Public Trust Resource Research Articles

Общественное доверие как управленческий ресурс в системе органов внутренних дел

The object of the problem studied in the article is public trust in the internal affairs bodies of the Russian Federation. The subject of the study is public trust as a resource that police leaders can use in managerial activities to achieve the goals of the territorial bodies of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia. An interdisciplinary approach combining sociological science and management sciences is used as a research methodology. Systemic, structural-functional, and communication approaches and the theory of resource dependence have made it possible to comprehensively consider the key role of a public trust resource in improving the effectiveness of the police. The article notes that the system of internal affairs bodies consists of organizations characterized by the presence of a management structure and coordinated actions of people focused on achieving a common goal. Turning to the theory of resource dependence, the author notes that the achievement of the goals of territorial internal affairs bodies depends on such an external resource as the public trust of citizens. The use of a public trust resource allows the police to minimize the antisocial behavior of citizens, establish relations of cooperation with citizens living in the serviced territory, and build a partnership model of relations with civil society institutions. The paper presents the author's structure of the phenomenon of public trust, which includes institutional and interpersonal trust. The blocks of interpersonal trust consist of trust acquired in the process of primary socialization, trust acquired by experience (personal interaction), and trust based on social reality. The author notes that public trust is the specific resource that ensures the effectiveness of the activities of the internal affairs bodies and, at the same time, needs targeted managerial influence from the law enforcement structure. The main directions of the police to strengthen public trust include: the expansion of propaganda work among children; the involvement of the younger generation in volunteer movements; the development of the cadet movement; and the creation of a new approach to the implementation of information policy in the Internet space.

By the Book: Examining California’s Private Forest Regulations from the Perspectives of Family Forest Landowners

Private forest land policies in the U.S. differ by state and range from regulatory to non-regulatory. The state of California has a highly regulatory policy system to ensure sustainable forest management, and the state’s family forest landowners, who hold 20% of the state’s forests, navigate this regulatory system to achieve their management objectives. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 33 family forest landowners to better understand their perceptions of state forest policies, including the policies’ efficacy and how they impact landowner behavior. We found that participants voiced general acceptance of California’s forest policies, though they described significant concerns because of financial burdens and regulatory uncertainty. They had nuanced views regarding how the policies protect public trust resources and private property rights, suggesting that landowners’ public responsibilities and private rights are not always at odds.

“The cost of doing business”: Private rights, public resources, and the resulting diversity of state-level forestry policies in the U.S.

In the U.S., the combination of federal, state, and local forest rules and programs create the policy environment in which private forest landowners manage their land, which in turn impacts the quality and conservation of ecosystem services produced. While previous studies provide overviews of forest policies impacting private landowners at moments in time, they lack the depth and perspective needed to describe the political context of forest policies, including the mechanisms underlying this diversity: the how and why of particular policies. This study fills that gap by utilizing interviews with policy experts from 12 case-study states to investigate the range of forest policies present in the U.S. We also explored the perceived trade-offs between protection of public trust resources and private property rights on private forest lands in their states, and the key actors (groups) influencing policy changes over time. Overall, the strong role of private property rights in the United States was consistent across case-study states, although most experts indicated a balance between protecting public trust resources and private property rights. The variability of policy tools employed among states suggests many avenues to achieve this balance, including policies that are created through market-based mechanisms rather than the state (i.e., certification). We also found that local-level regulations contributed to diversity and, at times, conflict and confusion within states. Finally, although landowner stewardship is not a policy tool, we found that states implicitly and explicitly relied on landowner knowledge and values to protect public trust resources, a strategy that some participants agreed fostered trust between the state and its private forest landowners.

