Browsing by Author "Taylor, Peter, committee member"
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Item Open Access A framework for evaluating environmental commitment tracking programs in state departments of transportation(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2011) Fillion, Andrew Christopher, author; Ozbek, Mehmet, advisor; Clevenger, Caroline, committee member; Taylor, Peter, committee memberEnvironmental tracking systems (ETSs) are used by state Departments of Transportation (DOTs) as well as by Federal agencies to track environmental commitments on construction projects from the project development stage through design, construction, and project completion. In this study a framework is developed that any state DOT can use to evaluate existing ETSs implemented by other state DOTs. This framework will allow that state DOT to identify the system that best meets its needs with the ultimate purpose of adopting that system. The framework's main function will be to identify and prioritize the features that a state DOT is looking for in an ETS, to evaluate existing ETSs used by other state DOTs with respect to those features, and to provide a final recommendation on which ETS should be adopted by that state DOT. The developed framework was implemented at the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT). The findings and recommendations for that implementation example are also included in this study.Item Open Access Carbon offsets and certification: how and why offset providers choose to certify(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2011) Taft, David A., author; Stevis, Dimitris, advisor; Betsill, Michele, committee member; Taylor, Peter, committee memberIn a world that is increasingly concerned about carbon emissions and the atmospheric impacts of those emissions, carbon offsets have become a broadly accepted form of emissions reductions. While the UN set the initial standard for governing those offsets with the Clean Development Mechanism, a voluntary carbon market and a wide variety of private carbon offset certifications have gained an important role in that voluntary market. Because these private certifications take a variety of forms and have their own specialty niches, it is important to understand the intricacies of these certifications for the growing number of carbon offset producers. This research studies the reasons why a small non-profit carbon offset producer would seek certification, as well as how that producer went about choosing among a wide range of offset standards. The research revealed that for an organization to certify, the increased market share and legitimacy must outweigh the cost of certification. In addition, the choice in certification largely depends on cost, suitability, and the perception that the standard will uphold its legitimacy in the long term.Item Open Access Cattle ranching on the western Great Plains: a study of adaptive decision-making(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2016) Wilmer, Hailey, author; Fernandez-Gimenez, Maria E., advisor; Derner, Justin D., committee member; Meiman, Paul, committee member; Taylor, Peter, committee memberRanching social-ecological systems (SESs) in the semi-arid, western Great Plains persist under highly variable inter- and intra-annual weather conditions and globally influenced markets. Ranch spatial scales and manager decision-making processes have traditionally been excluded from conventional grazing experiments, leading to considerable debate between scientists and land mangers about grazing strategies to achieve both beef production and biodiversity conservation outcomes on rangelands. In this dissertation I use collaborative, interdisciplinary methodologies to link rangeland and grazing management decision-making processes and learning with ecological outcomes in the semi-arid rangeland social-ecological systems (SESs) of Wyoming and Colorado. Chapter 2 analyzes relationships between ranchers and rangeland ecosystems, inspired by the rise of adaptive management discourses in the natural resource management literature and informed by post-colonial and feminist scholarship. Rancher decision-making processes during and after drought can be understood through an ethic of care, as ranchers try to reduce social and ecological vulnerability through adaptation, learning, and respect over long-term (generations-long) time frames. Chapter 3 follows a participatory grazing research project, the Collaborative Adaptive Rangeland Management (CARM) experiment, for four years (2012-2016). I track the social learning processes of a group of 11 stakeholders representing 3 groups: ranchers, conservation NGOs, and public agencies. These stakeholders manage 10 experimental pastures in the shortgrass steppe with comparison to the traditional grazing management practice. These pastures are managed to maintain or improve a viable cattle operation, grassland bird diversity, and rangeland vegetation structure, composition, and cover. Decisions by the stakeholder group about grazing and prescribed burning illustrate the complex role of existing management knowledge in social learning and the outcomes of participatory rangeland research. In Chapter 4, I use repeated interviews and ecological monitoring on 17 family--owned