Public Land Agencies Research Articles

The prediction of uneven snowpack response to forest thinning informs forest restoration in the central Sierra Nevada

AbstractThe Sierra Nevada has experienced unprecedented wildfires and reduced snowmelt runoff in recent decades, due partially to anthropogenic climate change and over a century of fire suppression. To address these challenges, public land agencies are planning forest restoration treatments, which have the potential to both increase water availability and reduce the likelihood of uncontrollable wildfires. However, the impact of forest restoration on snowpack is site specific and not well understood across gradients of climate and topography. To improve our understanding of how forest restoration might impact snowpack across diverse conditions in the central Sierra Nevada, we run the high‐resolution (1 m) energy and mass balance Snow Physics and Lidar Mapping (SnowPALM) model across five 23–75 km2 subdomains in the region where forest thinning is planned or recently completed. We conduct two virtual thinning experiments by removing all trees shorter than 10 or 20 m tall and rerunning SnowPALM to calculate the change in meltwater input. Our results indicate heterogeneous responses to thinning due to differences in climate and wind across our five central Sierra Nevada subdomains. We also predict the largest increases in snow retention when thinning forests with tall (7–20 m) and dense (40–70% canopy cover) trees, highlighting the importance of pre‐thinning vegetation structure. We develop a decision support tool using a random forests model to determine which regions would most benefit from thinning. In many locations, we expect major forest restoration to increase snow accumulation, while other areas with short and sparse canopies, as well as sunny and windy climates, are more likely to see decreased snowpack following thinning. Our decision support tool provides stand‐scale (30 m) information to land managers across the central Sierra Nevada region to best take advantage of climate and existing forest structure to obtain the greatest snowpack benefits from forest restoration.

Outdoor Recreationists’ Perceptions of Risk, Agency Trust, and Visitor Capacities During the COVID-19 Pandemic

For nearly a century in the United States, visitor capacities have served as a means of preserving resources and the visitor experience on public lands. The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in increased interest in implementing visitor capacities that could potentially limit use on public lands, suggesting a need to understand public support for their use in a timely manner. Risk and trust have been used in previous research concerning support for natural resource and outdoor recreation decision-making. Research in this realm includes investigation at the intersection of outdoor recreation and public health, specific to chronic wasting disease. Following this previous research, this study utilizes the constructs of risk and trust to examine support for visitor capacities that could potentially limit use during the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, this theory-driven research relies on the cultural theory of risk and social trust theory. Using structural equation modeling and a sample of avid outdoor enthusiasts, we examine how well 1) perceived individual risk, 2) perceived community risk, 3) trust in public health agencies, and 4) trust in public land agencies predict support for visitor capacities that could potentially limit use. An email-distributed online survey was available for 48 hours beginning on April 30, 2020—during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. Measurement of perceived risk and trust followed previous research relating to outdoor recreation and public health. Results indicate that outdoor enthusiasts are concerned about their individual and community health and reported higher levels of trust in data coming directly from public health agencies as opposed to state or federal land management agencies. Additionally, perceived individual risk and perceived community risk were significant predictors of support for visitor capacities. These findings can be used to improve the effectiveness of messaging intended to connect perceived risk to the management of parks and protected areas, thus providing credibility to management actions implemented during the pandemic. Additional implications from this research include the need for additional research examining support for management actions that could potentially limit use on public lands, the multidimensionality of trust in outdoor recreation, and individual risk in frontcountry outdoor recreation settings.

Outdoor Programs for Veterans: Public Land Policies and Practices to Support Therapeutic Opportunities

Abstract Many veterans returning from military deployment experience stress- or trauma-related symptoms that make reintegration with civilian society difficult. Nature exposure and outdoor recreation can be important parts of alternative and complementary approaches to reduce symptoms and build on veterans’ pre-existing strengths. Multiple outdoor programs now exist for veterans; many of these occur on federal public lands and present a variety of needs, opportunities, and challenges. This paper relies on interviews (n = 36) with public land managers, program providers and participants, health professionals, and veterans to enhance understanding about outdoor programs for veterans (OPVs). We develop a typology of OPVs to help land managers understand current and potential programs, and then describe programs’ varying dimensions. We examine opportunities and challenges for land managers in their interactions with OPVs. Results inform policymakers and public officials interested in developing more effective institutional partnerships and programs that engage and serve veterans and their communities. Study Implications: With growing scientific evidence of the benefits of nature-based therapy, nature exposure, and outdoor recreation for veterans, programming for veterans on public lands has proliferated. Public land-management agencies vary in the extent to which they have systematically organized to provide opportunities for veterans, developed partnerships to support veterans’ health, and explicitly acknowledged agency roles in serving veterans. We describe seven types of outdoor programs for veterans (OPVs) that currently serve this population: supported outdoor activity; guided outdoor activity; retreat; outdoor job training; stewardship or service; horticulture, farming or gardening; and animal-assisted therapy. Each OPV type has different needs for infrastructure, outdoor spaces, and administrative or programmatic engagement. OPVs occurring on public lands typically involve one or more partner organizations, such as commercial outfitters and guides, health providers, veterans’ associations, foundations, corporations, and research institutions. There is potential for public land-management agencies to expand their role as institutional leaders in support of veterans’ health by facilitating the use of public lands as therapeutic landscapes. By enhancing new and existing relations with OPV providers, health providers, and other government agencies, public land agencies could expand benefits to veterans and spur broader societal benefits.

