Word count (abstract): 137 Word count (body): 3280 30 References: 44 Figures: 2 35 Tables: 0 (in ... more Word count (abstract): 137 Word count (body): 3280 30 References: 44 Figures: 2 35 Tables: 0 (in supplemental) Corresponding author: Jeremy T. Bruskotter,
T. BruskoTTer, eric Toman, sherry a. enzler, and roBerT h. schmidT Conservation scientists increa... more T. BruskoTTer, eric Toman, sherry a. enzler, and roBerT h. schmidT Conservation scientists increasingly recognize the need to incorporate the social sciences into policy decisions. In practice, however, considerable challenges to integrating the social and natural sciences remain. In this article, we review the US Fish and Wildlife Service's (FWS) 2009 decision to remove the northern Rocky Mountain population of gray wolves from the federal list of endangered species. We examine the FWS's arguments concerning the threat posed by humans' attitudes toward wolves in light of the existing social science literature. Our analysis found support for only one of four arguments underlying the FWS's assessment of public attitudes as a potential threat to wolves. Although we found an extensive literature on attitudes toward wolves, the FWS cited just one empirical research article. We conclude that when listing decisions rest on assumptions about society, these assumptions should be evaluated using the best available natural and social science research.
The Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (HFRA) encourages communities to develop community wi... more The Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (HFRA) encourages communities to develop community wildfire protection plans (CWPPs) to reduce their wildland fire risk and promote healthier forested ecosystems. Communities who have developed CWPPs have done so using many different processes, resulting in plans with varied form and content. We analysed data from 13 case-study communities to illustrate how the characteristics of HFRA have encouraged communities to develop CWPPs that reflect their local social and ecological contexts. A framework for analysing policy implementation suggests that some elements of HFRA could have made CWPP development and implementation problematic, but these potential shortcomings in the statute have provided communities the freedom to develop CWPPs that are relevant to their conditions and allowed for the development of capacities that communities are using to move forward in several areas.
Word count (abstract): 137 Word count (body): 3280 30 References: 44 Figures: 2 35 Tables: 0 (in ... more Word count (abstract): 137 Word count (body): 3280 30 References: 44 Figures: 2 35 Tables: 0 (in supplemental) Corresponding author: Jeremy T. Bruskotter,
T. BruskoTTer, eric Toman, sherry a. enzler, and roBerT h. schmidT Conservation scientists increa... more T. BruskoTTer, eric Toman, sherry a. enzler, and roBerT h. schmidT Conservation scientists increasingly recognize the need to incorporate the social sciences into policy decisions. In practice, however, considerable challenges to integrating the social and natural sciences remain. In this article, we review the US Fish and Wildlife Service's (FWS) 2009 decision to remove the northern Rocky Mountain population of gray wolves from the federal list of endangered species. We examine the FWS's arguments concerning the threat posed by humans' attitudes toward wolves in light of the existing social science literature. Our analysis found support for only one of four arguments underlying the FWS's assessment of public attitudes as a potential threat to wolves. Although we found an extensive literature on attitudes toward wolves, the FWS cited just one empirical research article. We conclude that when listing decisions rest on assumptions about society, these assumptions should be evaluated using the best available natural and social science research.
The Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (HFRA) encourages communities to develop community wi... more The Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (HFRA) encourages communities to develop community wildfire protection plans (CWPPs) to reduce their wildland fire risk and promote healthier forested ecosystems. Communities who have developed CWPPs have done so using many different processes, resulting in plans with varied form and content. We analysed data from 13 case-study communities to illustrate how the characteristics of HFRA have encouraged communities to develop CWPPs that reflect their local social and ecological contexts. A framework for analysing policy implementation suggests that some elements of HFRA could have made CWPP development and implementation problematic, but these potential shortcomings in the statute have provided communities the freedom to develop CWPPs that are relevant to their conditions and allowed for the development of capacities that communities are using to move forward in several areas.
Uploads
Papers by Sherry Enzler