Are Universities Leaders in the Stewardship of Conservation Lands?

Abstract

s conservation biology has evolved over the past 75 years, and especially over the last two decades, managers of public lands have found themselves faced with new paradigms of land management (Foreman 1995, Soule and Noss 1998, Terborgh et al.1999). Today, conservation of biological diversity and ecosystem integrity is a primary objective of many public land–holding agencies, one that is being integrated into some private land-management objectives as well (Western 1989). That new objective, however, often lies outside the scope of traditional management practices as well as outside the intent for the land when it was first acquired. Thus, the US Forest Service is in turmoil over the conflict between t raditi onal and legi s l a ted forest managem ent policies and recently understood values of conservation (Salwasser 1991, Lawrence and Murphy 1992). Although little recognized, this conflict is even more striking in American universities and colleges. Institutions of higher education have become the primary abodes— and the think tanks—of those concerned with conservation of biological diversity and ecosystem services.1 Thus, universities and colleges are in a unique position to shape the future of conservation biology and natural resource management through both the scholarship of their work and the graduates of their programs. Yet American universities have acquired and held lands for a variety of reasons and purposes, many of which have little to do with conservation. This raises an important question: Are universities leaders in the actual stewardship of conservation lands? Does their record on the ground match the scholarly contributions of their faculty? It is our contention that, while notable exceptions exist, university-held lands are generally managed at best with conflicting objectives and frequently with little regard to conservation of biological diversity and ecosystem integrity. This failure to recognize the conservation values of university-held lands stems from a history of land exploitation, changing paradigms of Are Universities Leaders in the Stewardship of C o n s e rvation Lands?