Sharing the Rangelands, Competing for Sense of Place

Abstract

The rural-urban interface in southwestern Idaho has experienced rapid population growth since 1990. That burgeoning population sits on the frontier of more than 3.5 million acres of open space—public rangelands in Owyhee County—managed for multiple use by the Bureau of Land Management. The remote areas of Owyhee County have long-standing ranching operations as their social structure and basis for community, but recreational use continues to increase from the adjacent metropolitan population. The related changing social landscape and environmental impacts affect sense of place for many. This analysis uses qualitative and quantitative data to analyze relationships and impacts associated with the emergence of sense of place among different groups for the same region and concludes multiple groups claiming a sense of place to the same general locations can affect traditional community structures at the same time a competing sense of place may foster expanded and more diverse social interactions.