Daniel J. Decker

Social Learning for Collaborative Natural Resource Management

This article contributes to understanding about the potential and limitations of social learning for collaborative natural resource management. Participants in a deliberative planning process involving a state agency and local communities developed common purpose and collaborative relationships, two requisites of comanagement. Eight process characteristics fostered social learning: open communication, diverse participation, unrestrained thinking, constructive conflict, democratic structure, multiple sources of knowledge, extended engagement, and facilitation. Social learning is necessary but not sufficient for collaborative management. Other requisites for comanagement, including capacity, appropriate processes, appropriate structures, and supportive policies, are necessary to sustain joint action.

Factors Affecting Response Rates to Natural Resource - Focused Mail Surveys: Empirical Evidence of Declining Rates Over Time

We analyzed factors that could affect response rates for 105 mail surveys conducted by the Human Dimensions Research Unit at Cornell University between 1971 and 2000. The surveys addressed diverse natural resource-based topics and involved a variety of study populations. We tested the null hypothesis that response rates to natural resource-focused mail surveys are not changing over time. We found the best multiple regression model (adjusted R 2 =.558) to explain differences in response rates incorporated five independent variables: (1) saliency of study topic to surveyed population, (2) the month of the first mailing, (3) the size (font) of print type, (4) the number of complex questions included in the survey, and (5) year of survey implementation. All other variables held constant, the model suggests that response rates dropped on average 0.77% per year over the 30-year period. The scatterplot of response rate versus time suggests a gradual decline in response rates over time.

From clients to stakeholders: A philosophical shift for fish and wildlife management

Abstract Fish and wildlife management in North America has been experiencing a fundamental philosophical shift among professional managers and policy makers about who are the beneficiaries of management. This has been reflected in broadening notions of who should be considered in decision making; not just traditional clients who pay for and receive services of managers, but all stakeholders in fish and wildlife management. The term “stakeholder”; has emerged to represent any citizen potentially affected by or having a vested interest (a stake) in an issue, program, action or decision leading to an action. The stakeholder approach in management decision making recognizes a larger set of beneficiaries of management (including, in concept, future generations) than the traditional concepts of constituencies and clients, or customers, a term currently popular among fish and wildlife agencies. The stakeholder approach requires: (1) identification of important stakeholders, (2) flexibility in selection of method...

Social Networks and Community-Based Natural Resource Management

We conducted case studies of three successful examples of collaborative, community-based natural resource conservation and development. Our purpose was to: (1) identify the functions served by interactions within the social networks of involved stakeholders; (2) describe key structural properties of these social networks; and (3) determine how these structural properties varied when the networks were serving different functions. The case studies relied on semi-structured, in-depth interviews of 8 to 11 key stakeholders at each site who had played a significant role in the collaborative projects. Interview questions focused on the roles played by key stakeholders and the functions of interactions between them. Interactions allowed the exchange of ideas, provided access to funding, and enabled some stakeholders to influence others. The exchange of ideas involved the largest number of stakeholders, the highest percentage of local stakeholders, and the highest density of interactions. Our findings demonstrated the value of tailoring strategies for involving stakeholders to meet different needs during a collaborative, community-based natural resource management project. Widespread involvement of local stakeholders may be most appropriate when ideas for a project are being developed. During efforts to exert influence to secure project approvals or funding, however, involving specific individuals with political connections or influence on possible sources of funds may be critical. Our findings are consistent with past work that has postulated that social networks may require specific characteristics to meet different needs in community-based environmental management.

Adaptive Impact Management: An Integrative Approach to Wildlife Management

Wildlife professionals need better ways to integrate ecological and human dimensions of wildlife management. A focus on impacts, guided by a structured decision process, will orient wildlife management toward rigorous, integrative decision making. Impacts are important socially defined effects of events and interactions related to wildlife that merit management. To manage impacts we propose adaptive impact management (AIM). This approach has seven primary components: situational analysis, objective setting, development of system model(s), identification and selection of management alternatives, actual management interventions, monitoring, and refinement of models and eventually interventions. Adaptive impact management builds upon strengths of systems thinking and conventional adaptive management, yet differs in that fundamental objectives of management are impacts on society, rather than conditions of a wildlife population or habitat. Emphasis is placed on stakeholder involvement in management and shared learning among scientists, managers, and stakeholders. We describe and assess adaptive impact management with respect to black bear management in New York.

