NGOs Enhance State Wildlife Agencies’ Capacity to Meet Public Trust Doctrine Obligations

Abstract

State wildlife agencies (SWAs) manage natural resources for the benefit of the common good. However, effective management in today’s complex world requires institutional capacity that can address specific challenges. Nongovernmental organizations can enhance SWAs’ ability to manage wildlife as a public resource for which competing demands exist. The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) led a participatory process to identify a suite of landscape species representative of habitats and human-caused threats in the Adirondack Park of northern New York. This effort benefitted the management of resources under the public trust doctrine. WCS brought additional capacity, specifically personnel, resources, programming, and credibility with partners, to conservation initiatives focused on boreal birds, moose, and black bears over a 15-year period in the Adirondack Park, NY. This investment resulted in several long-term projects that enhanced the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation’s ability to provide improved management and multiple benefits from these resources to the public.