafters consulted this work, is explored in conclusion.

A Question of Value: A Social Capital and Community-Based Resource Management Literature Review

Woollard, Donovan, Simon Fraser University; Sustainable Development and Research Institute, University of British Columbia

Resting upon the observation that the status quo in this province’s resource management is one that tends to be oblivious to ecological, social, and – in the long-term – economic processes, this paper presents a discussion to the effect that the community-based alternative is better equipped to deal with issues of sustainability. Unlike the industrial, corporate-led model that is the norm in British Columbia, community-based resource management rests upon a foundation of participatory democracy. This allows multiple values to come to the fore in resource allocation and management discussions. If properly conceived, it also allows communities to exercise greater economic autonomy through providing an avenue to utilize and cultivate positive social capital. While the two concepts of social capital and community-based resource management share much in common, there is little literature that explicitly links the two. This paper is an attempt to do just that.

International Forum: How SHE Can Play a More International Role in Communication, Education and Consultation: The Challenge of the New Era

Round Table

 

Chairs: Borden, Richard J., College of the Atlantic, Bar Harbor, Maine; & Wang, Rusong, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing

Participants: Ekhorn, Eva, Commonwealth Human Ecology Council, London, UK; Hens, Luc, Free University of Brussels, Belgium; & Hill, Brendan, Centre for Human Ecology, Edinburgh, UK

The ideas of human ecology are well established throughout the world. Its broad mandate has led to a rich array of academic programs, research initiatives, and far-reaching practical approaches. SHE meetings always have a dedicated session for international participants to introduce new programs, to share ideas, and to organize international exchanges and activities. In order to strengthen the global network of human ecologists, we encouraged all international visitors to SHE XI to join in this forum.

 

Meaning and Interpretations of Nature II

Cosmologies, Ancient, Old and New and their Relationship to Environmental Ethics: Can the Human - Nature Paradigm be Shifted?

               van Tine, Robin, Saint Leo University -- Tidewater Center, Virginia

This presentation will examine some of the relationships between a society's cosmological worldview and their relationship with nature. Particular emphasis will be placed on comparing primal indigenous cosmologies, Eurocentric cosmologies and the "New Cosmology" with respect to their relationships to the human-nature paradigms of those societies. Is there reason to hope that the dominant world paradigm with regard to the human-nature relationship is changing.

Do They Want to Learn? Investigating the Recreation Preferences and Motivations of Visitors at Developed Nature Based Recreation Sites

Denny, Christine & Stein, Taylor V., School of Forest Resources and Conservation, Univ. of Florida

With the increase of nature-based visitation on public lands, recreation planners are faced with the challenge of managing for a diverse recreation public and sensitive natural ecosystems. Much research has been done on what people do to recreate, but not much has been done on why or what benefits are derived from certain recreation opportunities. There has also been little research done on the learning benefits of recreation.

Silver Glen Springs in the Ocala national forest, Florida, provides intense social recreation opportunities. Current activities at the springs include: boating, swimming, picnicking, and hiking. USFS recreation managers at Silver Glen Springs are working to create innovative nature-based recreation opportunities for the site.

Previous research shows Silver Glen Springs recreationists have a desire to learn about the ecology and natural history of the area. This study used a benefits-based approach to examine why people visit developed nature-based recreation sites and specifically examined people's desires for learning as a motivator to go to the springs. It also examined the facilities and service that best provide for desired benefits, especially learning benefits. Researchers surveyed both on- site and potential respondents (i.e. visitors to other developed recreation sites) to identify their desire for specific benefits, facilities, services, and activities.

Through qualitative, descriptive and multivariate data analysis, results show visitors desire a mix of benefits from their recreation engagements, and learning about the natural and cultural history of the area was important to most visitors. Researchers identified recreation alternatives that best provided opportunities for recreationists to learn about the natural and cultural attractions while attaining their other desired benefits.

