Conflict assessment and the cape cod national seashore

Abstract

AbstractOver the past several decades, the Cape Cod National Seashore has experienced a clash between interests regarding off‐road vehicle use and the protectioòn of piping plover habitat. This conflict came to a head in September 1995 when parties interested in resolving the dispute committed to a negotiated rule‐making process. Prior to the inception of the process, professional mediators conducted two conflict assessments with potential stakeholders in the rule‐making process, one in 1993 and a second in 1995. Because conflict assessment is not always attempted by mediators prior to negotiated rule making or mediation in general (Susskind, 1998), this article attempts to acknowledge the value of such an engagement to stakeholders. Here, interviews serve as the primary method by which information was collected from some of the organizations involved in the rule making. Overall research results indicate stakeholder support for the use of conflict assessment in effectively preparing them for the negotiated rule‐making process.