White-tailed Deer Issues in NPS Units: Insights from Natural Resource Managers in the Northeastern U.S.

Leong, Kirsten; Decker, Daniel

The Biological Resource Management Division of the National Park Service and the Human Dimensions Research Unit at Cornell University are collaborating to study human dimensions of white-tailed deer issues in NPS units in the northeastern U.S. By using deer as a model to examine the integration of biological and human dimensions of wildlife management, this project seeks to improve NPS ability to respond to wildlife management needs of park units in general. This report focuses on research in the first phase of the project, which consisted of a web-based questionnaire and semi-structured informal interviews with natural resource managers throughout the Northeast and National Capital Regions of the NPS. Managers described a multitiered complex of influences shaping a park’s management environment and identified five key elements for the foundation of successful management plans: understanding the park’s unique management environment, internal NPS coordination, coordination with external stakeholders, effective planning processes, and adequate resources. In each of these areas, local communities were seen as significantly affecting management activity. Future inquiry will examine managers’ approaches to decision-making, effectiveness of techniques for engaging the public, and differences between the specific values for which a park is managed and those held by stakeholders. The results are anticipated to improve NPS ability to respond to other issues that, like deer, primarily originate in local communities.

White-tailed Deer Issues in NPS Units: Insights from Natural Resource Managers in the Northeastern U.S.

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