“We Don’t Equal Even Just One Man”: Gender and Social Control in Conservation Adoption

Women own or co-own approximately half of the farmland in Iowa, United States, yet researchers are only beginning to study these landowners’ social relationships in relation to their land. This study analyzes qualitative data collected in Iowa through a series of meetings hosted by the Women, Food and Agriculture Network (WFAN). I find that social control through exclusion constrains women landowners’ access to information about and implementation of conservation. Specifically, I identify how women landowners experience the social processes of boundary maintenance and othering in land management. These processes create barriers to conservation adoption and maintain gendered agricultural landscapes. The women who participated in WFAN’s conservation programs express their experience of and resistance to dominant narratives as they attempt to create landscape change. These findings highlight the importance of further study of inequality processes and their relation to control of farmland if conservation goals are to be met.     

Constructing the Klamath: Nature,Culture, and the Management of a Western River

Despite decades of scientific research, stakeholder negotiations, and policy proposals, management of the Klamath River in southern Oregon and northern California remains hotly contested. This research examines the sociocultural dimensions of proposed removal of four Klamath River dams. Using a social constructivist approach to analyze the discourse of public comments regarding dam removal, I find commenters rely on diverse ideas of nature and divergent problem framings, contest the role of science, and draw on embedded and meaningful sociocultural narratives to legitimize their management preferences. These discourses shape the terrain upon which management actions are perceived, valued, and contested, and make management actions meaningful beyond their immediate spatial and temporal context. Dam removal on the Klamath River is far more than an ecological problem amenable to a scientific or technical approach; instead, it is a complex project shot through with the sociocultural identities, visions, and narratives of all involved.     

The Relationship between Narratives,Wildlife Value Orientations,Attitudes, and Policy Preferences

Overabundance of white-tailed deer is a pervasive problem across the United States. Deer are blamed for increased risk of auto accidents, tick-borne diseases, and overbrowsing of native species. Lethal management techniques, cited as cost-effective and humane, are commonly employed for herd management. However, the approach frequently sparks outrage among various stakeholders who feel killing of animals is unjustified and prefer nonlethal measures. Wildlife managers then face the challenge of communicating with the public to build policy support for lethal management. The Narrative Policy Framework was used to test the effects of differing narratives on public opinion for lethal deer management. Results indicated narratives were influential in shifting attitudes toward and support for a proposed sharpshooting policy even in some cases where respondents were already familiar with the issue and held a previous opinion. This study also supported the utility of the Narrative Policy Framework for examining human dimensions of wildlife issues.     

The Natural Resource Management Planning Portal: Perspectives for NRM Planning and Reporting

Natural Resource Management (NRM) is often conducted as a partnership between government and citizens. In Australia, government agencies formulate policy and fund implementation that may be delivered on-ground by community groups (such as Landcare). Since the late 1980s, over AUS$8b of Commonwealth investment has been made in NRM. However, quantitative evidence of environmental improvements is lacking. The NRM Planning Portal has been developed to (1) provide an online spatial information system for sharing Landcare and agency data; and (2) to facilitate NRM priority setting at local and regional planning scales. While the project successfully federates Landcare NRM activity data, challenges included (1) unstructured, non-standardized data, meaning that quantitative reporting against strategic objectives is not currently possible, and (2) a lack of common understanding about the value proposition for adopting the portal approach. Demonstrating the benefit of technology adoption is a key lesson for digital NRM planning.     

Gatekeepers,Shareholders, and Evangelists: Expanding Communication Networks of African American Forest Landowners in North Carolina

The Sustainable Forestry and African American Land Retention Program (SFLR) was launched in 2012 to increase adoption of sustainable forestry practices among African American landowners in the southeastern United States to prevent land loss, increase forest health, and build economic assets. One of its main goals was to build communication networks through which African American landowners could obtain and share information about forestry practices and landowner assistance programs independent of public agencies. To measure and examine the growth of these communication networks over a three-year period (2014-2017), we conducted 87 interviews with landowners (24 of whom were interviewed multiple times), SFLR personnel, and Federal and State staff members in North Carolina. We used complementary methods of data gathering and analysis, including social network analysis and qualitative analysis. Our results showed expanding communication networks will be sustained independently of the program over time, although there is still a heavy reliance on program personnel.     

Understanding the Past and Present and Predicting the Future: Farmers’ Use of Multiple Nutrient Best Management Practices in the Upper Midwest

Understanding what drives farmers’ voluntary adoption of nutrient and soil best management practices has important consequences for many environmental outcomes including water quality. We build on research revealing the need for simultaneous use of multiple nitrogen best management practices to achieve water quality improvement goals. Using social, economic and attitudinal variables we predict the use of multiple nitrogen best management practices at three time points: current use (2013), past use (before 2013), and likelihood of use on their largest field in the next three years. Our empirical analysis uses structural equation modeling with latent variables and 2014 farmer survey data from three Midwestern US states. Most farmers in our sample used at least one of the six best management practices. Our results reveal that farmers’ attitudes, use of information sources, and conservation program participation affect the number of nitrogen best management practices concurrently in use at multiple time points.     

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.     

对基础测绘"十四五"规划的若干思考

着眼于明确机构改革后基础测绘在自然资源管理业务格局中的职责定位、工作重点,以及如何按照新《测绘法》更好地履行"为经济建设、国防建设、社会发展和生态保护服务"的法定要求,分析了"十四五"基础测绘发展的基本形势,据此提出"十四五"规划工作的基本思路和主要遵循,明确了工作重点和相关措施,相关观点已经在"十四五"基础测绘规划编制工作中得到体现。     

多源空间数据融合的城市精细化管理

城市管理体量不断增大且管理对象关联繁多,已经成为影响城市可持续发展的重要问题。在全国智慧城市建设的大背景下,引用新技术提升城市精细化管理水平可以使城市的各管理单元协同、精确、及时地交换信息,形成智慧城市管理的配套方案,让有限的管理资源发挥出最大的使用效能,实现城市管理的最优化目标,促进经济的可持续发展。本文提出了地理信息系统、GPS、遥感、RFID等空间数据融合的技术方案,强调在空间信息和移动信息管理的基础上通过工作流和过程化管理,提高城市精细化管理的综合水平,为实现民众参与监督城市管理和智慧城市建设提供参考。