Building wilderness partnerships through empathy: Results from surveys and group discussions during a shared stewardship session at the 2019 National Wilderness Workshop
| Authors: | Chris A. Armatas, Jimmy Gaudry, Bill Hodge, Heather MacSlarrow, Michelle Mitchell, Nancy Taylor |
| Year: | 2020 |
| Type: | Miscellaneous Publication |
| Station: | Rocky Mountain Research Station |
| Source: | Missoula, MT: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute |
Abstract
Shared stewardship for the National Wilderness Preservation System (NWPS), or the creation of partnerships between the land management agencies and non-governmental entities, is integral to the completion of basic and fundamental stewardship tasks within Wilderness (e.g., trail work, Leave-No-Trace education, monitoring). However, successful shared stewardship for Wilderness is impeded by a variety of barriers, which are institutional (e.g., employee turnover), practical (e.g., lack of staff, limited informational resources about how to set up partnerships), and conceptual (e.g., ambiguity surrounding what Wilderness shared stewardship is). While there has been some effort to formally document and understand the challenges, components of success, and solutions within the context of Wilderness shared stewardship, much of that effort was completed over ten years ago. Additionally, there was little focus on how to build a conversation that fostered an empathetic understanding among those within the Wilderness community. The goals of this research, which was based upon data collected during a plenary session on shared stewardship at the 2019 National Wilderness Workshop (NWW), include: (1) updating knowledge surrounding the issues of Wilderness shared stewardship and; (2) fostering empathy among those within the Wilderness community who are focused on developing and maintaining partnerships for the purpose of achieving a variety of goals for the benefit of the NWPS.