and operated ranches in eastern Colorado and eastern Wyoming to categorize different grazing management strategies and compare plant species composition outcomes across those different strategies, accounting for environmental factors. After accounting for environmental influences, using non-metric multidimensional scaling and linear mixed models, I found a reduction of perennial cool-season grasses on ranches in higher grazing stocking rates and on cow-calf/yearling operations compared to cow-calf operations, but no significant differences in plant species composition on ranches with different grazing rotation strategies or different planning styles (tacit vs. explicit planners). I classified ranches into adaptive cycle trajectories to interpret ranch decision-making in terms of ranch SES-scale resilience. In Chapter 5, I review critical social literature to reflect on my positionality as a researcher, as well as the importance of consent and respect in social-ecological research. Findings in this dissertation provide useful information for understanding the adaptation of ranch-scale rangeland SESs. Future research or outreach projects seeking to engage with rancher stakeholders may be improved by considering complex decision-making processes, caring practices, and the stewardship ethic of ranchers. Future efforts to bring multiple public-lands stakeholder groups with different management perspectives together for adaptive management will be improved if they consider the important role of stakeholder practices and experiences with rangeland management in social learning, and commit to building trust and knowledge through engagement that extends beyond the typical 3-5 year window for grazing research projects. My investigation of ranch-SES adaptive processes illustrates diverse decision-making strategies on different ranches. More research is needed on stocking rate decision-making, including around the social and political contexts of stocking rate decisions. This work suggests that a resilience lens can contribute to existing theory on ranch adaptive decision-making. Outreach and education efforts are likely to be more successful if they consider that one size does not fit all for ranch grazing management strategies.Item Open Access Conceptualizing transnational democratic networks: a case study of world wide views on biodiversity(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2015) Fiske, Desirée, author; Betsill, Michele, advisor; Stevis, Dimitris, committee member; McIvor, David, committee member; Taylor, Peter, committee memberDemocratic theory has most recently found itself in a 'deliberative turn.' Extending beyond the capacity maintained by state institutions, the deliberative turn may be understood as necessary for conditions of democracy to move beyond the bounds of the nation-state and to incorporate conditions of a globalizing world. As global governance literature recognizes nuanced abilities to regulate through private and public interactions, the democratic voice of citizen input is in a shift. Deliberative democratic theory has found its way into International Relations discussions, as it proposes methods for transnational democracy. World Wide Views on Biodiversity (WWVB) is the second transnational citizen deliberation to be held on a global scale, allowing a window of opportunity to bridge the normative theories with empirical observation. Identifying WWVB as a transnational democratic network, this analysis simultaneously seeks to inform the project of its pragmatic successes and limitations while placing WWVB within theories of transnational democracy. Results find Transnational Discursive Democracy best explains and understands the phenomena of WWVB. Furthermore, the theoretical findings inform practical implications for the WWViews Alliance to support network expansion through inclusion and dissemination practices. Specific recommendations are made to the network based on the analysis of theory and praxis.Item Open Access Creating a tribal national park: barriers that constrain and mechanisms that promote collaborative and adaptive environmental management(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2014) Lovell, Ashley, author; Pickering, Kathleen, advisor; Carolan, Michael, committee member; Reid, Robin, committee member; Taylor, Peter, committee memberIn an era of rapid social and environmental change, frequent public protests and the documented decline of ecosystem health have demonstrated that traditional environmental management approaches are ill equipped to address public concerns and adapt to changing ecosystems. To address these challenges, researchers and communities have combined the concepts of collaboration and adaptation to create adaptive co-management. This approach acknowledges that socio-ecological systems are complex and constantly in flux while emphasizing public participation and collaborative learning as mechanisms to create novel solutions to social and ecological challenges. Adaptive co-management encourages land managers to collaborate with local communities to monitor the health of their relationship and the ecosystems they seek to protect. While in theory, adaptive co-management should allow land managers and communities to learn from previous experiences and explore