Finding Common Ground: Governance and Natural Resources in the American West [Paperback]

Ronald D. Brunner (Author), Christine H. Colburn (Author), Ms. Christina M. Cromley (Author), Roberta A. Klein (Author), Ronald Brunner (Author), Christina M. Cromley (Author), Elizabeth A. Olaon (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 2002

Over the past century, solutions to natural resources policy issues have become increasingly complex. Multiple government agencies with overlapping jurisdictions and differing mandates as well as multiple interest groups have contributed to gridlock, frequently preventing solutions in the common interest. Community-based responses to natural resource problems in the American West have demonstrated the potential of local initiatives both for finding common ground on divisive issues and for advancing the common interest. The first chapter of this study diagnoses contemporary problems of governance in natural resources policy and in the United States generally, then introduces community-based initiatives as responses to those problems. The next chapters examine the range of successes and failures of initiatives in water management in the Upper Clark Fork River in Montana; wolf recovery in the northern Rockies; bison management in greater Yellowstone; and forest policy in northern California. The concluding chapter considers how to harvest experience from these and other cases, offering practical suggestions for diverse participants in community-based initiatives and their supporters, agencies and interest groups, and researchers and educators.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Brunner seeks to understand the rich web of contact between people and bears. He shows us the great diversity of ways people have viewed bears, exploited bears, and affected the evolution of bears.”—John Marzluff, author of In the Company of Crows and Ravens

(John Marzluff )

“No other book on bears achieves the broad historical perspective of this one.”—Mark Boyce, University of Alberta

(Mark Boyce ) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Ronald D. Brunner is professor of political science at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Christine H. Colburn is an analyst for the United States General Accounting Office in Denver. Christina M. Cromley is director of forest policy for American Forests in Washington, D.C. Roberta A. Klein is the managing director for the Center for Science and Technology Policy Research, Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder. Elizabeth A. Olson is a doctoral candidate in the department of geography at the University of Colorado, Boulder.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Yale University Press (July 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0300091451
• ISBN-13: 978-0300091458
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,983,059 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good cases and an overview of what we need to learn, August 11, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Finding Common Ground: Governance and Natural Resources in the American West (Paperback)

This is a nice discussion of community based initiatives (stakeholder groups) for solving intractable environmental problems. The case of the Quincy Library Group is particularly fascinating, but I haven't read all four cases yet. The intro and closing chapters by Ron Brunner present a theoratical discussion of what we can and need to learn from community-based efforts to come to grips with environmental problems in the western United States, where environmental politics is often polarized.

These groups seem to have been successful at bringing together opposing interests in communities throughout the west; and movign away froma desire to exploit or protect everything to a discussion of sustainable management strategies. Yet they have also been criticized by environmentalists for their susceptibility to parochial interests of communities in affected areas; and to influence by resource extractors. The environmental NGO's, for their part, seem too often willing to oppsoe everything without ever really addressing management questions (shall we simply export all our environmentally destrcutive industries?). Corporations, on the other hand, are too often willing to come to the table and act reasonably when they see no other choice. Can local stakeholder groups bridge the gap? Science aids understanding, but is both uncertain and unable to answer questions of what we value. Worth reading.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not the best for the topic, November 12, 2007

By 

nope "not here" (here) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Finding Common Ground: Governance and Natural Resources in the American West (Hardcover)

The book leans towards resource extraction too much for my taste. Not concerned with wilderness preservation, but rather with how to get various philosphies to come in line with the authors' set of moral rights.