The Cross-Cultural Issue in Policy-Making and Management Strategies Involving Symbolic Plant Species in the Amazon Natives' Territories

                 Cristancho, Sergio, Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences, 
                 Univ. of Illinois

In order to avoid long-term undesirable social and cultural impacts of local, regional, national or international policy and management strategies for the use of plant species with strong cultural meanings for indigenous cultures, members of those communities should be active participants in formulation and implementation processes. Unfortunately, this has not been the prevailing practice. The pivotal importance of the Coca plant in the social and cultural order of indigenous Amazonian people is presented as a framework for developing knowledge and proposing alternative solutions regarding this issue. Amazonian indigenous communities have gone through a steady process of cultural and social disintegration at least in part due to misunderstandings among Western societies regarding the role of Coca in their lives. The psychosocial importance of the indigenous Amazonian’s relationship with nature is examined as a means to widen the perspective about the significance of the traditional use of several local species, and the deleterious consequences of neglecting this fact. The case of a Uitoto community in the Columbian Amazon, where significant social, cultural, and health-related problems have occurred as a consequence of inadequate policies and historical exploitation concerning their plant species is analyzed to illustrate these issues.

A Cross-Cultural Strategy of Instruction for Negotiating Meanings About Natural Environments

                 Cartwright, Sharon, Oregon State University Extension Service

Democracy and education are inherently linked. In order to educate a public that can be responsible for a sustainable natural environment there is an urgent need to explore two implications of recent cross-cultural discourse; first the harmful effects of our own cultural tendencies, and second the benefits of exploring the more healthy human-nature balances of other cultures. This paper proposes an instructional strategy for potentially moving people to a better understanding of our relationship with the natural environment. Using two approaches that build upon each other, this strategy uses the Kluckhohn model of value orientations across cultures to look generally at culturally-derived meanings and differences. Then, following Bateson and C.A. Bowers, it moves in the dual directions of a self-critical view of our own culture’s destructive environmental habits together with in-depth explorations of other people’s more healthy human-nature relationships. The strategy promotes the possibility of raising our consciousness beyond the level of appreciating differences toward the capacity to negotiate cultural meanings about our ecosystem; an important aspect of healing our relationship with the earth.

 

Sustainability II: Theory and Case Studies

Canada's Pursuit of Sustainable Development: The Struggle up a Steep Learning Curve

Dougherty, David, Sustainable Development and Environmental Management Consulting and Audit, Canada

In the last twenty years, the Government of Canada has built environmental assessment into its decision-making process and reduced many negative effects of human activity. For example, dioxins and furans in pulp mill effluents, fumes from leaded gasoline, and acidic smelter emissions have all been reduced. However, the country's most complex challenge is to rethink how decisions are made to create a stable society for future generations while meeting the needs of today's population: that is, to make development sustainable. This involves protecting the biophysical environment, meeting people's basic needs (for food, clothing, shelter, and education), and maintaining a peaceful and just society with equal opportunity for everyone. In the last five years, politicians decided to require central departments and agencies to prepare sustainable development strategies (SDSs), and appointing a Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development to monitor SDS implementation. However, the SDS goals set thus far have been weak, and follow-through on the actions needed to achieve them has been sporadic. Cultural change in the bureaucracy is happening slowly. The ecological footprint of each Canadian remains high. Nonetheless, Canadians expectations for good behaviour and increasing management awareness are driving the government toward improving environmental performance.

People, Landscape, and Economy: A Model of Community Sustainability

                  Taylor, Davis, College of the Atlantic, Bar Harbor, Maine

Models of community level sustainability have advanced considerably in the past twenty years. For example, most recent general models recognize the importance and interrelatedness of three aspects in community sustainability, which go by various names: economy (or human capital or socioeconomic sustainability), environment (or natural capital or environmental sustainability), and community (or human capital or community sustainability). The recognition of this interrelatedness is a major advance in current thinking on community sustainability, but most existing models do not focus on the actual dynamics of the three models of their "sustainability triangles." Conversely, dynamic models tend to focus only on two of the three major elements, and tend to be at a level of abstraction that masks the actual processes that link the elements. The purpose of this paper is to highlight the dynamic human ecological linkages between all three major elements of community sustainability. These linkages include local history, perceptions of place, patterns of resource extraction, recreational use, and community social structure (including work ethic, education, and other forms of socialization). An important result of emphasizing dynamic linkages is a critical reconceptualization of "environment" or "natural capital" as instead "landscape." They also serve to highlight the problematic nature of permeability and change (such as migration, larger economic structural change, and technological change) in assessing community sustainability. The resulting complexity of what constitutes both individual and community well being, and how they are shaped, suggests that accurately assessing community sustainability will be extremely difficult. Several approaches are suggested to clarifying sustainable community development.

