The Symbolic Wolf: A Construal Level Theory Analysis of the Perceptions of Wolves in the United States

Charismatic wildlife can be difficult to manage due to the controversies they generate among stakeholders, which may be rooted in their symbolic meaning. Using construal-level theory, we coded the images of gray wolves mentioned by respondents to a national survey (n?=?621) and an issue public survey (n?=?447) as symbolic (abstract) or corporeal (concrete). We analyzed the relationship between these representations of wolves and several perceptions that may perpetuate social conflict. Most people thought of wolves abstractly, and abstract thoughts were associated with positive feelings toward wolves and agreement with existence beliefs regarding wolves. Concrete representations were associated with identifying as a gun or property rights advocate, hunter, or farmer/rancher. Given these disparate views of wolves, engaging stakeholders through collaborative processes designed to foster a shared understanding of this species, while addressing the concerns of those groups, could be useful in reducing conflict concerning wolf management.     

Resident Attitudes Toward Timber Rattlesnakes (Crotalus horridus)

Abstract

Timber rattlesnakes (Crotalus horridus) are endangered throughout the northeastern United States where multiple factors contribute to population declines. Challenges exist to managing rattlesnake populations because there is little information about human dimensions of this species or other small predators that are venomous or perceived as hazardous. Our objective was to evaluate relationships between resident attitudes and behavioral intentions toward timber rattlesnakes. A mail survey (n?=?593) was used to collect data from residents who live near a rattlesnake population in central Connecticut. Two variables defined resident attitudes toward rattlesnakes: coexistence with the species and perceived threats from the species. Rattlesnake-related factors and situational factors appeared to contribute more heavily to behavioral intentions toward rattlesnakes than general wildlife value orientations. Attitudes predicted behavioral intentions toward rattlesnakes. Results will help wildlife managers incorporate human factors into appropriate management and public outreach strategies.     

Cognitive and Affective Predictors of Illinois Residents’ Perceived Risks from Gray Wolves

Abstract

Increasing wolf populations are a concern for wildlife managers in the Midwestern U.S. Understanding the psychological mechanisms that contribute to public perceptions of risk will enable development of strategies that seek to mitigate these risks, and suggest where outreach efforts may facilitate acceptance of wolves. We examined the psychological factors that influence Illinois residents’ perceived risks from wolves. We hypothesized that individuals’ perceived risks from wolves were a function of their attitudes toward wolves, negative affect toward wolves, and basic beliefs about wildlife. Data were obtained from a survey of the Illinois public (n?=?784). Negative affect and attitudes toward wolves were direct predictors of perceived risks. Basic beliefs predicted attitudes and negative affect toward wolves. Negative affect predicted attitudes. Basic beliefs had direct and indirect effects on perceived risks.     

Collaborative Management of Public Rangeland in Wyoming: Lessons in Co-Management

Collaborative processes are gaining acceptance as a means to integrate different values and interests in the management of natural resources. This paper examines one form of collaboration, Coordinated Resource Management (CRM), as it is being applied to public rangeland management in Wyoming. The study included personal and telephone interviews of participants in CRM groups, document review, and personal observation to understand how the process works to achieve consensus among diverse stakeholders. Groups used five mechanisms to deal with different values and interests in their processes: (1) elimination of unnecessary or “overlay” conflict; (2) limitation of values and visions considered; (3) use of broad goals to guide actions; (4) casting value differences as disagreement over facts; (5) a search for and faith in win-win solutions. These mechanisms vary in their usefulness for achieving co-management ideals. Where interests or values have come into open conflict, as in some conflict-resolution groups, CRM has had limited success. This paper suggests that successful co-management requires more than power-sharing structures. We have yet to develop highly effective processes that can work with conflicting interests. It is also argued that struggles among various interests for greater recognition (and hence power) will continue to undergird the power-sharing collaborative and co-management processes.     