Leave No Trace bouldering ethics: Transitioning from the gym to the crag

Participation in bouldering has increased substantially over the past two decades, with indoor (gym) climbing and bouldering identified as the fastest growing sector of the climbing industry. Thus, for many, their experience with bouldering begins in the gym and then progresses to climbing outdoors. This raises questions regarding the extent to which those who initially learn in a gym setting are making a responsible transition to the outdoors by adopting behaviors that protect and preserve ecological and social conditions, thus ensuring the future of outdoor bouldering access. This article reports on bouldering research conducted in Rocky Mountain National Park, USA in the summer of 2015. The authors conducted an on-site visitor survey that examined attitudes, knowledge, and perceptions of Leave No Trace-related bouldering practices, specifically comparing and contrasting indoor and outdoor learners, as well as self-reported ability, across these measures. A total of 227 boulderers completed the survey, the majority of which initially learned to boulder indoors. Indoor learners and those of novice ability reported less knowledge of Leave No Trace and generally held attitudes and perceptions less congruent with Leave No Trace recommendations. The authors recommend continuing and expanding minimum-impact outdoor bouldering programs designed to educate boulderers making the transition from the gym to the crag to support the long-term viability of outdoor bouldering on public and protected lands. Management implications●It is essential that recreation managers work in collaboration with emerging user-groups, such as boulderers, in developing management strategies that protect resources while maintaining quality recreational opportunities.●These findings confirm and provide support for continued and expanded efforts for collaborative work among the gym climbing industry, public land agencies, and bouldering interest and advocacy groups in the development and delivery of minimum-impact bouldering information and educational resources●This study identified significant differences in attitudes toward, and knowledge of, Leave No Trace practices depending on whether one initially learned to boulder indoors in a gym or an outdoor setting

A cognitive hierarchy approach to understanding fee increases in the national parks of the United States

The National Park Service recently announced fee increases at many sites across the USA. Fee increases are likely a part of the future for public lands and will be a lingering issue for public land agencies. The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship of national park value orientations, attitudes towards fee increase, and intentions to visit national parks. This includes an analysis of value orientations, attitudes, and behavioral intentions within the theoretical framework of the cognitive hierarchy. An exploratory panel of travelers was used to sample national park visitors. Results indicate that there were significant differences among value orientation regarding attitudes towards fee increases. Furthermore, results indicated that attitudes towards fee increases predict intentions to visit national parks. Future research should expand this line of research to include additional regions and varying travelers across the U.S. Management implicationsThis study provides findings for park and conservation area management, including:•Managers should be aware of value orientations when communication with the public about fee increases.•“Eco-centric” messages may be more effective for promoting positive attitudes about fee increases for visitors.•The analysis suggests there is also a small, but real, potential for visitors to not visit US national parks if they perceive fee increases as negative. However, park demand is rather inelastic, and fee increases should not be thought of as a visitor use management tool.

Public Land Agencies, Oira, and Rulemaking24

This research examines the role of the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs’ (OIRA) involvement in federal rulemaking. More specifically, this paper presents interview data from agency rule-writers across three public land agencies, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), National Park Service (NPS), and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), along with OIRA staff to better understand OIRA's role in rulemaking processes. Through semi-structured interviews, this paper provides evidence to support that negative perceptions and relationships between OIRA and public land agencies only lengthens and strains rule development. The results suggest important lessons from agency personnel and OIRA staff about how future rulemakings can be strengthened by working on regulatory relationships through new forms of uniformity and consistency.