A Case Study of Sustainable Development of Some Villages in Uttar Pradesh

                  Singh, Ramendra, CSJM Kanpur University, India

In this presentation, a case study of Sustainable Development of some villages in Central Uttar Pradesh is proposed to be presented by considering the following factors: 1) Population Growth, 2) Land Resource Ownership, 3) Literacy levels of Men and Women, 4) Income per household, 5) Medical and other welfare benefits, 6) Use of labor force as well as implements for agricultural purposes etc.

The correlation among some of the above factors using the corresponding data will be analyzed and discussed. The role of Population growth on sustainability will also be discussed.

Sustainable Development: A Conceptual Model

                     Shukla, Ajai, Centre for Modelling, Environment and Development (C-Mend), 
                     Meadows International

Sustainable development is a multifaceted concept, whose aims and objectives have been widely endorsed and accepted at national and international for, in both developing and developed nations, but the concept is still wide open to interpretation, criticism and revision in terms of measurement and quantification depending upon the region under consideration. Yet, when it comes to being a definitive guide to policy making there is a great gap.

In general, sustainable development depends on growth rates of industrial and agricultural production; Economic factors such as savings rate, rate of technology transfer, exports, imports, and GENP benefits; Environmental factors such as pollution, climate change, and global warming; Ecological factors such as use of nonrenewable resources, the rate depletion of renewable resources, and biodiversity; Population and other demographic facts; and Developmental factors such as housing, health, education, employment and rate of migration -- Interactions and cross linkages between the above factors; Conservation, presentation and maintenance of environment and ecology; and Welfare factors such as distribution of net benefits to present and future generations, and equity issues.

A conceptual model of Sustainable Development is proposed and empirically validated in an example using Eastern Uttar Pradesh, India.

Social Construction of Nature III

Von Humboldt, Thoreau, and Ecocriticism

                Bergmann, Hans, Department of English, George Mason University, Virginia

Real Animals?

                 Acampora, Ralph R., Hofstra University, U.S.

Critiques of various wildlife protection measures, such as the establishment and maintenance of zoological gardens and parks are sometimes mobilized by consideration of authenticity factors. The question can be put, for example: are we really saving the wild being in or under conditions of captivity or sanctuary? Is the refuge not in effect a prison that changes the 'true nature' of its keep? Framing this kind of query implies a criterion of judgment, which has been phrased so that "a wild animal achieves a state of authentic well-being when it survives and reproduces offspring, based on its own genetic abilities and behavioral adaptations, in a truly natural (as opposed to merely naturalistic) environment."

To assess the legitimacy of this type of criterion, eco-critics need to deal with the issue of what a 'real animal' might be, of whether any such entity exists is knowable. For, at the other end of the ontological spectrum, social constructionists dispute realist authenticators of animal nature by making claims like the following: "Once brought to human attention an animal is no longer an animal in itself--it can only be that away from human sight, experience, and thought".

Neo-Kantian remarks of this sort raise the specter of what we might call zoological idealism. Consequently, I want here to compare the phenomenal and biological notions of animality: is it possible. I am asking, to discover that elusive beast--the animal-in-itself? If not, can we rehabilitate the idea of biotic authenticity--a notion crucial to the intelligibility of preservation as such--without resting on essentialistic illusions.