new alternatives to improve natural resource management, few studies empirically analyze the process and outcomes of this new approach. I collaborated with the Oglala Sioux Tribe and the National Park Service to evaluate a case study of adaptive co-management in the South Unit of Badlands National Park. Working closely with the Tribe and the Park Service I conducted a participatory evaluation of this collaborative relationship. Data was collected through participant observation, in-depth interviews and a review of policy documents and local archives. A key academic finding from this study is that while the Tribe possessed fewer resources and less authority than the Park Service, they exercised power in the co-management process because they spoke on behalf of indigenous knowledge and Native American sovereignty. A key applied finding from this study is that while Tribe and the Park Service share the desire to create the nation's first Tribal National Park in the South Unit, their motivations for this goal vary considerably. To encourage the sustainability of this adaptive co-management effort, the Park Service and the Tribe must iteratively evaluate their relationship, recognize the benefits and challenges of diverse perspectives, and build social networks within and between their collaborating organizations. This case study illuminates mechanisms, such as collaborative learning and the combination of tribal consultation with co-management, that can encourage more equitable and adaptive environmental management in the face of social and environmental change.Item Open Access Cultural memory and place identity: creating place experience(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2010) Raadik-Cottrell, Jana, author; Donnelly, Maureen P., advisor; Vaske, Jerry J., 1951-, committee member; Dickinson, Greg, committee member; Taylor, Peter, committee memberStudying landscapes anchored in human life, with natural and cultural components interwoven as one fabric, embracing the political and ideological aspects, helps to understand the role of our everyday landscapes in tourism. Tourism, the travel between places and touring of landscapes, is essential to the identity process of both travelers and places. The notions of "home" and "elsewhere," "us" and "them" are constructed through mobility, motility (potentials of mobility) and migration. The scope and scale of mobility and motility has changed in a postmodern world through the intensity in time-space expansion/ contraction. Contemporary European society is fractured in a struggle between conflicts of identity (former Eastern Europe). Renegotiations of past and present, integration and diversity are especially acute after the collapse of the Soviet empire and ongoing enlargement of the European Union. Identity and culture are elastic concepts, involving conscious and unconscious processes through which places are lived and made while giving meaning to the lives of the people involved. Communication of those meanings is essential to each individual in this process and to others beyond the actual lived place. The meaning attached to landscapes is negotiable due to competing social actors involved in a continuous interpretation and variability offered across cultural, historical, individual and situational aspects. This case study examines the dynamic between real landscapes, their representations and negotiations of identity under the umbrella of a stabilizing past among foreign and domestic visitors to Saare County on Saaremaa Island in Estonia. The disruptive societal changes, which occurred in recent decades with the collapse of the Soviet regime, guide discussion of interactions of place, identity, landscape and memory, as well as the role of tourism. The central aim of this dissertation is to explore the role of past through individual and collective memory in multifaceted negotiations of place identity and place experience. Huff's (2008) model of landscape, place and identity combined with memory and tourism was used to guide this investigation. Data were collected in three phases: content analysis of online news article debate about the potential bridge connecting Saaremaa Island to mainland Estonia (n=123), onsite tourist survey of visitors to the island (n=487), and in-depth interviews with 16 visitors drawn from the survey sample. Narrative and discourse analyses were supplemented by a multiple/logistic regression of survey data in a mixed methods approach. Results imply that pro-anti bridge sentiment exists among Estonians and foreigners based on socio-cultural and political contexts in a post Soviet society. Memory, well-being, and aesthetics of place with nationality, and education are predictors of perceived effects of environmental changes and effects of a bridge to mainland on future holiday experiences to Saaremaa Island. Past memories from ideological images of place and memories of places elsewhere were intertwined into bodily perceptions of place, yet resulted in somewhat contradictory statements. Evaluation of changes in landscapes correlated with perceived identities of place and self, and reflected upon readings of home. Historical aspects of place were deemed an important part of place experience. Respondents without prior knowledge or experience similar