Citizen perspectives on wildlife agencies' public engagement practices

Public engagement has become a well-established component of wildlife management in recent decades. Yet many wildlife agencies continue to struggle with how to effectively engage the public on wildlife management decisions or... [ view full abstract ]

Public engagement has become a well-established component of wildlife management in recent decades. Yet many wildlife agencies continue to struggle with how to effectively engage the public on wildlife management decisions or issues. Part of the challenge stems from a limited understanding of how the public wants to be engaged.  Changing demographics, an expanding diversity of stakeholders, advances in public engagement best practices, and recognition of the multi-scalar dimensions of many wildlife issues add to the difficulty. Understanding public preferences is critical to designing effective, equitable, and meaningful public engagement strategies.

This portion of the roundtable discussion offers insights from original research into how citizens want to be engaged. In the winter of 2015, I conducted semi-structured in-depth, interviews with 50 residents of Gardiner and West Yellowstone, Montana. Both communities are situated on the boundaries of Yellowstone National Park and have a long history of involvement with wildlife management issues, from big game hunting to the restoration of species like gray wolves and bison. Consequently residents of these communities have experienced an evolving litany of public engagement practices from both federal and state agencies. Study participants included people with a lengthy history of participation as well as people who had never publicly participated. This presentation explores: interviewee experiences with past agency practices; preferences for public engagement processes; common barriers to participation; and ways that managers can be more responsive to public concerns. Finally, I offer some reflections on how managers might equitably balance local preferences with the fact that wildlife are managed as a public trust for all state or national citizens.