Nudging the Impasse? Lessons From the Nationwide Online Wolf Management Forum in Finland

During the early 2010s, Finnish wolf (Canis lupus) policy reached an impasse. Unfavorable conservation status, intensifying wolf–human conflict, civil disobedience, legislative confusion, and administrative frustration characterized the situation. As part of a participatory updating process for the Finnish national wolf management plan in 2014, we organized a nationwide wolf management forum to explore how e-participation could be used to nurture deliberation for improved wolf policy. We present our interactive method and the resulting wolf territory-based solutions to the wolf problems that the participants of a nationwide online forum identified. The theoretical and practical significance of our work is that we ascribe value to the functional features of these solutions as modifications to the action environment, shared by people and wolves. In this vein, we discuss the role of e-deliberation on the path toward an institutional fit, and we consider how local decision making could help to implement promising wolf territory-level policy interventions.     

Collaborative Governance and Conflict Management: Lessons Learned and Good Practices from a Case Study in the Amazon Basin

Abstract

Given the linkages between natural resources and social conflicts, evidence increasingly shows that successful natural resource management requires conflict mitigation and prevention. However, there may be a gap in practice between knowing what processes and tools need to be used to manage conservation conflicts and how to actually implement them. We present learning from a practice-based case study of conflict management in the Amarakaeri Communal Reserve in the Peruvian Amazon that aimed to develop natural resource governance institutions and build stakeholder capacity, including of indigenous groups, to navigate existing conflict resolution mechanisms. Through applying good practices in conservation conflict management and collaborative governance, we generated important lessons on the practical considerations involved in collaborative conservation. These lessons, while specific to our case, could be applied to a variety of protected areas facing complex social-ecological systems dynamics and wicked problems.     

Identifying Common Decision Problem Elements for the Management of Emerging Fungal Diseases of Wildlife

Emerging infectious diseases (EIDs) of wildlife have characteristics that make them difficult to manage, leading to reactive and often ineffective management strategies. Currently, two fungal pathogens, Pseudogymnoascus destructans (Pd) and Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (Bsal), are causing declines in novel host species. To improve the application of management strategies addressing the risk of these pathogens to North American wildlife, we queried wildlife managers about their concerns regarding managing populations of bats and amphibians potentially impacted by Pd and Bsal. Using these responses, we identified aspects of each decision problem that were shared across pathogens, regions and agencies – and found similarities in decision-problem elements for disease management. Reframing management problems as decisions can enable managers to identify similarities across EIDs, i.e. uncertainties within management actions, and improve reactive responses if proactive management is not possible. Such an approach recognizes context-specific constraints and identifies relevant uncertainties that must be reduced in developing a response.     

Fighting Over Forest: Toward a Shared Analysis of Livelihood Conflicts and Conflict Management in Ghana

Conflicts undermine forest-based livelihoods for the rural poor. Conflict management is key to preventing such conflicts. This article analyzes actor perceptions of forest- and tree-related conflicts and conflict management in Ghana's high forest zone. It also assesses a phased methodology that promotes shared problem definition and ownership of recommendations on conflict resolution strategies through the presentation and discussion of findings from document analysis, surveys, interviews, and focus-group discussions at a workshop with forest professionals held in Kumasi, Ghana. The study found that conflicts are inherent in forest-based livelihoods due to policy and legislative failures and institutional deficiencies, perceived goal incompatibility, opportunities for interfering with the attainment of one another's goals, and environmental scarcity. Ongoing forest governance reforms in Ghana should consider the stepwise conflict management model developed by the workshop participants involved in this study, but expand it to include the views of other stakeholder groups.     

Using Audience Physiology to Assess Engaging Conservation Messages and Animal Taxa

Abstract

We used heart rate change as a tool to study how positive and negative wildlife conservation messaging impacts a viewer, and which types of animal images stimulate greatest reaction. We used scenes from five wildlife conservation videos available from environmental organization websites and YouTube, with positive and negative messaging. We found both very positive and very negative messaging in videos may be similarly effective in engaging viewers. A trend in greater changes in heart rate when insects, mammals, and birds appear on the screen suggests generally high human interest in these taxa, potentially due to avoidance and attraction responses. The number of scenes (N?=?54) in which various taxa appear reflects bias toward mammals (65%) and birds (17%) to capture viewers’ attention. Arousal is a primary step in engaging an audience to attend to a message. Physiological research offers innovative new techniques to evaluate public responses to communications about biodiversity conservation.     

