There is a growing movement in the U.S., and throughout the world, involving top down government bureaucracies or government agencies within the natural resources field, to develop new and innovative processes and structures for integrating societal viewpoints into agency decision-making. This study examines Urban Matters, a community of practice within...
Congress created the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program (CFLRP) in 2009 with the passage of the Forest Landscape Restoration Act (Omnibus Public Lands Management Act of 2009 Title IV). The purpose of the CFLRP legislation is to implement forest restoration work on national forest lands through a competitive grant program....
Some evidence suggests a connection between outdoor recreation participation and
stronger environmental worldviews. This study finds little evidence supporting
participation in outdoor recreation activities and stronger environmental worldviews and
some evidence supporting a weak connection between appreciative outdoor recreation
and stronger environmental worldviews. Additionally, the study documents greater
participation in...
This study investigates the barriers faced by fats, oil, and grease (FOG) as an energy feedstock in the state of Oregon. FOG, which typically originates in food service establishments (FSEs), historically has been treated as waste, yet it also has the chemical make up to be an energy feedstock in...
Several distinctive environmental movements of the past century have had major influence on public policies in the United States. More generally, social movements that push environmental issues into the limelight have the potential for significantly altering public perceptions, attitudes, and beliefs, thus driving big policy changes. This thesis examines the...
This research explores how an agriculture-based community in the Crooked River Watershed of Central Oregon responds to a series of water resource and environmental challenges, some associated with projected climate change, amid increasing pressure to change management practices to better accommodate environmental needs. A key part of this research assesses...
Collaborative governance strives to address complex environmental problems by building cooperation and consensus among stakeholders. While there are many successful examples of collaborative governance, all too frequently collaborative groups come to an agreement in the meeting room only to struggle to bring their plans to fruition. What are the factors...
One of the greatest challenges in the West is the sustainable management of limited water resources. In recognition of localized responses to natural resource challenges, there has been considerable work in the area of adaptive capacity and collaborative governance to help understand a community’s capacity to manage change. This study...
Communities across the American West face new challenges in water management: historical management structures devised to prioritize economic uses, predominantly agriculture, are being tasked with adapting to address growing and changing populations, unaddressed species and ecosystem needs, and climatic changes. Scholars in the field of collaborative governance posit that collaborative...
With too many demands placed on too little water, the Klamath Basin and itsresidents - human and otherwise - are in dire need. There exists a significant opportunityfor mitigation in the purposeful conversion of seasonal wetlands to permanent wetlandsmanaged to increase baseline water storage levels in the Upper Basin. A...