On Literary Theory and Ecological Theory

                      Gras, Vernon, George Mason University, Virginia

 

Building Wilderness: The Integration of Humans into a Non-human World I

Building Wilderness: Overview

                   Anderson, John, College of the Atlantic, Bar Harbor, Maine

Out of the Garden: Wilderness as an alternative to managed intervention

                 Cline, Kenneth, College of the Atlantic, Bar Harbor, Maine

Resilience and Livelihood in the Atlantic Forest Coast and in the Amazon


Begossi, Alpina, NEPAM - Center of Environmental Studies and Research; UNICAMP - State University of Campinas, Brazil

Wilderness Conservation through Design in the National Parks

                            Mancinelli, Isabel, College of the Atlantic, Bar Harbor, Maine

 

 

Modeling and Planning for Population Change in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem

Regional Trends and Drivers of Land Use Change in the GYE

Aspinall, Richard J., Geographic Information and Analysis Center, Department of Earth Sciences, Montana State University, Bozeman

Spatial data, including data from existing and new remote sensing platforms, and both spatial analysis and environmental modeling linked with Geographical Information Systems are important tools in the processes of developing sustainable use and management of land resources. This paper describes a case study using spatial analysis and modeling to analyze and predict urban and rural residential growth counties in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. This area is experiencing most of the social, economic and environmental pressures associated with land use change in the Rocky Mountain West of the United States and some counties have annual population growth rates that are among the highest in the US.

This paper describes the development and use of a region-wide geographic database of socio-economic and environmental conditions. Spatial Analysis, and models based on socio-economic and environmental drivers of land use change are used to examine changes in settlement and land use patterns in the area. The modeling method used in this case study, a probability modeling approach previously used for analysis of wildlife and plant distribution, is able to use both socio-economic and environmental data as inputs and provides a flexible framework for exploring historic and potential future changes and the impacts of different input drivers of change.

Prediction of land use change is a valuable tool for rural communities to plan for the future. Spatially referenced information is essential for accurately predicting land use change and subsequent ecosystem and socioeconomic impacts in these communities. The paper also discusses the role of models and GIS in land use decision making.

Integrating Human and Ecological Measures for Rural Land Use Change

Johnson, Jerry, Department of Political Science, Montana State University & Maxwell, Bruce, Land Resources and Environmental Science, Montana State University, Bozeman

As rural communities undergo significant population growth and resultant social change, tools that allow local government officials and community groups to anticipate the nature and location of land use change can minimize social conflict. We present a suite of tools across several spatial scales that utilize various technologies to predict future growth scenarios. We also present ways public officials and citizens can use these tools to engage in community dialogue to mitigate the effects of rapid population growth.

Does Adaptive Management have Potential to Resolve Issues in the Greater Yellowstone?

Gloss, Steven P., Institute & School of Environment and Natural Resources, Univ. of Wyoming; Light, Stephen S. & Blann, Kristen L., Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, Minnesota, Minneapolis

While the theories and concepts of adaptive management have become a part of the lexicon of modern resource management, its implementation in large regional systems is still fairly young. Using social learning, which has resulted from attempts to implement adaptive management, this process is poised to become a major contributor to our most important resource management challenges. The Greater Yellowstone Area (GYA) encompasses 18 million acres of federal and 3 million acres of private land in four states. Two premier national parks-Yellowstone and Grand Teton-along with seven national forests make up much of the federal land. Unique scenic, geologic, and wildlife resources, combine with logging, mining, grazing, oil and gas exploration, tourism, and population growth, to characterize the multiple use nature of this unique area. The GYA's management is under intense local, regional, national, and international scrutiny with a complex set of federal, state, tribal, and local jurisdictional authorities. Management decisions in one sector have potential social, economic, and ecological implications across the entire GYA. Adaptive Environmental Assessment and Management offers the framework for public policy, management decision making, scientific research, and public access to information and knowledge about the dynamic interplay between, ecology, economics, and sustainable management of the GYA.

