stewardship stories reslient communities 5 1 09

Stewardship Stories

Empowering the Peoples’ Voice

prepared for (but never delivered) A Cancelled Education Session

Utah Preservation Conference Salt Lake City, Utah

May 1st, 2009

DANA E. DOLSEN, UDWR Wildlife Planning Manager

"In times of change, learners inherit the Earth, while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists." - Eric Hoffer, 2005.

Toward Resilient Utah Communities

Resilience Theory Approach: Monitor shifts in human ecosystems, values, and behavior in order

to respond rapidly and readily adapt to stressors &/or impacts.

The Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (WAFWA) undertook two different analyses in the past few years:

1.) a survey of state wildlife agency employees to measure the degree of concern held regarding a variety of escalating wildlife conflict issues, which when receiving media coverage become stories.

2.) a 19 state regional survey to determine trends among the western publics for protectionism/use & materialism/ post-materialism in relationship to wildlife, wildlife management, and wildlife values, i.e., relationships in community.

Stewardship Stories Empowering the Peoples’ Voice


Wildlife Stewardship Stories

Listening to UDWR Employees’ Voices

Top Stories Affecting Resilience: Level of Concern of Western State Employees• Recreation Conflicts/Urban Conflicts/ Land Access (High)• Threatened & Endangered Species (High)• Wildlife Diseases (High)• Anti-hunting/Animal Rights Groups (High)• Invasive Species (Medium)

Affected States: AK, AZ, CO, ID, KS, MT, NM, OK, SD, UT. Black-footed ferrets in NE

Utah

Top Three Utah StoriesThemes of Highest Priority to Address Resilience

• Urban Wildlife Conflicts- Urban Hunting- Depredation- Nuisance Wildlife

Hunter/Angler/Boater Behavior- All Terrain Vehicle Use

• Hunting Techniques/Methods - Baiting- Canned/Will Call Hunts- Hunting with Hounds

Wildlife Stewardship Stories

Listening to UDWR Employees’ Voices

Causes of Resilience Risk & Stewardship Vulnerability

• Increasing urbanization & development

(Teel et al. 2005)

Stewardship Stories




• Increasing urbanization & development (Teel et al. 2005)

• Shifting societal values to post-materialism & protectionism (e.g.,mutualism)

Stewardship Stories




• Increasing urbanization & development (Teel et al. 2005)• Shifting societal values to post-materialism & protectionism

(e.g.,mutualism)

• Economic downturns (e.g., financial instability, pitting development against conservation (counter to the Western States’ trend toward decreasing materialism & utilitarianism)

Stewardship Stories




• Increasing urbanization & development (Teel et al. 2005)• Shifting societal values to post-materialism & protectionism

(e.g.,mutualism)• Economic downturns (e.g., financial instability, pitting

development against conservation (counter to the Western States’ trend toward decreasing materialism & utilitarianism)

• Increasing loss of private lands access for hunting, increasingly more expensive fee hunting access to private lands with disproportionate nonresident presence

Stewardship Stories



MoreCauses of Resilience Risk & Stewardship Vulnerability

Demographic Issues• Increasing proportion of older adults in the populace

• Decreasing youth hunting/angling participation due to competing interests and activities

• Decreasing youth hunting/angling opportunity due to increasing numbers of single parent and dual-income families





1. Regularly obtain updates on rural communities’ stories of stewarding working landscapes for wildlife and share as well as leverage them.

Avoid burying our heads in the sand by:

Burrowing owls (not communities)!




2. Regularly monitor shifts in wildlife value orientations in the resident populace and learn from them.







3. Focus on land, water and wildlife conservation “Best Practices” i.e., planning, management & evaluation. Be proactive and enhance diversity.




Toward Resilient Utah Communities1. Regularly obtain updates on rural communities’ stories of

stewarding working landscapes for wildlife and share as well as leverage them.


3. Focus on land, water and wildlife conservation “Best Practices” i.e., planning, management & evaluation. Be proactive and enhance diversity.

4.Be positive and forward-thinking in the opportunities to interact with and inform media sources about conservation stewardship. Strive for community transparency and relevance.



Monitor community shifts in wildlife value orientation

The Wildlife Values study described 4 value orientation audiences:

Utilitarians - “Wildlife are for human use.” Positive toward hunting & fishing. Mutualists - “Wildlife are part of an extended family.” See ideal world where

humans wildlife live together without fear.

Pluralists - BOTH Utilitarian AND Mutualist.