Unfolding relations between land cover and farm management: high nature value assessment in complex silvo-pastoral systems

The high nature value (HNV) concept, proposed by the European Environment Agency, recognizes that specific farming systems support high biodiversity levels, mainly as a result of extensive management practices. The Portuguese montado is one of the most significant HNV systems in southern Europe. However, considering the great complexity characterizing these systems both in land management and in landscape structure, a specific context-oriented methodology to assess which montado areas are likely to be classified as HNV farmland is needed. In this sense, the aim of this study is to explore a methodological approach which makes it possible to assess land management pressures through land cover information on these complex silvo-pastoral systems. The proposed methodology was tested through a local case study in a montado area in southern Portugal, assessing the relation between management practices and a vegetation cover index. Results show that in similar montado areas different land management strategies varying in stocking density, but also in type of grazing animals and shrub control practices, configure different vegetation cycles. These results indicate there is a way to develop a straightforward methodology to assess the HNV value of Mediterranean silvo-pastoral systems based on land cover indicators. These would make it possible to assess the HNV of montado areas with direct and objective information and independent of farmer’s surveys or other farm-based data.     

A Community Resilience Evaluation and Optimization Strategy based on Stormwater Management

In the context of disaster normalization, the concept of “resilience” has been gradually introduced into the field of disaster prevention and mitigation in urban communities. In order to resist the increasingly frequent disasters caused by extreme weather, it is necessary to shift the focus of building resilient urban communities to the level of stormwater management. Community resilience is a disaster prevention and mitigation capability based on community resources. In order to solve the deficiency of storm and flood management in the current construction of resilient communities in China, it is necessary to establish a quantitative evaluation system to evaluate it. This paper uses the analytic hierarchy process and Delphi method to establish a community resilience evaluation system from the perspectives of community material space level, community management level and individual level. Then three communities in Hefei City, Anhui Province are selected for practical application of the system, and corresponding optimization and transformation strategies are proposed. The results show that: (1) The resilience of community stormwater management is closely related to the integrated environment of the community, the allocation of flood control facilities and the daily disaster prevention and mitigation management; (2) The ability of disaster prevention and mitigation and the awareness of public participation of the residents in all communities are relatively weak, and the communities invest less in the popularization of stormwater management wisdom; and (3) Resilient communities should not only pay attention to the construction of non-engineering disaster prevention measures, but also to the application of small-scale green infrastructure oriented toward stormwater management.     

黑土保护与粮食安全背景下齐齐哈尔市国土空间优化调控路径

市域国土空间规划是空间规划体系构建的关键一环,基于黑土资源的特殊性和重要性,东北黑土区的市域国土空间规划需统筹考虑黑土保护与粮食安全双重目标。本文以黑龙江省齐齐哈尔市为例,建立了融合格网尺度与行政区尺度的黑土区国土空间功能评价指标体系,分析了市域“生产—生活—生态”（“三生”）用地的时空演变特征,诊断了其耦合协调状况,并以区域发展的多元性、社会需求的多样性为导向,提出了齐齐哈尔市黑土保护与粮食安全战略背景下国土空间优化调控路径。研究结果表明,2010—2018年齐齐哈尔市生产空间与生活空间均有一定程度的增长,“三生”功能轻度失调和勉强协调地区占比有所增加。国土空间格局冲突表现为“三生”功能协同性弱,冲突强度地域差异明显,对黑土资源的可持续性开发利用存在一定风险。本文以多尺度下“三生”功能冲突诊断结果为约束,建立了“三生”空间格局优化配置模型。研究认为,东北黑土区市域国土空间功能提升要在国家粮食安全保障能力基础上,坚持以黑土保护利用为导向,统筹“人—水—地”资源要素的组合与匹配,依托现有工业基础和产业优势,分别从引导优势功能区发展、加强重点城镇建设、提高黑土资源利用效率,协调城乡国土空间利用水平等路径来具体实施。     

