Grantee Research Project Results
Property Lines and Forested Landscapes: Collective Action for Watershed Management Planning
EPA Grant Number: U915190Title: Property Lines and Forested Landscapes: Collective Action for Watershed Management Planning
Investigators: Waage, Sissel A.
Institution: University of California - Berkeley
EPA Project Officer: Packard, Benjamin H
Project Period: July 1, 1997 through August 1, 2000
Project Amount: $102,000
RFA: STAR Graduate Fellowships (1997) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Fellowship - Sociology , Academic Fellowships , Environmental Justice
Objective:
The objective of this research project is to examine two questions:
1. Why, and under what conditions, do private land owners and public land users initiate collective action for watershed management planning?
2. How does collective action for watershed management challenge decisionmaking processes and affect resource use?
Approach:
Using a political ecology analytical approach, I am conducting sociological, economic, and ecological research to examine how individual and collective resource management decisions are shaped by local, regional, and global socioeconomic relations over time. This approach intertwines analyses of individual resource users' decisionmaking processes with assessments of historical resource use, local ecological conditions, and the regional political economy. Focusing on resource users and local politics is essential to understanding the basis of group dynamics and community differentiation. Analyses of ecological conditions and regional economic trends contextualizes the decisions of individuals. Finally, historical research provides a framework to understand the origins of contemporary conflicts.
Supplemental Keywords:
fellowship, watershed management planning, collaborative planning, collective action, decision making., RFA, Scientific Discipline, POLLUTION PREVENTION, Water, Economic, Social, & Behavioral Science Research Program, Economics & Decision Making, Watersheds, decision-making, sustainable development, Social Science, Water & Watershed, Ecology and Ecosystems, advocacy coalition framework, landowner behavior, political ecology, socioeconomics, policy making, alternative urbanization scenarios, coalition formation, community partnerships, land use, forested wetlands, forest reources, community-based research, collaborative resolution, collective choice process, watershed, decision making, forested watershed, watershed sustainablilityProgress and Final Reports:
The perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.