Mapping the dimensions of successful public participation in messy naturalresources management situations

It is not an eye-opening statement to suggest that natural resource managem ent increasingly occurs in turbulent, contentious settings. These settings are often typified by contested or ambiguous goals and lack of scientific a greement on cause-effect relationships. These settings are termed messy pro blems. The research reported here asked the question, What dimensions chara cterize successful public participation in a messy setting? Two ecosystem-b ased planning projects located in western Montana served as the research co ntext for this study. Both projects contained a number of typically content ious resource management issues, such as logging, vegetation management, an d are as a management practice. Forty-two scientists, managers, and members of the public who participated in the two ecosystem-based planning process es were interviewed to address this question. Results indicated that partic ipants provided answers reflecting several dimensions: writing a plan and i mplementing it; learning; interest representation; relationship building; c reating responsibility; and gaining social and political acceptability.