Temporal Influences of Human Development on Landscape Pattern and Animal Habitat in Teton County, Wyoming

Watts, Raymond D., US Geological Survey/CIRA, Foothills Research Campus, Colorado State University, Fort Collins; Ouren, Douglas, US Geological Survey, Forest Services Laboratory, Montana State University, Bozeman; Drummond, Mark & Compton, Roger, US Geological Survey, Colorado, Denver; & Lieske, Scott, Department of Geography and Recreation, University of Wyoming, Laramie

Roads, structures, domestic animals, and other human-caused features alter spatial patterns of the landscape affecting the quality and extent of habitat for wildlife. Some wildlife species show affinities for lands that have certain levels and patterns of heterogeneity as measured by landscape metrics (e.g., forest patch size, distance to nearest patch, and ratio of patch edge to patch area). The influence of human-caused features on the wildlife habitat varies seasonally as densities of traffic and domestic animals fluctuate. These oscillations are particularly notable in Teton County, Wyoming, and other areas that have wide variations in both weather and human population. We measured seasonal changes in the landscape for Teton County through analysis of patch metrics. Digital images of 1-meter resolution provided a basis for mapping the county’s roads and structures for 1994 (1 year). Administrative closures, visitation rates at Grand Teton National Park, and snow pack estimates drove models of seasonal traffic density and domestic animal presence. These waxing and waning influences resulted in measurable seasonal differences in patch metrics in some parts of the county. Wildlife presence is also seasonal because many species are migratory. Over the longer term, landscape metrics change as a result of population growth and land development. However, these landscape changes may be more pronounced in some seasons than in others and their effects on wildlife may be, consequently seasonally dependent. Evaluation of long-term trends and effects on wildlife remain for future work.

 

Meaning and Interpretations of Nature III

Nature and Risk: Cross-Cultural Interpretations and Applications

                    Gallagher, Tom, Oregon State University Extension Service

It is generally accepted that perceptions of nature vary across cultures. In this paper it is argued that these different perceptions lead not only to different ways of valuing nature but also to different ways of assessing the riskiness of activities. To make this point this paper uses a case study in Alaska where Dept. of Defense and Native leaders were in conflict over removal of materials left over from World War II. The successful intervention in the conflict is analyzed in terms of the models of Florence Kluckhohn, in identifying value orientations, and Paul Slovic, in identifying risk perceptions across nature. The paper concludes with an overview of interpretations and applications in modern natural resource management.

Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches to Integrating Rural Stakeholders' Values into Nature-Based Recreation Management on Public Lands

Pennington, Julie K. & Stein, Taylor V., School of Forest Resources and Conservation, University of Florida

The integration of community stakeholder values into nature-based recreation planning and management on public lands is an important element in building productive relationships between local residents and management area staff. Understanding the benefits, both economic and non-economic, that protected public areas provide surrounding communities is of increasing interest to both researchers and public land managers. As part of an in-depth study of nature-based recreation and tourism on its lands, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) is exploring community stakeholders’ perceptions of and interaction with two selected Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs) in the northern and southern areas of the state. Qualitative and quantitative methods were used to identify community stakeholders’ interests, concerns, and perceptions of nature-based recreation on the WMAs. Better identifying and describing how surrounding communities interact with and benefit from protected public areas can strengthen partnerships between local residents and FWC managers, which can result in management plans that are more responsive to the needs of the local communities as well as WMA visitors.

Landowner Perceptions of Ecosystem Health in Upper Great Lakes States Riparian Landscapes

Fish, Thomas E., US Department of Commerce, NOAA Coastal Services Center, South Carolina; Anderson, Dorothy H., Department of Forest Resources, University of Minnesota; & Jakes, Pamela J., USDA Forest Service, North Central Research Station, Minnesota

Riparian areas in the Upper Great Lakes States play a prominent role in defining the biophysical and social character of the region. People value riparian areas for their natural aesthetic appeal, as places for seasonal and permanent residences, and as favorite recreation and tourism destinations. Riparian ecosystems are an important component of the natural landscape, housing much of the representative plant and animal diversity. As more people choose to live and recreate in these areas, the potential increases for human activities to degrade the health of riparian ecosystems. Natural resource management agencies are challenged with finding acceptable solutions to meet the changing demands of the public and the natural resources they manage.

