Phadrea D. Ponds

A policy model to initiate environmental negotiations: Three hydropower workshops

Abstract How do I get started in natural resource negotiations? Natural resource managers often face difficult negotiations when they implement laws and policies regulating such resources as water, wildlife, wetlands, endangered species, and recreation. As a result of these negotiations, managers must establish rules, grant permits, or create management plans. The Legal‐Institutional Analysis Model (LIAM) was designed to assist managers in systematically analyzing the parties in natural resource negotiations and using that analysis to prepare for bargaining. The LIAM relies on the theory that organizations consistently employ behavioral roles. The model uses those roles to predict likely negotiation behavior. One practical use of the LIAM is when all parties to a negotiation conduct a workshop as a way to open the bargaining on a note of trust and mutual understanding. The process and results of three LIAM workshops designed to guide hydroelectric power licensing negotiations are presented. Our experience...

Using Role Analysis to Plan for Stakeholder Involvement: A Wyoming Case Study

Abstract Prior to implementing laws and policies regulating water, wildlife, wetlands, endangered species, and recreation, natural resource managers often solicit public input. Concomitantly, managers are continually seeking more effective ways to involve stakeholders. In the autumn of 1999, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department sought to develop a state management plan for its portion of the Yellowstone grizzly bear (Ursus arctos horribilis) population if it was removed from the federal threatened species list. A key aspect of developing this plan was the involvement of federal, state, and local agencies, representatives from nongovernmental organizations, and citizens. Wyoming wildlife managers asked researchers from the United States Geological Survey to demonstrate how the Legal-Institutional Analysis Model could be used to initiate this process. To address these needs, we conducted similar workshops for a group of state and federal managers or staffers and a broad group of stakeholders. Although we found similarities among the workshop groups, we also recorded differences in perspective between stakeholder groups. The managers group acknowledged the importance of varied stakeholders but viewed the grizzly bear planning process as one centered on state interests, influenced by state policies, and amenable to negotiation. The other workshops identified many stakeholders and viewed the decision process as diffuse, with many opportunities for entry into the process. These latter groups were less certain about the chance for a successful negotiation. We concluded that if these assumptions and differences were not reconciled, the public involvement effort was not likely to succeed.

Public expectations about access fees and road closures on public lands

Abstract It is sometimes suggested that land managers could better communicate with the general public by relying on people who are active in community affairs to frame the message. By comparing responses from the ‘attentive’ and general public on the Colorado Plateau in the USA, this study investigated the expected effects of using recreation access fees or road closures to manage recreation on public lands. Although neither the attentive nor general public strongly anticipated benefits from the two management options, the attentive public was more likely than the general public to report positive expectations. Those more likely to expect fewer benefits from the management options do so because of factors that are outside the influence of managers (e.g., socio-demographics and value orientation). The results point out challenges for building public support through mobilizing the attentive public to develop a positive management atmosphere with fees and road closures.

Findings Abstract Role Analysis to Initiate Citizen Involvement: A Case Study of the Wyoming Grizzly Bear Management Planning Process

Social science researchers from the U.S. Geological Survey have designed a tool that wildlife managers can use to help facilitate citizen involvement processes. Management of grizzly bears in the state of Wyoming provides the backdrop for this demonstration of how the Legal-Institutional Analysis Model (LIAM) (Lamb, 1987; Lamb, Taylor, Burkardt, & Ponds, 1998) is used to initiate a citizen participation process. The LIAM is a computerized model that uses participant knowledge to analyze stakeholders’ roles and sources of power. The grizzly bear is on the Endangered Species List, and is a potential candidate for delisting. This cannot occur until the states with grizzly bear populations complete state management plans. In the fall of 1999 and summer of 2000, we conducted one LIAM workshop for a group of Wyoming state and federal wildlife managers, and two workshops for a broader group of stakeholders to help determine the nature of effective public involvement in crafting these plans. Staff from the Wyoming Department of Game and Fish (WDG&F) Director’s office and other key state and federal stakeholders attended the 1-day workshop conducted in Cheyenne. Representatives of federal, state, and local agencies, nongovernmental organizations, and private citizens interested in grizzly bear management were invited to attend the Powell and Riverton workshops, which were each held over a 2-day period. Prior to the workshops, participants were mailed a letter of invitation, which explained that the purpose of the workshop was to identify the most effective process for developing a grizzly bear management plan, and that the LIAM would be used as a tool to help in that identification. Approxi-