Hedonic Property Prices and Access to Public Trust Resources

Hedonic Property Prices and Access to Public Trust Resources

State-level forestry policies across the US: Discourses reflecting the tension between private property rights and public trust resources

Policies impacting forest management on privately-owned lands demonstrate remarkable variety across the United States, with each state emphasizing different approaches to balancing private property rights with the protection of public trust resources. Though private property rights are historically paramount in the US, previous researchers have identified a variety of policy approaches on private forest lands, from regulatory to non-regulatory. We expand on these categories through a discourse analysis of state-produced documents (including legislation, rules, and best management practices manuals). Through this analysis, we create a typology of categories that express assumptions about landowner behavior and the appropriate role of state intervention. The typology identifies four discourse categories used to varying degrees within each state: landowner stewardship, forestry expert stewardship, science-bureaucracy, and participatory conservation. This typology allows for comparison of policy approaches and comparison across resources and jurisdictions.

Demand for mitigating the risk of COVID-19 infection in public transport: The role of social trust and fatalistic beliefs

The rapid surge of COVID-19 cases worldwide drew attention to COVID-19 infection as a new source of risk in transport. The virus introduced a need for viral transmission mitigation as a major priority when selecting a mode of travel, and caused a significant drop in public transport use. The recovery of public transport use in the post-COVID period requires that the transport authorities favourably address people’s demand for mitigation of the risk of COVID-19 transmission in public transport. The present study aims to explore the role of risk perception, worry and priority of COVID-19 risk reduction along with fatalistic beliefs and public trust in authorities in explaining public demand for risk mitigation. The present study is among the first to investigate the role of fatalistic beliefs, social trust and risk perception for public transport and public demand for risk mitigation. The link between priority of infection prevention and demand for risk mitigation has also been less explored in public transport research. An online survey was conducted among university students in Iran between 19th April and 16th June 2020, during the first wave of the pandemic, when the country was a major epicentre of the disease. A total of 271 out of 370 respondents whose dominant mode on university travels was public transport were included in the analysis. Results of structural equation modelling confirmed the paradox of trust, indicating that social trust is negatively associated with perceived risk of COVID-19 infection, which in turn may lead people to place less importance on COVID-19 prevention as a priority in travel mode choice, and consequently demand less risk mitigation efforts to prevent COVID-19 infection in public transport. Dissimilar to trust, however, the results revealed no relationship between fatalistic beliefs and risk perception, but a significant direct effect of fatalistic beliefs on demand for risk mitigation. To reinforce public demand for mitigating the risk of COVID-19 in public transport, the study calls on policymakers to exploit public trust resources for more effective risk communication, through disseminating the gradually accumulating evidence-based information regarding the infectivity and the virulence of COVID-19 and the scientific risk of infection. The study also underlined the potential importance of considering fatalistic beliefs when developing effective risk communication policies and practices to enhance public support for COVID-19 risk mitigation in public transport.

Social identity, values, and trust in government: How stakeholder group, ideology, and wildlife value orientations relate to trust in a state agency for wildlife management

Our objective was to understand how social identity and values influenced general public and stakeholder trust in a state wildlife management agency (SWMA). In particular, we wanted to examine how stakeholder group, political ideology, and wildlife value orientation influenced trust in a SWMA. Data were derived from a study of state residents, hunters and livestock producers related to wolf management. Results suggest differences in agency trust correlated with all three factors and the interaction between stakeholder group and wildlife value orientation. Livestock producers reported lower levels of trust in the agency, compared to hunters and the general public. Individuals with conservative or middle-of-the-road ideologies reported less trust in the agency than individuals with a liberal ideology did. Respondents with traditional wildlife values also had less trust in the agency compared to mutualist, pluralist, and distanced respondents. Results suggested similarities in the ideologies and wildlife value orientations of livestock producers and hunters, although these groups differed significantly in their trust in the agency. Agencies face the challenge of managing common-pool, public-trust resources for stakeholders who hold different values and ideologies, and who are differentially affected by management decisions.