Preparing Tomorrow’s Parks, Recreation, and Conservation Professionals: The Student Conservation Association Young Adult Internship Program

Internships have become a common curricular element of parks, recreation and conservation programs that prepare young adults for entry-level positions within the field. As such, professional practitioners are called to supervise these young adults, thus helping them to promote their professional and personal growth in ways that will support their transition from college to career. The Student Conservation Association (SCA), the nation’s oldest and largest present-day conservation service corps, routinely places over a thousand young adults in parks, recreation and conservation internships each year. Through the SCA Young Adult Internship Program, participants gain professional experience and skills while working for hosting parks and public land agencies. The SCA internship program is dependent upon professional practitioners within these agencies who serve as supervisors for interns. While a number of positive outcomes for young adults have been linked to the completion of internships like the one provided by the SCA, in order for benefits to be more fully realized, those who structure and supervise these early work experiences need to incorporate practices that target young adult professional and personal growth. Accordingly, it can also be helpful if supervisors consider what strengths interns naturally bring to the internships and what areas might be in need of further development. In an attempt to identify and explore pre-professionals’ strengths and weaknesses, supervisors’ final evaluations for over 2,000 interns participating in a Student Conservation Association Young Adult Internship Program during a two-year period were compiled and analyzed. Evaluation results suggest that the vast majority of young adult SCA interns are a valuable asset for the hosting agencies as they typically have positive attitudes and high enthusiasm, a solid work ethic, and the ability to embrace teamwork required to complete assigned tasks and projects. Although these findings are encouraging, when considering their interns as future professionals, supervisors also highlight their need to further advance a number of dispositional qualities, most notably self-efficacy, as well as certain transferable skills such as communication across various contexts and settings. These findings suggest that to assist young adults as they transition from an academic to a work environment, supervisors who structure and support internships should intentionally implement practices that effectively target professional and personal maturation and key transferable skills. Subscribe to JPRA

Compatibility of Livestock Grazing and Recreational Use on Coastal California Public Lands: Importance, Interactions, and Management Solutions

While the primary use of rangelands for over a century has been livestock grazing to produce food and fiber, elevated demand for recreational land has increasingly brought livestock-recreation interactions to the forefront. California’s coastal range is a hotspot for graziers and recreationists alike and is an important region in which to address the challenges and opportunities of concurrent grazing and recreation. Here we review issues related to livestock grazing on publicly owned recreational lands, discuss potential areas of conflict, and highlight promising avenues for fostering positive livestock-recreation interactions. Managers grazing livestock on public lands have adopted a variety of management practices to minimize conflicts and maximize benefits derived from multiple uses of public lands. However, even a few perceived negative recreationist experiences may prompt some public land agencies to remove livestock grazing entirely. California’s grasslands—a large component of public lands—are the most “at-risk” habitat type for development, and increasing economic and social pressures on ranchers who utilize leased public lands make it more likely that ranchers would sell their private lands to developers if access to public grazing land were eliminated, further increasing threats to our already dwindling rangelands. The continued accessibility of public lands for grazing is thus inextricably linked to the protection of private rangelands and the critical resources they provide. Novel approaches to public education and collaborative land management are critical to reducing negative livestock-recreation encounter and ensuring continued conservation of wildlands.

Are We There Yet? A Roadmap to Understanding National Park Service Rulemaking

The preproposal stage of the rulemaking process is notoriously understudied, but enormously important in determining regulatory outputs. Recently, Rinfret (2011c) analyzed the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) rulemaking process and developed a frame analysis model to interpret stakeholder influence during the preproposal stage. Rinfret argues that stakeholders use three frames to influence agency rulemaking, including an expertise, a fiscal feasibility, and an information frame. This article tests this model to determine whether it is applicable to other federal agencies such as the National Park Service (NPS). Through an analysis of stakeholder framing within the 2012 NPS Yellowstone Winter Use Rule, this research confirms that Rinfret's model is indeed applicable to the NPS process. Therefore, this research suggests that this theoretical model examining stakeholder influence is applicable to other public land agencies, and arguably can be applied across the bureaucracy.

Benefits of public land usage: an analysis of outdoor recreationists

Benefits-based management (BBM) is a prominent framework for managing outdoor recreation on public lands. BBM provides public land managers a framework to both identify and facilitate established recreation benefits for visitors to their lands. Despite its wide adoption among public land agencies, BBM has been criticized for being too complex and difficult to implement because of its broad theoretical construction and all-inclusive definition of benefits. To overcome these problems – using a national (the USA) sample – we identify: (1) the benefits that are most salient among outdoor recreationists and (2) six distinct groupings of public lands outdoor recreationists united by their desired benefits, relevant behaviors, values, and demographics. These findings open BBM to a more general application and understanding of outdoor recreationists.

Climate change scenario planning in Alaska's National Parks: Stakeholder involvement in the decision-making process

This article studies the participation of stakeholders in climate change decision-making in Alaska's National Parks. We place stakeholder participation within literatures on environmental and climate change decision-making. We conducted participant observation and interviews in two planning workshops to investigate the decision-making process, and our findings are three-fold. First, the inclusion of diverse stakeholders expanded climate change decision-making beyond National Park Service (NPS) institutional constraints. Second, workshops of the Climate Change Scenario Planning Project (CCSPP) enhanced institutional understandings of participants' attitudes towards climate change and climate change decision-making. Third, the geographical context of climate change influences the decision-making process. As the first regional approach to climate change decision-making within the NPS, the CCSPP serves as a model for future climate change planning in public land agencies. This study shows how the participation of stakeholders can contribute to robust decisions, may move climate change decision-making beyond institutional barriers, and can provide information about attitudes towards climate change decision-making.