to the socio-cultural, economic and political context in Estonia were inclined to identify place based on comparisons of home place from their own residency and past memories from places traveled elsewhere. Outcomes suggest a dialogue for further sense of place research in tourism for the marketing and management of sustainable tourism development in general and for island destinations in particular.Item Open Access Evolving institutions of environmental governance: the collaborative implementation of stewardship contracts by the USDA Forest Service(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2013) Mattor, Katherine Marie Detmar, author; Cheng, Antony S., advisor; Fernandez-Gimenez, Maria, committee member; Dean, Thomas, committee member; Taylor, Peter, committee memberCollaborative forest management policies are increasingly being enacted in the U.S. Increased pressure to implement collaborative forest management processes emphasizes the need to understand the extent to which such policies are being adopted, the factors influencing their implementation, and how well these efforts are meeting policy intentions. This dissertation provides practical and theoretical insight to the adoption of collaborative forest management approaches by focusing on the implementation of stewardship-end-result contracting (stewardship contracting). A mixed-methods research design was used to systematically assess the collaborative implementation of stewardship contracts by the USDA Forest Service (USFS). The first phase of this research employed a statistical analysis of the adoption of USFS stewardship contracts from 1999 to 2011 to provide a foundational understanding of its use. This analysis identified consistent adoption of stewardship contracts across USFS regions, with a significant increase in the number of contracts and associated acres during this time period. The second phase of this research statistically analyzed the levels of collaboration associated with USFS stewardship contracts. This large-N analysis determined collaboration has a significant role in meeting stewardship contract objectives. Key process indicators identified in the collaborative governance literature - the number of interests involved, the amount of outreach used, the roles of the community, and who initiated the project - have a strong association with the levels of collaboration. This analysis identified a significant variation in the levels of collaborative stewardship contract implementation across USFS regions. The third phase of this research utilized a qualitative multiple-case study approach to build upon the previous statistical analyses and to attain an in depth understanding of the contextual factors influencing the levels of collaboration associated with stewardship contracts in the USFS Rocky Mountain Region. The results reveal a combination of institutional, community, and individual attributes are essential for the use of collaboration in USFS stewardship contracting processes. These attributes include guidance and support from the USFS, high levels of social capital within the community, and strong leadership from individuals within both the agency and community. The results indicate the collaborative forests identified and achieved a greater number of objectives than the non-collaborative forests and thereby confirm previous findings of this dissertation in which collaborative stewardship contracting processes achieved more forest management and community social and economic objectives than non-collaborative processes. Collaboration therefore has a critical role in achieving the policy intentions of stewardship contracting. This dissertation advances the existing collaborative governance literature by quantitatively analyzing collaborative process components and outcomes across a large population of similar efforts, while providing a detailed qualitative analysis of the factors influencing the adoption of collaborative processes and the associated outcomes. Additional comprehensive evaluations of the adoption of collaboration, the factors associated with its use, and its role in achieving the policy intentions are necessary to determine the first- and second-tier influences and outcomes of collaborative processes. Such comprehensive evaluations of collaboration can improve its application in policy and management and prevent it from being falsely identified as a panacea to address all social-ecological management issues.Item Open Access Historical trauma: the impact of colonial racism on contemporary relations between African Americans and Mexican immigrants(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2011) Wright, Noah M., author; Ishiwata, Eric, advisor; Cespedes, Karina, committee member; Breaux, Richard, committee member; Taylor, Peter, committee memberThe purpose of this project is to examine tensions in present day United States between African Americans and Mexican immigrants. Hyper-violent incidents of interracial gang violence between these two communities are presented by mainstream media as signifiers of the existence of the tension. Latinos, as a whole, and African Americans, whether in gangs or civilians, are often portrayed to be in competition due to three conventional explanations. While scholars and media sources have