A Holistic Framework for Evaluating Adaptation Approaches to Coastal Hazards and Sea Level Rise: A Case Study from Imperial Beach, California

Sea level rise increases community risks from erosion, wave flooding, and tides. Current management typically protects existing development and infrastructure with coastal armoring. These practices ignore long-term impacts to public trust coastal recreation and natural ecosystems. This adaptation framework models physical responses to the public beach and private upland for each adaptation strategy over time, linking physical changes in widths to damages, economic costs, and benefits from beach recreation and nature using low-lying Imperial Beach, California, as a case study. Available coastal hazard models identified community vulnerabilities, and local risk communication engagement prioritized five adaptation approaches—armoring, nourishment, living shorelines, groins, and managed retreat. This framework innovates using replacement cost as a proxy for ecosystem services normally not valued and examines a managed retreat policy approach using a public buyout and rent-back option. Specific methods and economic values used in the analysis need more research and innovation, but the framework provides a scalable methodology to guide coastal adaptation planning everywhere. Case study results suggest that coastal armoring provides the least public benefits over time. Living shoreline approaches show greater public benefits, while managed retreat, implemented sooner, provides the best long-term adaptation strategy to protect community identity and public trust resources.

The Public Trust in Wildlife: Closing the Implementation Gap in Thirteen Western States

Under the banner of state sovereignty, state wildlife agencies commonly claim they are entitled to manage wildlife as a public trust resource under the public trust doctrine (PTD). This assertion is frequently made in judicial proceedings, with state requests that their managerial authority over wildlife be given due force throughout state, private, federal, and even tribal lands. Based on these broad state assertions, one might be forgiven for concluding that a rich body of PTD practices and policies exists for wildlife. In reality, the PTD in state wildlife management proves to be little more than a legal ephemera, leaving few concrete traces on the landscape. This article empirically investigates implementation of the PTD as applied to wildlife by thirteen state fish and wildlife agencies in the American West over nearly two decades. For these states, we reviewed state agency management and/or decision making documents referencing the public trust (and related principles) using an evaluative rubric. In only two out of eighty-six documents is there a discernible application of the PTD or public trust principles that goes beyond merely mentioning those legal concepts. This research exposes a significant gap between the legal assertions western states make about the PTD and the actual decisions of state agencies. Agencies in any decision-making context must making findings under applicable law and support their choices with evidence. This administrative expectation should be all the more exacting when a public trust resource is implicated. To truly fulfill the legal mandate of the PTD, and to avoid the specter of arbitrary and capricious decision-making, state wildlife agencies must do more. By drawing comparisons to the application of PTD in state water resources decisions—an area with more developed public trust application—the article suggests how states can begin to close this implementation gap for wildlife.

Poaching, Social Conflict, and the Public Trust: Some Critical Observations on Wildlife Crime

ABSTRACTThe illegal killing of wild animals is recognized as a significant social problem in modern society, yet when compared to many other types of unlawful behaviors, the study of wildlife crime has received scant attention from criminal justice researchers. With the emergence of green criminology in recent decades, however, there has been a concomitant increase in poaching research. This essay reviews the literature and provides some observations on the status of poaching research, and then offers directions for future research on wildlife crime from a critical perspective. Conflict theory provides a useful framework for analyzing wildlife crime and can be used to enhance our understanding of laws regulating the use of wild animals. Given the fact that wildlife is a public trust resource in the United States, it is argued that state wildlife agencies that offer special programs to landowners to facilitate the commercialization of wildlife may be committing a state crime.

Moving the paradigm from stakeholders to beneficiaries in wildlife management

ABSTRACTWildlife management is evolving in many ways including adaptation of philosophy and practices to contemporary ideas about governance of wildlife as public trust resources. Inherent to good governance is citizen engagement, especially regarding who is engaged and to what ends management efforts are directed. Two decades ago, the profession was encouraged to shift from a client orientation (i.e., a narrow focus on people who pay for services and products) to a stakeholder orientation (i.e., any people affected by or affecting wildlife or its management). We believe that it is time again to broaden thinking about the related questions: wildlife management for whom and for what? We argue that management needs to shift slightly from a stakeholder orientation to a beneficiary orientation. This shift may be less challenging than the earlier call for change but nevertheless has implications for practices of public engagement and for objectives and outcomes of wildlife management that bring the enterprise into better alignment with the expectations of public trust resource management. © 2019 The Wildlife Society.

Juliana v United States: The next frontier in US climate mitigation?