To help identify management needs for riparian areas in the Upper Great Lakes States, qualitative and quantitative survey methods were used to identify the benefits people associate with riparian landscapes, assess public perceptions of human impacts on riparian landscapes, and gauge public support for management strategies to sustain the health of riparian landscapes. Survey data were compared across preexisting land ownership characteristics and across unique groups identified through cluster analysis of landowner responses. Results from this study 1) inform natural resource planning and management by identifying the benefits people derive from riparian landscapes and the disparities in public perceptions regarding the effects of human activities on riparian ecosystem health and 2) are useful to natural resource managers for communicating with the public about human impacts and sustainable land use practices.

Sustainability III: Craft and the Global Economy

Tragedy of the Commons? A Consideration of the Sustainability of Natural Dyes and Dyeing in San Juan La Laguna, Guatemala

           Davis, Caroline, Department of Human Ecology, University of Alberta, Canada

In San Juan La Laguna, Guatemala, an indigenous Mayan women's weaving project, ahs returned to using natural dyes in textile production. Their return to natural dyes was based, partially, on attempting to capture a market niche. In conjunction with an economic motivation, the founders of the project wanted to preserve ancestral knowledge and to provide community continuity by remaining in the village to work. The project's return to natural dyes is not an isolated occurrence. Currently, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and fair trade organizations (FTOs) are encouraging small-scale weaving producers to return to natural dyes for reasons including human and environmental health, and to meet the growing consume demands for green craft products (Aid to Artisans, 1997). Natural dyes, as renewable resources, represent the potential for sustainable development projects. Since the publication of the Bruntland Commission the term 'sustainability' has become part of development rhetoric and is often included as a central goal of development projects. However, the concept of sustainability varies with the goals and perceptions of the individual or group. This paper explores the issue of the sustainability in relation to the use of natural dyes by the weaving project. The results of the exploration illustrate the need for the inclusion of indigenous knowledge in development projects that focus on a return to natural dyes.

Lives behind Naturally Dyed Textiles

                   Modesto, Heloisa S., Department of Human Ecology, University of Alberta, Canada

A demand for products that better reflect indigenous culture has created a new standard of quality in textile commercialization, a fact that has also motivated many indigenous groups to return to the use of traditional textile-making techniques (Anderson, 1998; Morris, 1991). And weavers' groups in developing countries have been encouraged - by a number of international professionals and organizations - to return to the use of natural dyes.

The return to the production of naturally dyed textiles is dependent on the knowledge of natural dyes. According to (Racanog, 1997), this knowledge has always been a closely guarded secret among the Mayan people. The control of a newly introduced technology can yield important information regarding the dominant and subordinate groups in society (Gregory & Altman, 1989). According to Jopling (1975), high-quality textiles result in increased labour before the economic return can be realized, and only a few weavers - with secure economic conditions- can afford to choose this option. The adoption of natural dyeing techniques increases the amount of labour required to produce the textiles (Popelka, 1991). IN Guatemala, a number of indigenous women have begun to produce naturally dyed textiles, however very little information exists documenting their experiences or the results of their decision.

From January to May of 2000, I carried out an ethnographic study with a group of women involved in the production of naturally dyed textiles in San Juan LaLaguna, Guatemala. The production of naturally dyed textiles in this case involved 30 local women directly - each one designated a specific task in the manufacturing of the textile. The paper to be delivered will discuss the social and economic aspects of the production of naturally dyed textiles in the group studied.

Networking among Practitioners in Adaptive Management

Round Table

Chair: Gloss, Steven P., University of Wyoming, Laramie

Panelists: Sando, Rodney, Idaho Department of Fish and Game; Light, Stephen S., Institute for Agriculutre and Trade Policy; Loftin, Kent, Watershed Programs, Earth-Tech, Inc.; Sendzimir, Jan, International Institute of Applied Systems Analysis - IIASA; & Fainter, Michael, Ecosystem Restoration Program, CALFED

Adaptive Environmental Assessment and Management (AEAM) has been a tool for natural resources management over 20 years, first in theory and more recently as a widely practiced approach to large scale resource management issues. There is a clear need to leverage such experience from regional experiments in adaptive management through a network of practitioners. This panel presents an overview of the activities and purposes of a recently created Adaptive Management Network. Individual panel members active in ongoing adaptive management endeavors from a range of geographic and institutional perspectives will address questions aimed at identifying key features and lessons learned through implementation of adaptive management.