Distanced - Neither relate to the use or the inclusion of wildlife in their lives. Less attracted to & more concerned about safety around wildlife.



Wildlife Value Orientation Where Utah Communities fit in the

West

05

1015

2025

303540

4550

Utilitarian Mutualist Pluralist Distanced

Utahns %West %

48%

33%

20%

33%

20%21%

11%13%Avg.

Utah has 15% more Utilitarians; 13% less Mutualists.

Cultural Influence

30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

Utah

Percent Residing in City or Large City

Values in Utah Communities Mutualists by Urbanization across

Western States

Utah’s high Utilitarianism & urbanization coupled with our relatively low Mutualism, puts us closest to NE, OK, ID and then MT & ND. UT is an outlier.

%Mutualist

Source: Teel et al. 2005.

Values in Utah Communities

The extent that I trust my _ to do what is right for (…).

Utah

%

(State Rank)

Highest

%

(State)

Lowest

%

(State)

Federal Government

(my country).

53%

(1st)

53%

(Utah)

30% (Oregon)

State Government

(my state).

63%

(4th)

70%

(South Dakota)

37%

(New Mexico)

State Fish & Wildlife Agency (my state’s fish & wildlife management)

68%

(8th)

81%

(North Dakota)

54%

(California)

Western States vary in trusting their governments; Utahns trust more than most!


Inglehart (1990) hypothesized that a Post-MaterialismSociety shift was due to less trust in government and greater environmentalism.

Utah’s Communities Face Resilience Challenges &

OpportunitiesLow Environmentalism & Low

Mutualism

Utah

Utah has the lowest level of Environmentalism across the West!

39%


Resilient Communities Share Stewardship Stories

Empowering Utahns through EcoTourism

• Utah is unique among most western states in its wildlife diversity & value orientations –

EcoTourism can enhance rural community resilience & capacity.~ Spadefoot frog tadpole ~

Utah wildlife is also undergoing a metamorphosis adapting to us. Resilient communities need to be primed to tell their stewardship stories for both health & wealth!



• Utah is unique among most western states in its wildlife diversity & value orientations – EcoTourism can enhance rural community resilience & capacity.

• Stewardship stories can address the impending impact of population growth, land development & urbanization.

~ Spadefoot frog tadpole ~ Utah wildlife is also undergoing a metamorphosis adapting to us. Resilient communities need to be primed to tell their stewardship stories for both health & wealth!




• Stewardship stories can address the impending impact of population growth, land

development & urbanization. • Making policy and decisions

needs to respond to resilience risks and reflect the conservation practices needed to address them: STORIES HAVE POWER!





• Stewardship stories can address the impending impact of population growth, land development & urbanization.

• Making policy and decisions needs to respond to resilience risks and reflect the conservation practices needed to address them: STORIES HAVE POWER!

• Greater public involvement in and adoption of hands-on monitoring, and growing conservation stewardship is needed. EcoTourism can help share stories of Utah’s resilient communities!


Thanksfor ‘bearing’with me.

Any questions?

Resilience Recommendations for Utah

Establish a statewide thematic eco-tourism framework to share on-site & virtual stories about Utahns’ conservation stewardship relationships with the land, water, and wildlife that target enhancing the resilience of communities, reducing the risks of socio-economic and ecological threats, and attracting visitors from both in & out of state.

Forge a statewide Alliance across Utah’s private and public sectors centered on learning, trying, and adopting sound Community Conservation Stewardship Practices in part by providing story-telling based ecotourism programs and events.

Sources:

Hoffer, E. (2005) FUTUREdition, Vol. 8, No. 15., Oct. 13 edition. The Arlington Institute.Inglehart, R. (1990). Culture shift in advanced industrial societies. Princeton, NJ:

Princeton University Press.

Teel, T. L., Dayer, A. A., Manfredo, M. J., & Bright, A. D. 2005. Regional results from the

research project entitled “Wildlife Values in the West.” (Project Rep. No. 58).

Project Report for the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies. Ft. Collins,

CO: Colorado State University, Human Dimensions in Natural Resources Unit.

Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies. Human Dimensions Committee.

2004. Proactive Strategies: Survey Results from Employees of 10 Western

States. Report from Arizona Fish and Game Department. 6 pp.

Knowing is not enough; we must apply.

Willing is not enough; we must do.

Goethe (1749-1832), German Poet, Dramatist, Novelist, and Scientist

stewardship stories reslient communities 5 1 09

Technology

mutualism stewardship

resilient utah communities

wildlife values

wildlife management

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wildlife value orientations

burrowing owlsnot communities

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