validity in pointing out the significance of socioeconomic competition, struggles for political power and the problems that the language barrier create, these explanations are not complete. El sistema de castas or the caste system, a racial hierarchy created by the Spaniards in Latin America during their colonial efforts, established how people of African descent, both free and slave, were treated in New Spain. The caste system's continued influence can be seen with the denial of African heritage and the marginalized position of Afro-Mexicans in present day Mexico. Furthermore, these prejudices remain intact when Mexican immigrants enter the U.S. It is understood that Mexico's national identity is mestizaje, a racially mixed nation; however, racism existed and is also present today in Mexico. By combining a historical perspective with the three primary reasons, mentioned above, it is hoped that the complete picture will help resolve tensions. This thesis argues that colonization, influenced heavily by a racial hierarchy, has caused Mexican immigrants to carry with them prejudices towards African Americans that were learned in Mexico, showing that the issue is deeper than competition over resources in present times. In response to an influx of Latino immigrants, African American responses show parallels with historical nativist responses to immigrants. By combining the impacts of historical racism with conventional explanations for the existence of the tension it is hoped an understanding may develop that will help reduce conflict.Item Open Access How community institutions in Turkey engage in disaster risk reduction: a case study of Istanbul and Antakya(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2012) Schilperoort, Liesel Mary, author; Peek, Lori, advisor; Taylor, Peter, committee member; Cavdar, Gamze, committee memberThis thesis explores how different community institutions - government, education, healthcare, business, and grassroots organizations - in Turkey engage in disaster risk reduction (DRR) strategies and how each institution fosters a culture of resilience. The framework used to assess DRR engagement is the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA), which is the structure of resilience and preparedness created by the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR). The goal of the research is to understand the ways that DRR is integrated into social institutions in Turkey, using the cities of Istanbul and Antakya as the primary case study communities. The analyses of 21 interviews, as well as supplemental respondent surveys, highlight primary themes informing how the five community institutions address seismic risk in Turkey. The current social organization of Turkey has key characteristics found in 'fatalistic' societies, or societies that are characteristically reactive. However, the ways community institutions engage in DRR illustrates that Turkey is determined to shift its DRR strategies from reactive to proactive. "A current state of unpreparedness" is how a respondent described the risk culture in Turkey today. Still, an examination of the data verifies that, despite the barriers, Turkey is beginning to develop a strong culture of resilience and gradually shifting toward a more 'self-reliant', proactive society.Item Open Access Hydrocarbon conflict in the Peruvian Amazon: indigenous peoples' decolonization of development and sustainability(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2010) Stetson, George Allen, author; Mumme, Stephen P., advisor; Ishiwata, Eric, committee member; MacDonald, Bradley J., committee member; Taylor, Peter, committee memberIn 2008 and 2009 the indigenous peoples from the Peruvian Amazon staged massive protests in opposition to President Alan Garcia's development policies, many of which were designed to facilitate the exploitation and development of natural resources on indigenous territorial spaces. Tragically, the protests ended on June 5 (2009) in the Amazonian province of Bagua, where, according to official reports, ten protesters and twenty-three police officers were killed. Many protesters were injured and others were reported missing. The Bagua event underscores the seriousness of natural resource development on indigenous territorial spaces. This dissertation argues that in order to move toward environmentally sustainable and socially equitable natural resources policies it is necessary to rethink these policies on indigenous territories. To make this case, I examine an environmental conflict over hydrocarbon development on indigenous territories between the Garcia government and the Indigenous Movement in the Peruvian Amazon (IMPA). Situating this conflict in the broader context of the Garcia government's development policy, the dissertation (1) provides a historical and institutional analysis of Peruvian hydrocarbon development on indigenous territories, (2) uses social movement theory to explain indigenous resistance to hydrocarbon and natural resource development on indigenous territorial spaces, and (3) introduces an alternative theory that explains the differences between indigenous and state development perspectives and challenges many of the current neoliberal/socialist framings of indigenous/state conflicts over natural resources. In