Thesis--Martin Luther-Universität zu Halle an der Saale. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. [78]-81).

Thesis--Martin Luther-Universität zu Halle an der Saale. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. [78]-81).

Conservation agencies worldwide are facing rapid, volatile social and ecological change, which is especially problematic for bureaucratic, hierarchical conservation organizations that are designed to be stable and resistant to change. The current science and management paradigm based on Progressive era ideology is proving to be inadequate to deal with this change, and the need for a new paradigm that embraces complexity and uncertainty in our social ecological systems is emerging. The National Park Service (NPS) is one of these organizations that has acknowledged the need to better adapt to a changing environment. An external science committee recommends in Revisiting Leopold: Resource Stewardship in the National Parks (Revisiting Leopold) that the agency transform itself into one that recognizes relationships within social ecological systems at different scales, forms new partnerships, and accepts complexity, uncertainty, and dynamism as integral components of social ecological systems. However, organizational change is challenging due to structural and cultural factors and underlying assumptions that stymie organizational learning and adaptation. The problem addressed in this thesis is that while Revisiting Leopold highlights the need for the organization to adopt a new ideology better suited to complex social ecological systems, the process of transforming this type of agency on an organizational level is difficult. To address this problem and better understand how managers perceive the ideas in Revisiting Leopold, twenty-three semi-structured interviews were conducted with managers across the NPS. In particular, this study evaluates the events, patterns, structures, cultures, and mental models at play within the organization. Several system archetypes and organizational learning disabilities emerged from the data that limit the ability of the organization to embrace a new management and scientific paradigm. This study also contributes to a greater understanding of the NPS as a system, which allows for the identification of leverage points that can be utilized if the NPS chooses to transform itself into this new paradigm.

No description available.

Many tourism destination managers know who their visitors are and how they are perceived by them. However, when new destinations begin to take shape, understanding these perceptions and meeting the expectations of visitors can be a difficult task. Destination image provides the ability to explore the perceptions of visitors at a tourism place. One such place the Beartooth Highway in south-central Montana and north-central Wyoming is a scenic byway that reaches nearly 11,000 feet in elevation. Previously, little to no research has been conducted regarding travelers that frequent this region. The purpose of this study was to understand the destination image and economic impacts of nonresident travelers on the Beartooth Highway. Nonresidents were travelers who did not live in the counties of the Beartooth Highway (Park County, MT, Carbon County, MT and Park County, WY). A two-part survey method was implemented. First, an on- site visitor survey was conducted for all travelers along the highway. Second, a mailback survey was given to all nonresidents travelers. The survey included statements about the Beartooth Highway, trip spending categories, motivations for traveling the highway, and activities participated in while visiting. Visitors were intercepted at the three exit points of the Beartooth Highway. In total, 4,285 nonresident visitors were intercepted along the highway. Of those, 3,251 nonresidents were given mailback surveys. The survey was completed and returned by 1,473 respondents for a response rate of 45 percent. Results from the study show that visitors perceive the Beartooth Highway in positive light. Forty-four percent of respondents stated they were first-time visitors. Moreover, visitors who had a higher degree of loyalty to the destination had significant differences in many of the cognitive and affective image variables. Nonresident spending contributed over $50 million in economic impacts to the local communities in the four month time period. Because visitors perceive the place as a destination rather than simply a highway, it is recommended that more collaborative management be implemented. The highway should also be marketed and managed with these results in mind to ensure the preservation of the unique characteristics and qualities of the region.

There is a wide range of goods and services being provided to humans by water resources (e.g. hydropower and recreation), but there is also a diversity of stakeholders that require or desire these benefits, also known as water-based ecosystem services, for everyday life. Land managers working for the United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service in the semi-arid Rocky Mountain Region are tasked with the difficult job of managing scarce water resources in the face of competing human pressures and natural forces (e.g. climate change). Water management decisions on public lands can potentially impact the availability of a wide range of benefits derived from water to a wide range of stakeholders. This project aimed to inform policy-makers and land managers about the range of benefits people derive from water within and flowing from the Shoshone National Forest (SNF), and the importance of those water benefits to stakeholders in northwest Wyoming. Additionally, this project aimed to understand the perceptions of stakeholders regarding the threat of climate change, and other factors, to their ability to receive certain water-based ecosystem services. The use of literature review, focus groups, and pilot tests helped to identify 34 water-based ecosystem services being derived from the SNF. An understanding of stakeholder preference for those 34 ecosystem services was obtained through the use of a preference elicitation method called Q-methodology, which was administered to 96 stakeholders covering a broad range of interests. Factor analysis of the 96 surveys yielded four major perspectives that explain, in a nuanced fashion, 48% of the study variance. The four viewpoints were named the environmental perspective, agricultural perspective, Native American perspective, and recreation perspective. The preferences for each of the four viewpoints with regard to water-based ecosystem services are presented holistically, however, each of the viewpoints is partly defined by two most important ecosystem services. Those most important water-based ecosystem services were water quality (most important to two different viewpoints), household/municipal use (most important to two different viewpoints), Native American cultural and spiritual values, commercial irrigation, river-based fishing, and biodiversity conservation. The threat of climate change to the ability of stakeholders to receive their most important water-based ecosystem services was acknowledged by the majority of stakeholders but, in many cases, there was skepticism that climate change is anything more than a natural trend. Additionally, stakeholders were concerned about water quality, federal and state government management and regulations (e.g. reservoirs and in-stream flow management), and other competing uses impacting their ability to receive their most important ecosystem services.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2001. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 158-169).

published_or_final_version / Chinese / Master / Master of Philosophy

No description available.

Smallholders in Southeastern Paraguay are threatened by the advance of mechanized farming, environmental degradation, and limited access to credit and inputs. Agroforestry initiatives have been proposed as a way to increase smallholder livelihood security in the face of such vulnerability. Yerba mate (Ilex paraguariensis) is a tree crop native to Paraguay that may be grown in agroforestry systems. While prices paid to farmers for yerba mate have increased in recent years, spurring interest and adoption of yerba mate production among some farmers, to this date, there have been no analyses of the effects that yerba mate production may have on livelihoods. This study, which was conducted April-July 2013 in the community of Libertad del Sur in Southeastern Paraguay, addresses this lack of research on yerba mate and livelihoods. Interviews were conducted with 23 households interested in cultivating yerba mate and six key informants on current livelihood strategies in Libertad del Sur and the potential effects of yerba mate production. Yerba mate production was found to be a profitable option for reducing certain sources of vulnerability, but the ability of households to invest in it was limited by several factors including high initial costs and lack of credit.