In the ground‐breaking lawsuit, Juliana v United States, more than 20 children and young adults are suing agencies of the United States for contributing to climate change by promoting, supporting and permitting fossil fuel extraction, transportation and use. The case reached an important threshold in November 2016 when, one day after a minority of voters elected Donald Trump President, a district court ruled that the case could move forward. Specifically, the district court ruled that the plaintiffs had raised viable legal claims when they alleged the US government had violated plaintiffs’ fundamental constitutional rights to a liveable planet and that the government had failed to adequately protect public trust resources from harm caused by climate change. This preliminary ruling has paved the way for a trial in which plaintiffs will be able to present scientific and factual evidence regarding climate change and the government's actions supporting activities that contribute to climate change. If the plaintiffs ultimately succeed in the case, the Juliana litigation could ultimately serve as a tool to compel the US government to develop a strategy for decarbonizing the US energy system and economy.

Safe Harbors: The Many Benefits of Marine Monuments and Sanctuaries

The United States has been at the forefront of marine resource stewardship since the 1970s when Federal officials began to implement a series of national policies aimed at the conservation and management of public trust resources in the ocean. Beginning with the establishment of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in 1970, soon followed by several pieces of landmark legislation, this era marked the start of a continuing effort to integrate ecosystem science with marine resource management. Among the most important bipartisan legacies of this effort has been the steady expansion of marine managed areas in U.S. coastal and ocean waters. This legacy is being challenged as the Trump Administration considers whether to alter or eliminate the nations Marine National Monuments and National Marine Sanctuaries.

Access to public resources on private property: Resident hunter perceptions of the commercialization of wildlife in Montana

The management of public wildlife resources on private property presents unique challenges for state wildlife agencies. Some private landowners in Montana have attempted to capitalize on the public wildlife found on their land by leasing the property to outfitters for the exclusive use of their paying clientele. This practice has created a rift between landowners and outfitters versus public hunters. This exploratory study examines hunter perceptions of the commercialization of wildlife in a western state, and the impact they believe it is having on the hunting experience. Qualitative data were obtained from a mail survey of Montana resident elk hunters. Analysis revealed that hunters are concerned about a perceived decline in hunting opportunities on private land that is occurring, at least in part, as a result of the commercialization of wildlife in the state. The findings enhance our understanding of hunting issues on private property in modern society. Management implications:●The study indicates that hunting is an important recreational activity for resident hunters in Montana.●Wildlife is a public trust resource in the United States that is found on both public and private land.●Hunters are concerned about the commercialization of wildlife in Montana and believe it contributes to less access to private land for hunting.●Access to public wildlife resources on inaccessible state land is an important issue to hunters.

Can Plant Breeding Go Open Source?

Can Plant Breeding Go Open Source?

Stakeholder engagement in wildlife management: Does the public trust doctrine imply limits?

ABSTRACTRecent evolution of the wildlife management institution in the United States includes adoption of good governance principles, wherein stakeholders expect and are provided opportunities for input and involvement in making decisions about public wildlife resources. Concurrently and perhaps paradoxically, state wildlife agencies are encouraged to operate with fidelity to the public trust doctrine and the principles of public trust administration, which may require trust administrators (i.e., appointed commissioners and public wildlife managers) to keep trust beneficiaries (i.e., theoretically all citizens, but especially special interests) at arm's length (i.e., restricted from having undue control) with respect to directly influencing decision‐making. In addition, public trust administration includes citizens taking responsibility for holding trust administrators accountable and requires government to provide citizens recourse for doing so. In practice, however, accountability typically is achieved through political influence or litigation, both routes antithetical to efficient public trust resource administration. This set of potentially conflicting expectations—practicing good governance through citizens' engagement in wildlife decision‐making processes, limiting beneficiaries' direct influence on decisions of trust administrators, and citizens' responsibility for holding trust administrators accountable—creates an apparent conundrum for state wildlife agencies. As a catalyst for deliberation about the implications of public trust doctrine in the wildlife profession, we describe potential problems and suggest ways for public wildlife managers to perform their responsibilities with due diligence to the combined expectations and requirements of good governance and the public trust doctrine. © 2014 The Wildlife Society.

