Dissertation
Evaluating natural resource governance and policy in highly fragmented regions
University of Iowa
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), University of Iowa
Summer 2022
DOI: 10.25820/etd.006452
Abstract
The Midwest region of the United States is one of the most heavily modified regions on earth. Because of this, obtaining regional conservation goals and creating sustainable use of natural resources is extremely challenging. In order to sustainably manage these natural resources, there needs to be an understanding of the social-ecological systems in which they reside. Various actors within social-ecological systems can impact natural resources through various activities and actions. Examining how these actors work within the different governance structures and the policy mechanisms they utilize is key to creating sustainable systems. However, creating these sustainable systems can be additionally difficult in areas where there is little public land and most of the property resides in private ownership. This dissertation works to advance our knowledge of conservation in highly fragmented regions by investigating governance, private land conservation, and access to natural resources in the US Midwest.The first study aims to examine conservation stakeholders’ views of working within polycentric governance systems to understand the informal interactions of protecting natural resources. This study uses 23 semi-structured interviews with those that work on conservation within the Iowa Great Lakes region, then analyzes their responses within McGinnis and Ostrom (2014)’s SES-Framework. The results indicate that there are a variety of environmental pressures impacting these Lakes. This study also highlights the difficulty of mitigating environmental pressures when the governance system relies heavily on voluntary conservation measures. Participants provide a variety of solutions to these issues that center around changes in policy to help mitigate these pressures. This study adds to our understanding of polycentric governance by providing empirical research of understudied SES-framework variables. The second research study adds to our knowledge of private land conservation by analyzing the use of conservation easements in the US Midwest. Using geospatial analysis, this study examines the relationship between socioeconomic variables and conservation easements at the county level. Afterward, we examine the attributes of the conservation easements themselves to understand the social and environmental characteristics of these areas at the state and county level. Lastly, we identify the land cover within the conservation easement boundaries as well as their surrounding landscape. The results indicates that there are no strong relationships between socio-economic variables and conservation easements at the county level. The characteristics of conservation easements found that, in some cases, the social and environmental attributes can be contradictory. This study highlights the need for further investigation of conservation easements as a mechanism for protecting private land. The third study expands our understanding of how conservationists view and manage access. Participants from the study in Chapter 2 answer questions concerning access to the Iowa Great Lakes as well as in their own projects. We categorize their responses within Ribot and Peluso (2003) mechanisms of access to better interpret the results. The results demonstrate that access is a multifaceted concept and that participants hold differing views of similar situations concerning access. Additionally, most of the participants state that there are barriers to accessing the Iowa Great Lakes. However, the participants are split when discussing management in their own projects, due to many of them working on private land conservation. This research also pinpoints areas to improve the management of access in the Iowa Great Lakes and elsewhere. These three papers contribute to our understanding of governance, policy, and access to natural resources in highly fragmented regions to create more sustainable systems in areas like the US Midwest.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Evaluating natural resource governance and policy in highly fragmented regions
- Creators
- Austin Lovel Holland
- Contributors
- Silvia Secchi (Advisor)David Bennett (Committee Member)Caroline Gottschalk Druschke (Committee Member)Carly Nichols (Committee Member)Mary Skopec (Committee Member)
- Resource Type
- Dissertation
- Degree Awarded
- Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), University of Iowa
- Degree in
- Geography
- Date degree season
- Summer 2022
- DOI
- 10.25820/etd.006452
- Publisher
- University of Iowa
- Number of pages
- xii, 118 pages
- Copyright
- Copyright 2022 Austin Lovel Holland
- Language
- English
- Description illustrations
- color illustrations, color maps
- Description bibliographic
- Includes bibliographical references (pages 98-113).
- Public Abstract (ETD)
Sustainable governance of natural resources requires the understanding of social-ecological systems that utilize them. However, social-ecological systems are comprised of a diverse set of stakeholders with a variety of goals and perspectives on management. This can make establishing and maintaining governance challenging in every landscape, but particularly so in highly fragmented regions, like the US Midwest. This is because the remaining protected areas are separated by private land, small, and distant from one another which impairs various stakeholders’ ability to work together to accomplish regional environmental goals. The three studies of my dissertation add to our knowledge of conservation in highly fragmented regions by investigating the governance and policy of natural resources in the US Midwest.
The first study examines how conservation stakeholders work within a complex governance system to mitigate multiple environmental issues. This study highlights the difficulty of working within a polycentric governance system to protect a series of freshwater lakes from a diverse set of environmental pressures. The second study assesses the use of conservation easements across the US Midwest by analyzing their social and environmental characteristics as well as the land cover they protect. The third study examines access to public lakes that are surrounded by private land. More specifically, this study examines how conservationists view access to natural resources in their area, the barriers to accessing these resources, and how they manage access in their own projects. These three studies work to advance our understanding of governance and policy in highly fragmented regions while leading to better conservation outcomes in the Midwest.
- Academic Unit
- Geographical and Sustainability Sciences
- Record Identifier
- 9984285453402771
Metrics
151 Record Views