Human dimensions of wildlife management:
Evolution of stakeholder involvement
Tania M. Schusler and Daniel J. Decker
Cornell University
Public wildlife management has experienced many changes since its inception in the first half of the 20th century as a professional activity informed by biological and ecological science. Perhaps no change has been more fundamental to the maturation of wildlife management as a process than the evolution of approaches adopted over the last 30 years for gaining insight about public interests in management of various wildlife species. Attention to understanding human dimensions and stakeholder expectations of wildlife management has always been present, but the need for more sophistication in this area has heightened as changes have occurred in people’s interests and experiences, both positive and negative, with wildlife. Wildlife management often is accompanied by conflicting stakeholder-perceived impacts associated with various wildlife species. Managers have increasingly recognized that these human dimensions of wildlife management, typically grounded in some combination of historical, political, economic, social and cultural roots, must be better understood through greater use of social science and more effective employment of stakeholder input and participation processes. Furthermore, improvement has been sought in the integration of social considerations with ecological considerations in policy and management decisions.
Controversy generally emerges as wildlife are restored in locations where they have been absent from the landscape for many years, as wildlife populations expand to areas occupied by humans, or as humans encroach upon occupied wildlife habitats. All three of these phenomena are occurring simultaneously in Florida and other areas of the US. Such situations often lead to stakeholder expression of diverse, deeply held beliefs about acceptability and importance of (a) various impacts from human-wildlife interactions and (b) expected management agency responses. Integrating such stakeholder input and participation in decision-making is a fundamental process in wildlife management, and approaches to integration vary. Nevertheless, an evolution in approach seems common as controversy surrounding wildlife management escalates in a particular situation. This pattern in approach for public participation follows a progression of shifting influence and responsibility from managers exclusively to include stakeholders as well as managers. The sequence has been described as follows: authoritative → passive-receptive → inquisitive → intermediary → transactional → co-managerial. In this presentation we describe the various approaches to stakeholder engagement and discuss the potential of approaches for incorporating stakeholders in decision-making to help managers and stakeholders shift to being proactive in reducing conflicts and fostering coexistence of humans and wildlife. We present an example of how a community-based, co-managerial approach led to greater understanding and communication among disparate stakeholders in what had been perceived as an intractable wildlife management issue.
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