Phase 1
During the first phase, research teams in Texas and Maryland interviewed people from social groups that we knew used the land differently. We hypothesized that these different uses of the land were rooted in the different ways that people understand and value the two regions.
Timber, oil and agricultural producers, long term residents and community leaders, members of conservation groups and natural resource managers and planners were interviewed. Some people could fit into more than one social group. For example, long term residents and community leaders might also be members of conservation or producer organizations, or both. We tried to address the potential danger of categorizing people as belonging to particular social groups by asking them to speak in their role as a producer, conservation leader etc. in the interviews. In the surveys, (described in phase two) we asked people to choose which social group they primarily identified with.
We were interested in finding out people’s views on land conservation – their definition of it, what should be conserved, how and why.
We were interested in both the explicit answers to the questions as well as to the implicit cultural knowledge driving those answers. We asked four basic questions:
• How do you define land conservation?
• What is the purpose of land conservation?
• What types of land should be conserved?
• What strategies work best to conserve land?
Our primary goal was to identify the implicit understandings people have about what land conservation is. Asking the above questions let us explore this question from different angles. Click here for a copy of the interview. The responses we received and overall results are presented below.
We received an array of answers to our question “What is land conservation?,” from the philosophical to the practical and the ecological.
• “It’s one of those philosophical themes for the greater good of society. So as to maintain the native animals and plants that were here prior to human settlement or it’s one of those, I think we have some connection to the land and want to save it so our kids and grandkids can have it.”
• “Conservation is taking it away from private individuals or privately owned property and putting it into this big Preserve. Or, a big area that actually, you could even make a big like Yosemite Park or that kind of deal and you know, they can have a place to go and camp and sight-see or stuff like that.”
• “Land conservation, I think quality stewardship of natural resources. And I like the word stewardship. Because as human beings we have to use our resources, but we have manage and preserve them. We have to have balance.”
Underneath ideas about what land conservation is, are cultural models about the natural world, how it works, and humans’ relationship to it.
“Everything on earth is tied together in some form or fashion. Every living thing is dependent on something else. Nothing stands on its own.” (Quote from an interviewee)
Some people that we interviewed favored a high degree of active management towards specific production goals. These goals could be to produce commodities, such as timber, or ecological services, such as clean water, that humans rely on. Management goals could also be focused on producing benefits for wildlife. Reasons to favor active management varied. Some people felt that humans had altered natural systems to the point that management is needed to ensure ecosystem health. Others focused on humans’ responsibility to steward natural resources or humans’ dependence on natural resources economically.
• “I know there’s some opinion regarding letting the natural events occur and, you know…I can’t say there is not a good reason for that, but I think there’s a lot of things. To me; infestations of bugs, which I know some time they won’t go in and do anything about. Too much fuel ends up on the ground and you’re gonna have fires that may even destroy what you are trying to protect, and things of that nature.”
• “You’ve got to manage it. If you don’t you’re going to have disease problems, you’re going to have overpopulation and all that. So I’m big on conservation if you’re defining conservation as man has to intervene.”
• “I get really – I’m all about, and believe completely in making best use and taking care of our natural resources, land, trees, biodiversity, everything, but the biggest misconception that a lot of people have is that humans are outside of nature. Humans are not outside of nature, we evolved with nature. Yes, we are the dominant species and we have the intelligence and the capacity to make wise decisions and we should do that, but the land resources, they are here for our use and we need to make wise use of it, yes, but just to put something aside and say nobody is to touch this, nothing is to happen…? I don’t believe that is being fruitful.”
• “And for folks to say to just tie up all this land and absolutely nothing is going to happen on the land could cause problems on a national level for forestry. For instance, there are some diseases out there like Sudden Oak Death and this kind of thing. These kinds of things, if they don’t do something to mitigate the problem we can lose all of our oaks just like we did with Dutch Elm Disease. All the streets and things are planted in Elm and we’ve got Dutch Elm. Look at American Chestnut - if we just let nature do its thing with the world we live in – we’ve got all these ports bringing in stuff all these invasive species – if there is no activity done by man we’ll be overtaken by fire ants, tallow trees and we’ve got Japanese climbing fern here now and Giant Asian Dodder. We’ve got a host of things right here cause we’re near a port city. We’ve got Formosan termites which are like a termite on steroids!“
• “So, my take on conservation is you actively manage the forest and the natural resources. Man has to intervene some, especially these days with invasive species and all these other problems that we’ve got, man has to intervene and kind of help the forest along.”