Landscapes of Risk: The Geography of Fatal Traffic Collisions in Indiana, 2003 to 2011

Potential death from traffic collisions is a common hazard faced by nearly everyone. This analysis uses geographical approaches to examine fatal collision risk in the state of Indiana from 2003 to 2011. The state averaged 757 fatal collisions annually. About 60 percent occurred in urban or suburban areas. Risk was highest in low-density exurban and rural areas and on highways, county roads, and interstates. County sheriffs and state police were more likely to face fatal collisions than municipal police. Significant black spots existed around the Illinois and Kentucky state lines. Fatal collisions were less clustered than nonfatal collisions. Fatal collisions exhibited positive spatial autocorrelation but the global Moran's I for counties was close to random. Approximately 10 percent of ninety-two counties had significant local spatial autocorrelation in fatal collision rates. Police and emergency response resource distributions should be considered in light of fatal collision black spots in the state.     

Attitudes toward Water Conservation: The Influence of Site-Specific Factors and Beliefs in Climate Change

Areas affected by drought are increasing, and many lakes that provide potable water and recreation opportunities are located in drought-vulnerable areas. Understanding a population's attitudes toward conservation actions can improve communication initiatives, policy development, and education, which are all necessary for effective water resource management. However, little is known about stakeholders’ interactions with drought-influenced resources and the potential factors that form their water conservation attitudes. Using a mixed methods approach, we evaluated lake recreationists’ (n = 229) attitudes toward water conservation at a drought-impacted lake. We identified the relationships between two site-specific factors (place attachment and awareness of drought impacts), beliefs in climate change, concern for drought impacts, and water conservation attitudes. Results indicated concern for local drought impacts fully mediated the relationships between site-specific factors, beliefs in climate change, and attitudes toward water conservation behaviors. Implications for research, outreach, and water resource management are discussed.     

Characterizing Non-Industrial Private Forest Landowners' Forest Management Engagement and Advice Sources

Non-industrial private forestland (NIPF) owners have options for engagement by following management strategies that reduce wildfire risk on their forestlands. Forest management engagement is a broad term with underlying categories and management implications. To better understand these categories, we examine interview data on the engagement of forest landowners from a case study of private forestland owner perspectives in northeast Oregon, USA. NIPF landowners outline two types of forest management engagement, one for property and one for community-focused forestland management. NIPF owners describe actions for engagement in public forestland management and how these actions differ from engagement in private management. Additionally, NIPF owners establish barriers to engagement in both public and private forestland management. Our findings can be used to better identify unengaged private forestland owners in the U.S. West, informing the design and implementation of extension and outreach for NIPF owners.     

Containment and counter-containment: planner/community relations in conservation planning

Critical analyses of public involvement in conservation projects in developing countries commonly point toward imbalances of power between project agencies and communities and the persistence of top-down patterns of decision-making. Taking an actor-oriented research approach, this paper probes beneath the surface patterns to analyse the complex socio-political mechanisms at work in the negotiating arena represented by public participation in project planning. The discussion is based on a case study of community involvement in the planning of protected areas in Belize. Detailed analysis of the power relations and tactical interactions between different actors in the negotiating arenas revealed that planner/community relations in the case study were dominated by a process identified as 'containment'. Containment refers to a strategic management of public involvement by the planning agencies, and it hinged on three fundamental social actions: avoidance of conflict; exclusion of dissent; and control over knowledge and procedure. Actions by local stakeholders that served to undermine containment constitute 'counter-containment'. The paper discusses these mechanisms in depth, before developing a comparative analytical framework of containment and counter-containment to help explain disparities in planning progress between different sites.     

