Publication

This chapter describes a rapid appraisal in the northern Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE)-a high-profile, large-scale ecosystem with unique biological and geological systems-conducted in March 2009 by a class at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. The group's methods and theoretical foundations are described. The assessment showed that conservation management and policy, as evidenced in the programs surveyed (e.g., grizzly bear and wolf management, snowmobile use, tourism, and others) and the people interviewed, are fraught with conflicting perspectives, contested problem definitions, symbol inflation, and politics. Particular problems in the GYE's social process and decision process are examined. The team's recommendations encourage common interest outcomes: learning from practice-based, prototyping experiences, creating new arenas for community-based participation, and adopting an adaptive governance framework in problem solving. Such a framework emphasizes ongoing adjustment of decision-making processes to actual, on-the-ground situations, and it provides a unique platform for creating a process that is more inclusive and capable of harnessing local knowledge and experience, bridges the divide between science and the practical measures needed for effective conservation, and fosters respect and pursuit of human dignity as overarching goals.