At the other end of the management continuum were people who felt that humans had intervened enough in natural systems and that, by and large, we should let nature take its course. They saw nature as dynamic and constantly changing and were willing to live with the consequences of natural processes, such as pine bark beetle infestations.
• “Whether it’s a human disturbance or a natural disturbance it will regenerate itself and it may not be the forest that I prefer, but it’s the one that nature’s rolled the dice and said, ‘That’s what’s coming up, you know.’ So, my preference is to let nature call the shots. “
• “Most of those changes, aside from the ones initiated by invasive species, are part of the natural order of things and would not be a concern.”
• “I love big trees just like everybody else and I hate it when one of them dies, right? You know, dang, the wind blew it over and everything, but you know, in my old age I’ve gotten to where I say, Okay, you know. It was time for that tree to go down and now Nature’s taken that tree and turning it into a snag and into coarse woody debris, right? And it’s going to provide a lot of nutrients and it’s going to provide, probably because it’s going to soak up moisture, a fire break, you know. It’s going to be an erosion control structure. It’s going to do lots of things and it’s – even though I really like that tree, it’s, you know, that’s just the way it is.”
In response to a question about the control of pine bark beetles, one land manager replied
• “But we wouldn’t…because it is a native species and it probably has been happening here for thousands of years or for how long this insect has been around, we would not control it.”
The manager went on to say they the infestation would be controlled if it became a danger to other landowners, approaching too close to the property line.
When asked “Is there a difference between conservation and preservation,” some people distinguished between conservation as active management and preservation as letting nature take its course. Some felt there was a place for each one; others favored one over the other.
• “Preservation is an important component of it and it goes back to … so that we don’t completely lose what this land was like for the future. Future generations will be able to see the forests and the swamps as our ancestors did when they first came to this area. Those animals and plants that are dependent on those ecosystems will still have a place to live. Not everything can live in a suburban back yard or in ranch land or farm land. “
• “Yeah, I think that conservation – we consider ourselves a conservation organization and that being the management, the planting of trees, the management of the trees, and the utilization of those trees. That’s why its conservation, and we separate that from preservation where you never cut.”
• “Well, a park is maintained to be pristine, in my view, it serves a limited function in most cases. It may be aesthetic or maybe recreation but it’s never – and it may be conservation oriented…? But it’s not really ecologically balanced in my mind because they are not managing the natural resource in a way that promotes diversity, that promotes protection of the forest – if you don’t do anything to the trees they’re going to grow denser and you’ll see more decay, more natural rot, more trees falling over. You’ll see a higher incident of southern pine beetle here in the south.”
• “Now preservation is more linked to a natural area that ecologically functions kind of like it is supposed to and that’s usually what you refer to when you talk preservation.”
We asked our interviewees why land should be conserved. Quality of life, future generations, biodiversity and future economic security were some of the answers. Many of the Texas interviewees were concerned about ‘tying up” private property in long term conservation agreements, such as easements because the future is uncertain and they felt that they needed the flexibility to use their land as an economic resource.
• “Because I think we need the, um, I think we need the beauty and I think we need, um, the birds and I just can’t stand all that concrete. I just, you know, I just can’t. You know, you see all these futuristic commercials and things and it’s all concrete and I’m thinking, What happened to the quality of life you know, what happened to the beauty?”
• “You know, I think the main reason for protecting biodiversity is that it’s the moral one. That these species have been around for millennia, and it’s our moral duty to, to protect them, to keep them from going extinct. So, biodiversity is a moral imperative in my book.”
• “First it would be the quality, quality of life. Quality of life, your water quality, this affects the quality of life. Economic is a factor. If you don’t have the resources, you know, you’re, you’ve got problems, so you have timber, we have to have timber. But, you need to have, you know, you need to have natural areas too, you need to have your hard wood areas too. You can’t just, just have all pine plantations.”
• “For, for my grandchildren to be able to enjoy the woods and the animals and appreciate the birds, I think that’s, I think that’s primary importance.”
• “In my case, I would love to say, yes, preserve this or conserve this just for camping. But, I don’t know what holds tomorrow. I don’t want to restrict our children from having to do whatever is necessary with this piece of property in the future. To put it in some kind of, under some kind of definition for what this property is going to be used for from here on out … In one sense, there are properties out there that I would say would be a one use property. There are properties out there that could be multi-use properties. To tie them up into some kind of conservation definition, it would be something that I would really and truly have to look long and hard at the benefits.”