Creating public space,creating ‘the public’: immigration politics and representation in two Copenhagen parks

ABSTRACT

Contestations over immigration, citizenship, and belonging play out every day in urban public space. In this article we study the design processes and use of two Copenhagen parks, Superkilen and Mimersparken, to explore the creation of public space and the “public” in Denmark. Who is part of the Danish “public”? What right do immigrant residents have to shape public space and their neighborhoods? How are the boundaries of Danish national identity policed and contested in public space in Copenhagen? The Danish government has increasingly moved toward far-right anti-immigrant stances, even while Copenhagen promotes a multicultural vision of a diverse and cosmopolitan city. Superkilen and Mimersparken illustrate the shortcomings of Copenhagen’s multiculturalism: though Copenhagen celebrates immigration, it left little space for residents to make meaningful decisions as political actors. In the case of Superkilen and Mimersparken, designers’ stylized idea of immigration is more celebrated than the actual presence of immigrant residents.     

SPIRITUAL PILGRIMS AT MOUNT SHASTA,CALIFORNIA*

ABSTRACT. Even the casual visitor cannot fail to notice unusual activity on the slopes of Northern California's Mount Shasta. Prayer flags, altars, and crystals are found in the meadows; drumming, chanting, and meditation are commonplace. Non‐indigenous spiritual pilgrims have found Mount Shasta a sacred place. An amorphous group of spiritual seekers, these are sometimes referred to as “New Age” adherents or “Crystal People.” Within the Shasta‐Trinity National Forest, the situation of this sacred site exemplifies the difficulties of reconciling nonsecular claims to public lands with secular management mandates. Spiritual activism at Mount Shasta includes recently successful opposition to development of a Forest Service‐endorsed ski area. Using a questionnaire survey and interviews, we compare the characteristics, activities, and attitudes toward resource management of spiritual pilgrims and others who visit Mount Shasta's meadows. Conclusions are drawn about the environmental values and concerns of all visitors and of spiritual pilgrims in particular, including some that bear on pilgrim activities and ecological restoration efforts.     

Closing the Gap Between Researchers and Policymakers: Lessons from the History of Fisheries Management in the United States

Increases in sea surface temperature have led to distributional changes in many commercially exploited fish species. These changes have already led to conflict over mackerel fisheries, arising from demand for fair resource apportionment and desire to manage the fishery sustainably. In order to develop adaptable management strategies for complex ocean fishery systems, policymakers and researchers must move beyond a reactive producer–consumer relationship to develop proactive, supportive collaborations. The history of U.S. national fisheries management is presented as an example of this transition. Building cooperative capacity over the last two centuries has lead to a more systematic understanding of the oceans, and has led to success in reducing the number of overfished stocks. Similar development of cooperation between policymakers and researchers on an international scale may be the surest way to develop management strategies adaptable enough to withstand challenges posed by future climate change.     

Permits to burn: weeds,slow violence,and the extractive future of northern Australia

ABSTRACT

This essay narrates the ‘slow violence’, or creeping environmental harms taking place within contemporary environmental governance. It centres on a tall, dense and highly flammable introduced pasture species Gamba grass (Andropogon gayanus), which was listed as a weed across north Australian jurisdictions in 2008. Since this time, it has continued to expand its reach across the Northern Territory (NT). With a potential invasion range of over 380,000?sqkm², this grass is a serious threat to many more-than-human worlds in the north, including Indigenous-led and Indigenous-owned environmental service economies and multimillion-dollar projects engaged in savanna fire management for carbon credits. Drawing upon fieldwork and interviews with a range of public servants, landholders and researchers in the NT between 2015 and 2018, this essay demonstrates how environmental governance is being undermined through specific institutions and practices. Through an ethnographic reading of weed management documents, including several legal permits to grow Gamba grass within the NT’s ‘eradication zone’, this essay narrates the diverse threads of a pressing ‘slow’ disaster. The unfolding story of Gamba grass, we suggest, is instructive for those seeking to understand the present and future of resource extraction or ‘extractivism’ in Australia and elsewhere.