Factors Affecting Hunters’ Trust and Cooperation

North American wildlife is treated as a public trust resource (PTR), managed for the benefit of all people by government. Wildlife managers historically used restrictive regulations and enforced compliance to recover many species. Present-day societal needs include reducing some abundant game populations. Hunters often oppose this objective, creating tension between managing PTRs and gaining trust of hunters upon whose cooperation management depends. We assessed effects of normative and personal gains on cooperation of hunters through their purchase of antlerless deer licenses and their trust in the agency regarding bovine tuberculosis eradication from Michigan white-tailed deer. Logit modeling of hunter survey data indicated trust was influenced by procedural justice and personal gains. Only a single procedural justice variable was a statistically significant cooperation predictor. Findings suggest agencies may gain trust more readily than cooperation through procedurally just exercise of authority. Additional research is needed to identify meaningful gains associated with trust.

Challenges for Multilevel Stakeholder Engagement in Public Trust Resource Governance

The trend in wildlife management over the last two decades has been to develop locally based approaches for responsiveness to local conditions, but some state wildlife agencies are finding the amount of staff time required to service this approach prohibitive. Although local engagement strategies have been lauded as assuring that public trust obligations of state government to citizens are met, we can expect that states with a local focus as their operational level of stakeholder engagement may opt to change their approach to reflect their resource limitations. We argue for comprehensive regional level effort to understand stakeholders augmented with local engagement processes where needed to deal with special circumstances in smaller areas within a region. Such an approach can be anticipated to have implications for stakeholder engagement and human dimensions research needs, which we discuss in the context of public trust resource administration and good governance of wildlife resources.

Public Trust Principles and Trust Administration Functions in the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation: Contributions of Human Dimensions Research

The public trust doctrine (PTD) is the common law basis for governments to hold wildlife in trust for the benefit of current and future generations of Americans. Wildlife as a public trust resource is the foundation of the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation. We examine principles that underlie a trustee’s role in the context of the PTD and governmental responsibility. We evaluate purposes of and needs for human dimensions inquiry in execution of a trustee’s wildlife stewardship responsibility. We conclude human dimensions research is essential for government to fulfill its responsibilities as trustee, particularly considering the breadth and often conflicting interests of stakeholders. Human dimensions research can serve an important function in identifying and affirming core societal values toward wildlife that underpin the PTD and in monitoring shifts in society’s values to ensure resiliency of the trustee role and relevance and legitimacy of institutional norms of wildlife resource governance.

Impacts management: An approach to fulfilling public trust responsibilities of wildlife agencies

ABSTRACTIn many states, case law, statutes, or constitutions establish a “public trust in wildlife,” a derivative of the public trust doctrine. Although interpretation differs across jurisdictions, the underlying principle of wildlife as a public trust resource, explicitly expressed or not, carries with it broad obligations and standards of trust administration by government to ensure benefits of wildlife are available to all citizens, present and future. The standards for execution of responsibilities by trustees (elected officials or their appointees, such as commissions) and trust managers (e.g., wildlife professionals working for state wildlife agencies) require understanding beneficiaries' varied interests in the wildlife resource, which in turn requires effective public input and involvement, following the precepts of good governance, such as inclusiveness, openness, fairness, transparency, and accountability. Managing wildlife resources as public trust assets entails providing sustainable net benefits from the existence of wildlife and its co‐existence with humans. Wildlife managers need an approach to wildlife management that is philosophically consistent with the benefits‐production focus of trust administration. We explain that impacts management is such an approach, essentially tailor‐made for fulfilling trust‐management responsibilities because of its focus on diverse, stakeholder‐value‐defined outcomes (desired impacts) and its reliance on stakeholders' input for identifying and weighing competing outcomes desired by them. Impacts management is a wildlife resource management approach for providing sustainable, highly relevant public trust administration. © 2013 The Wildlife Society.