Participatory research on collaborative environmental management: Results from the Adirondack Park

In seeking to trace linkages among groups involved with environmental manag ement in New York State's Adirondack Park, we developed a participatory exe rcise and employed it at a recent Adirondack research conference. Fourteen organizations took part, collectively representing 72 linkages associated w ith policies and programs, expertise, information dissemination, and physic al facilities. The exercise revealed a dense "hub-and-spoke" pattern of int eractions, with state agencies acting as the snapshot of organizational int eractions as well as serving as a basis for longitudinal research.