Public Participation in Wildlife Management: What Do Stakeholders Want?

As public participation in environmental decisions has increased, natural resource management agencies have been challenged to involve stakeholders constructively in the resolution of a variety of contentious issues. This research examines how evaluative criteria, initially derived from theory and literature and then refined based on input from agency staff and stakeholders, can provide natural resource agencies with guidance for designing context-specific stakeholder involvement strategies. To provide illustrations, we conducted inquiries in two communities experiencing wildlife management conflicts. Results suggest that quality stakeholder involvement processes use scientific information, have genuine influence on decisions, treat citizens fairly, and promote informative communication and learning.

Stakeholder Acceptance Capacity in Wildlife management

Abstract Capacity understanding has been a central driving force in both the biological and human dimensions of wildlife management. The concept of biological carrying capacity has been recognized for a long time. For many years, reference has been made to another form of carrying capacity, that of society to tolerate or accept the impacts of wildlife in particular situations. Attempts to articulate this concept have taken several forms, but all generally recognize the economic or attitudinal limits of society to “carry”; wildlife (e.g., risk perception and acceptance). We compare and contrast elements of the biological and human dimensions concepts of carrying capacity. We then describe the concept “stakeholder acceptance capacity”; in wildlife management and a theoretical model for weighting stakes, including algorithms to illustrate conceptually how stakes can be weighted in management decision making.

Chapter 9 Overcoming jurisdictional boundaries through stakeholder engagement and collaborative governance: Lessons learned from white-tailed deer management in the U.S.

Purpose – The purpose is to explore public participation as a means to overcome jurisdictional barriers in governance of trans-boundary wildlife management issues. Methodology/approach – We present one model, defining six philosophical approaches to public participation, then examine relationships between these approaches and traits of stakeholder communities, revealing three distinct governance paradigms: top–down governance, public input, and public engagement. These paradigms illustrate that the different approaches represent fundamentally different types of participation, not simply varying amounts of participation. Using case studies from the United States, we demonstrate how some state, federal, and local government institutions have successfully applied public input and public engagement models of governance to suburban white-tailed deer management. While both models can be used effectively, certain approaches may be preferable to others depending on specific management context, public participation goals, and target publics. Findings – Public input approaches appear better suited to addressing complex problems and communities of interest, while public engagement approaches may better resolve wicked problems that affect communities of place. Future research is needed to clarify the relationship between success of governance paradigms and contextual considerations. Originality/value of chapter – The chapter goes beyond many existing approaches to public participation and governance and presents interesting findings related to exurbanized and protected areas in the USA.

Developing citizens and communities through youth environmental action

Although several studies have examined learning outcomes of environmental action experiences for youth, little is known about the aims motivating practitioners to involve youth in action creating positive environmental and social change, nor how practitioners perceive success. This research explored through phenomenological interviews practitioners’ purposes for using an environmental action approach. Practitioners in this inquiry, who engaged youth in action addressing a range of environmental issues in varied programmatic and community contexts in the US, expressed multifaceted aims motivating their educational practice. Interpretation of practitioners’ stories with respect to their purposes and perceptions of success contributed to a conceptual framework relating environmental action to the development of citizens and sustainable communities. Whereas others have described the stages and learning outcomes of environmental action, this inquiry illustrates the potential of environmental action for concurrently realizing individual and community level impacts.

Risk perception as a factor in Wildlife Stakeholder Acceptance Capacity for cougars in montana

Abstract The increased frequency of cougar attacks on humans throughout western North America has created a daunting challenge for wildlife managers concerned about sustainable coexistence of humans and large carnivores. A mail back questionnaire (n = 805) measured wildlife stakeholder acceptance capacity (WSAC) for cougars in Montana and improved understanding of how cognitive and affective risk perceptions affect WSAC. Respondents who reported a lower WSAC, inferred by a preference for a decrease in cougar populations, perceived significantly greater risks and a higher proportion worried about problems from cougars than respondents who preferred stable or increasing populations. Cognitive risk perception greatly exceeded estimates of actual risks indicated by objective analysis. These results present the possibility that WSAC can be modified for cougars, and presumably other large carnivores, through management actions and communication that affect perceptions of risk to humans.