Institutional Effects on Decision Making on Public Lands: An Interagency Examination of Wildfire Management

A significant increase in catastrophic wildfires in the interior West of the United States has left public land agencies scrambling to reduce dangerous fuel loads and manage forests according to an ecological understanding of fire and forest health. However, this has not translated into standardized on‐the‐ground fire and fuel management in public land agencies. Different on‐the‐ground management practices raise questions about the extent to which ecosystems management is being utilized and how well land agencies are adapting to their new responsibilities. This study employs an institutional analysis and development framework to examine how and why on‐the‐ground decisions and outcomes differ. Decisions and outcomes are discussed as a function of the multiple layers of institutions that guide and constrain the decision processes of line officers who are responsible for developing and executing fire and fuel management projects.

Affinity for Nature in Outdoor Programming: Theoretical Foundations, Scale Development, and Importance

The objectives of this study were a) to develop a youth Affinity for Nature Scale that can be used to document the affective outcomes of children participating in nature based programs; b) to review three relevant strains of literature informing the development of the scale: emotion theory, child development, and affinity for nature; and c) to review the importance of this scale's utility in terms of the current state of children's relationship with the natural world. The study outcomes include a field friendly instrument based on the emotion literature providing outdoor educators a reliable method to assess program outcomes aimed at connecting children to nature. A sample of 309 campers was recruited for the initial scale development. Content criterion and discriminant validity were assessed. The results showed there was adequate internal consistency and reliability for a 10 items a shorter 5 item scale. In addition, the paper gives a rationale for the utility of this scale based on current trends of human and environmental health. In response to the growing concerns of childhood obesity, emotional health, and decreases in environmental literacy and sensitivity camps, nature centers, park and recreation organizations, and public land agencies are increasingly tailoring their program offerings to provide opportunities for children to connect with nature. These educators and program planners need tools that are easy to administer in the field to evaluate affective outcomes for the youth in their programs.

Positive Planning in Australia: A Review of Historical and Emergent Rationales1

The role of public land agencies in Australia has ebbed and flowed over the past few decades broadly reflecting political cycles. Initially, in the early 1970s, the Land Commission Program (LCP) was established under the Whitlam government on a rationale with two broad bases: to create more efficient and fairer land markets; and to produce higher quality design outcomes. At the end of the Whitlam era—partly resulting from objections from the private sector, government-sponsored critiques of the land program and the ideologies of conservative governments—the influence of government in land development was substantially reduced. Today, although the variety of activities of public land developers is considerably wider, there remains significant scope for increased government involvement in land development, based on the emergence of new imperatives arising from complex shifts in social conditions, community preferences and scientific knowledge. Furthermore, the imperatives that led to the establishment of the LCP in 1972 are still relevant today.

Geographic Variation in Social Acceptability of Wildland Fuels Management in the Western United States

Contemporary natural resource management requires consideration of the social acceptability of management practices and conditions. Agencies wishing to measure, respond to, and influence social acceptability must understand the nuances of public perception regarding controversial issues. This study explores social acceptability judgments about one such issue: reduction of wildland fuel hazards on federal lands in the western United States. Citizens were surveyed in four locations where fire has been a significant ecological disturbance agent and public land agencies propose to reduce wildland fuel levels and wildfire hazards via prescribed burning, thinning, brush removal, and/or livestock grazing. Respondents in different locations differed in their knowledge about fire and fuel issues as well in their acceptability judgments. Differences are associated with location-specific social and environmental factors as well as individual beliefs. Results argue against using “one-size-fits-all” policies or information strategies about fuels management.

A New Century for Natural Resources Management

This book explores the changes that are leading to a new century of natural resources management. It places the current situation in historical perspective, analyzes the forces that are propelling change, and describes and examines the specific changes in goals, policy, and practice that are transforming all aspects of natural resources management.The book is an important overview for wildlife biologists, foresters, and others working for public land agencies; professors and students of natural resources; and all those whose livelihood depends on the use of public natural resources.

Sharing Responsibility for Conserving Diversity: The Complementary Roles of Conservation Biologists and Public Land Agencies

Conservation BiologyVolume 2, Issue 4 p. 398-401 Sharing Responsibility for Conserving Diversity: The Complementary Roles of Conservation Biologists and Public Land Agencies DONALD M. WALLER, DONALD M. WALLER Department of Botany University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, U.S.A.Search for more papers by this author DONALD M. WALLER, DONALD M. WALLER Department of Botany University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, U.S.A.Search for more papers by this author First published: December 1988 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1523-1739.1988.tb00206.xCitations: 4AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Citing Literature Volume2, Issue4December 1988Pages 398-401 RelatedInformation