ACCEPTANCE OF SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT BY NATURAL-RESOURCE DEPENDENT COMMUNITIES

We explore the reaction of two resource dependent communities, west Te xas ranchers and Gulf Coast oyster fishers, to scientific resource man agement. We examine the criteria these two social groups use to judge scientific claims, and by extension, scientific resource management. A lthough scientists rely on factors internal to the scientific enterpri se (e.g., methodological rigor), natural resource dependent communitie s such as ranchers and fishers may rely on factors external to the sci entific process, Such factors include the historical relationship the community has had with the managing agency, the extent to which scient ific explanations match local experience, the conceptual fit between m anagers' and communities' views of the appropriate relationship betwee n humans and nature, and the resources available to the community to a rgue against regulation. We conclude that (1) agencies should explore the possibility of including the experiential knowledge of natural res ource users where applicable and (2) agencies should recognize that co mmunication skills can be important as scientific skills in reaching m anagement goals.