• “And then when my children came along they began to build around here and they had an interest in conserving the land because they wanted to live here. My grandchildren came along and saw what their grandma and grandpa was doing and what their mom and dad was and they come and live on the land. And in time, the first love of the land is being able to build a house on it and have a place to start raising their family.”
Asking people what land should be conserved provides another window on the different definitions of land conservation. If land conservation is the good stewardship of all lands, whether they produce commodities or not, then all land is conserved. If the interviewee was more focused on what are referred to generally a s protected areas, i.e. parks and preserves, they favored saving ‘special places.’ These varied responses illustrated the need for clear communication among partners when using terms like land conservation.
• “Well, um, I think examples of all of the native ecosystems should be protected or conserved. Actually, I like the term protection better than conservation. And so, well, like I said, examples of all the major kinds of systems that exist.”
• “You know I think conservation can be a part, or should be a part of all the lands depending on what the land use is, or what your intentions are to do with the land, whatever your intentions are to do with the land, I think there are wise ways to do it, ways that you can do what you want to do and do it in a way that you do conserve the land.”
• “I think with our limited resources and time, ah, that we need to really focus on what is the most ecologically significant.”
• “If it doesn’t have a house or a golf course on it, make a run at it. Or a Wal-Mart or something, if it has not been developed, make a run at it.”
• “I think as much as we can. You know, as human population grows, we are asking more and more demands from the same amount of land and the same amount of resources… I don’t think so. It all has importance to us, whether it is farmland, desert land, swamp land, forest land. It all has a system, part of the ecosystem and part of the environment – a role to play.”
• “When you regulate something a lot of times you hurt the people who are doing a good job. People who aren’t doing a good job; they don’t care about a regulation. So what are you doing? You’re heading cost to people who are already doing a good job.”
• ”What I see in these things is government buying it and setting it up, tying it up, the tax base is reduced and how many jobs have you really created into that? I’m not saying that we shouldn’t have that. I think we need some of that, and I do think we do need to protect soil and water, but I think we have to look at it and be more realistic of how much can we continue to do.”
• “I believe, I said before I believe for Texas anyway, private landowner rights and that the landowner has the choice to do what he feels best with that land. For me I think it’s a privilege to enact the conservation efforts that I do on my property and I feel like I am taking care of it and so it’s a privilege and something I take enjoyment.”
• “Well I think these days it’s, you know, it’s all about partnerships and creative ways to seek, you know, the resources you need. Whether it’s funding or, you know, physical resources?”
There are an array of strategies for conserving land. Some are policy based, such as designated growth or agricultural zones. Others are incentive based such as conservation easements or those found in the Farm Bill. No one that we interviewed favored eminent domain, preferring purchase from willing sellers to add to existing conservation lands. Most people agreed that partnerships were vital to achieving conservation goals. Producers stressed the need for best management practices during production such as maintaining streamside management zones.
- Set land aside and let nature take its course
- Best management practices
- Incentives
o Conservation easements
o Landowner programs such as the Wetlands Reserve Program
- Political actions such as lobbying and testifying before Congress
- Education
- Partnerships
- Regulations
After analyzing the transcripts of over 100 interviews in Maryland and Texas, the team identified five ways that people define land conservation. These cultural models are only loosely identified with particular social groups. People are complex and their definition of land conservation can change depending on the context in which it occurs. Also, individuals belong to more than one social group. Consider a person from a family with a long history in the region who is an oil or timber producer by profession and also a Board member of a local conservation organization who worked hard to get the Preserve.
- Conservationists: Land Conservation is a moral imperative. It ensures the long-term protection of a public good against potential human and institutional misuse that leads to degradation. Land provides the natural resources, ecosystem services and critical habitat that allow the sustained and equitable existence of humans, plants and animals and humans do not have the right to destroy it.
- Producers: Land Conservation is a dynamic, adaptive process that allows the natural resources on lands to be used and harvested to meet human food and material needs. This harvest and use needs to be done in a manner that sustains the continued productive use of land for human needs and makes economic sense. If the land can produce, it should produce.
- Public Officials: Land Conservation is the equitable management of a public good that has multiple uses for different stakeholder groups.
- Natural Resource Agencies: Land conservation is managing the land in an ecologically sound manner that a) is in line with agency mandates and b) takes the needs of different stakeholders into consideration.
- Local Communities: Land conservation is saving a way of life that is based on the ability to use what nature provides, see wildlife and experience nature around us as we did when we were children.