Building Wilderness: The Integration of Humans into a Non-human World II

Round Table

Anderson, John, College of the Atlantic, Bar Harbor, Maine

This round-table discussion will focus on the philosophical and practical implications of increasing human pressure on the non-human dominated landscape. We hope to explore by example both the impact of humans on "wilderness" areas and the "restoration" or "recovery" of wilderness through changes in land-use practices. We will also discuss the utility of wilderness from aesthetic and economic standpoints and re-examine the philosophical construct of both human and wilderness settings. The session will begin with a series of short presentations from a number of disciplinary perspectives (ecology, philosophy, public policy, etc) and then open up for a moderated discussion of key issues. Important points that will be addressed include the role of science in landscape decisions, the strengths and limitations of democratic decision-making, etc.

Stalking the Wild Prometheus: The Role of Wilderness in Technological Society

               Visvader, John, College of the Atlantic, Bar Harbor, Maine

Which Wilderness Should We Preserve?

                  Throop, William, Arts and Natural Sciences, Green Mountain College, Vermont

 

SHE-XI

Book of Abstracts

Errata Sheet

The Environmental Movement in Germany and the USA

                  Hanada, Annette P. George Mason University, Virginia

Historical roots of the environmental movement in Germany and the USA and the momentum the movement gained during the early 1960’s are examined. Variations in the development of the environmental movement and issues addressed in each country will be discussed. Furthermore, characteristics and objectives of organizations are compared based on the categories developed by Brulle. In Germany environmental issues have become a common theme in mainstream politics. In-depth interviews conducted in Germany showed environmental terms have become household names among the general public. An attitude change, especially towards recycling but also in consumption patterns, has become evident. Reasons why this change has taken place will be postulated.

Vulnerable Small Island Approaches to Conflict Resolution in Ecological Negotiations

                   Larson, Mary Jo, George Mason University, Virginia

This paper draws lessons from the experiences of small island nations involved in climate change negotiations. The study investigates Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) approaches to the resolution of this ecological conflict. AOSIS represents vulnerable indigenous groups and ecosystems in the multilateral consensus building taking place through the United Nations (UN). Using content analysis and interviews with expert informants, this study analyzes the documented position of AOSIS and the perspectives of expert informants. These preferences are compared to the position and perspectives from the United States and the outcomes of the 1992 Rio and 1997 Kyoto negotiations. The study tests the hypothesis that the proposed solutions are related to the situations of the parties. One set of hypotheses assumes that vulnerable groups tend to propose re-adjustments in the control of material (natural, economic, etc) resources, whereas high power parties tend to propose symbolic solutions. Another set of hypotheses assumes that vulnerable parties propose more integrative solutions than parties with high economic power.

Findings: Contrary to expectations, the vulnerable small island nations do not explicitly focus on the control of economic or natural resources. Instead, the largest percentage of proposed solutions attempt to strengthen inter-group cooperation. Conclusions: First, AOSIS contributes to the ecological security of the Earth by functioning as an advocate for vulnerable subsystems within the system as a whole. Second, ecological negotiations are most effective when they lead to inclusive knowledge building, voluntary inter-group regulations, and the decentralized management of natural and economic resources.

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Copyright 2001, The Society for Human Ecology
The Society for Human Ecology (SHE)
is an international interdisciplinary professional society that promotes the use of an ecological perspective in both research and application. The Society holds regular conferences, conducts workshops and symposia, and co-sponsors a variety of related activities to further integrate work among professionals in fields pertaining to human ecology.

Membership fees are $50 for regular members, $150 for contributing members,  $1000 for sustaining members, and $25 for student members. 

For membership information contact: 
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