Where the buffalo roam: Boundaries and the politics of scale in the yellowstone region

For more than twenty years, the state of Montana has pursued a controversial policy of lethal control to manage winter migrations of bison from Yellowstone National Park. In the late 1990s, as the state and a number of federal agencies attempted to cooperatively outline a more palatable scenario for bison management, local environmental groups became active participants in the debate. This paper examines the strategies pursued by these organizations in the course of their attempt to construct a new, ecosystem-level territorial space and jurisdictional scale for bison, and places their struggle within the context of existing work in geography on the politics of scale. Ultimately, the failure of their efforts illustrates some of the important constraints faced by social groups that attempt to create new territorial regimes and new scales of resistance in the interstices of existing political structures.     

FARMING THE FOREST EDGE: VULNERABLE PLACES AND PEOPLE AROUND KIBALE NATIONAL PARK,UGANDA

ABSTRACT. Subsistence farmers near Kibale National Park, Uganda, fear and resent many wildlife species. In this article I compare records of crop damage by wildlife and livestock with local complaints about the worst animals and the most vulnerable crops. I discuss the concordance and discrepancies in complaints versus actual damage in light of physical parameters of risk and of social factors that shape perceptions and vulnerabilities. Crop losses were greatest at the edge of the forest, where immigrants are disproportionately represented. State proprietorship of wildlife amplifies local vulnerability and constrains traditional coping strategies, such as hunting.     

Accumulation by securitization: Commercial poaching,neoliberal conservation,and the creation of new wildlife frontiers

Part of a broader interest in the escalating securitization of conservation practice, scholars are beginning to take note of an emerging relationship between conservation–securitization, capital accumulation, and dispossession. We develop the concept of accumulation by securitization to better grasp this trend, positioning it in the critical literatures on neoliberal conservation, green grabbing, and conservation-security. The concept captures the ways in which capital accumulation, often tied to land and resource enclosure, is enabled by practices and logics of security. Security logics, moreover, increasingly provoke the dispossession of vulnerable communities, thereby enabling accumulation. We ground the concept by turning to the Greater Lebombo Conservancy (GLC) in the Mozambican borderlands. This is a new privately-held conservancy built as a securitized buffer zone to obstruct the movement of commercial rhino poachers into South Africa’s adjacent Kruger National Park. We show how wildlife tourism-related accumulation here is enabled by, and in some ways contingent upon, the GLC’s success in curbing poaching incursions, and, relatedly, how security concerns become the grounds upon which resident communities are displaced. In terms of the latter, we suggest security provides a troubling, depoliticized alibi for dispossession. Like broader neoliberal conservation and green grabbing, we illustrate how accumulation by securitization plays out within complex new networks of state and private actors. Yet these significantly expand to include including security actors and others motivated by security concerns.     

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.     

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.     

Correspondence analysis of water quality data: Implications for fauna deaths at Stillwater Lakes, Nevada

Over the last 2 years, more than seven million fish and 16,000 birds have died from drought-induced disease and suspected poisoning at Stillwater Lakes, Nevada. Correspondence analysis of water samples taken in June and September 1986, from lakes and reservoirs near Stillwater Lakes and four background lakes/reservoirs (not associated with fauna disease and death), is attempted to investigate the correlation among sites associated with fauna deaths. This analysis identifies high correlation between some Stillwater Lakes sites and boron. A correlation between boron and arsenic is also identified. Leaching and transport of toxins to the Stillwater Lakes system is one hypothesis to explain the wildlife deaths. Other hypotheses include the direct introduction of toxins by groundwater associated with geothermal activity. A natural cause for the wildlife deaths is also suggested, a cause not associated with the introduction of toxins.     

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.     

Political Alienation,Rurality and the Symbolic Role of Swedish Wolf Policy

Attitudes towards wolf policy are likely to be driven by perceived differences in political power between urban and rural groups. Using Swedish survey data collected in 2014 and structural equation modeling, I evaluated the effects of political alienation. Political alienation mediated the effect of having an urban or rural place of residence on attitudes towards wolf policy. Politically alienated individuals also preferred more extreme policy options than other respondents, while being less likely to approve of the current wolf policy in Sweden. These findings suggest that political alienation drives attitude polarization in wolf related social conflicts. Awareness of these underlying power asymmetries could possibly increase both policy legitimacy and management efficiency. This highlights the importance of accounting for social context in relation to policy-making and conservation efforts related to wolves.     

Developing Governance Principles for Public Natural Resources

Wildlife governance principles (WGPs) identify desirable governance characteristics for wildlife conservation in the United States (US). The types of institutional, ecological, and socio-cultural challenges that WGPs are designed to address also affect governance of public natural resources other than wildlife and in places other than the US. This raises the possibility that a similar set of governance principles might help natural resource professionals working in other resource contexts address the particular challenges they face. We describe the process by which we developed WGPs and offer seven practically oriented questions to help natural resource professionals ascertain whether a similar set of principles could improve governance in their context. In some contexts, minor modification of WGPs might be appropriate; in others, the process by which we developed WGPs could serve as a blueprint for formulating appropriate principles.     

Population surveys of toheroa (Mollusca: Eulamellffiranchiata) on Northland Beaches, 1962–67

Surveys made each year between 1962 and 1967 to estimate populations of toheroa (Amphidesma ventricosum Gray) on the three main west coast beaches of Northland, New Zealand, are described. The surveys were carried out as close as possible to the beginning and ending of each gathering season. There were striking changes in the surveyed areas, probably mainly due to natural causes and not as a direct result of gathering. One beach, Muriwai 1963, even showed an improvement in population after the gathering season, but numbers of toheroas on this beach have usually been erratic and small during the surveyed period. The other beaches showed marked declines, which were mostly sudden and unsynchronised between beaches; these declines were too big to be accounted for solely by gathering. A private commercial survey, carried out annually during the gathering season on a leased portion of Dargaville Beach, shows very similar results to the equivalent departmental surveys.