the end, I argue that a decolonization of Peru's natural resource policy regime is necessary to create policies that are ecologically sustainable, socially equitable, and avoid violent confrontations. Decolonization, a complex and formidable challenge, suggests that indigenous peoples gain greater decision-making control over the natural resources located on indigenous territorial spaces. Contrary to the opinion of the Peruvian government and beyond the stipulations set in International Labor Organization Convention 169, this means that indigenous peoples should have the power to prevent unwanted oil development within indigenous territorial spaces. My projects adds to the Political Science literature by introducing an alternative theoretical framework for the analysis of these issues that will encourage scholars, governments, and political commentators to reevaluate issues related to natural resource development on indigenous territories.Item Open Access Payments for ecosystem services and intermediaries: investigating potential involvement and programmatic roles in western Panama(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2012) Huber-Stearns, Heidi, author; Goldstein, Joshua, advisor; Cottrell, Stuart, advisor; Taylor, Peter, committee memberPayments for ecosystem services (PES) are a market-based conservation tool seeking to better align economic incentives with conservation by connecting beneficiaries of ecosystem services with providers of these services. A third actor group, known as intermediaries, often plays important roles in PES programs that facilitate transactions between beneficiaries and providers. Intermediaries can come from the public, civil, private, or academic sectors, and they can also operate at local up to national and international scales. As PES programs continue to expand globally, there is a window of opportunity to use lessons learned from existing PES programs to inform the development of new programs to streamline and improve their design and implementation. Examining the roles of program actors (beneficiaries, providers, and intermediaries) is a critical step in this process. My research explored the potential roles of intermediaries in PES schemes through an investigation in the Chiriquà province in western Panama where stakeholders are exploring the development of a regional PES program. I based my analysis upon information gathered from a review of relevant intermediaries literature, which identified four major intermediary roles: information exchange, administration and program implementation, networking, representation and mediation, and program design. I conducted semi-structured interviews with representatives of 34 intermediary organizations in my study region to gain an understanding of their organization's current intermediary roles and potential roles in a future PES program, their relative strengths and limitations in terms of organizational capacity, and how their organizations are connected to each other through networking and collaborations. I performed qualitative analysis using coding and NVivo9 software. My results demonstrate that intermediary organizations are currently performing each of my identified intermediary roles, with information exchange and administration and project implementation being the most common roles. Most interviewees also identified their organization's potential roles in a regional PES scheme, and collectively these roles covered all of my identified intermediary role categories. I also found that interviewees identified challenges that could limit the activity and effectiveness of intermediaries. These challenges related to three general categories: challenges specific to an individual organization, challenges across the entire region, and challenges pertaining to an entire sector (e.g., public sector limitations). Finally, I found that organizational connections vary significantly, with the civil and public sectors, and local and regional scales exhibiting the strongest connections across the organization network, highlighting the value of connecting PES actors across sectors and scales. Overall, my results support previous findings that careful consideration of actors is critical to the appropriate design and implementation of PES programs.Item Open Access Wolakota: the face of ReZilience in "post"-colonial America(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2017) Chesnais, Aude, author; Pickering, Kathleen, advisor; Hempel, Lynn, committee member; Taylor, Peter, committee member; Leisz, Steve, committee memberThis research aims at exploring the features of sustainable social change in Lakota country. More specifically, it uses the concept of resilience to analyze local expressions of social change and challenge the colonial framework and discourse. It focuses on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and Cheyenne River Indian Reservation in South Dakota, and compares two scales of social change at the grassroots and larger organizational level. This research's project follows a participatory and decolonial approach and emerged from a specific local need formulated by local grassroots projects managers to bring attention to the lack of resources and visibility they encounter. Reservations are historically defined territories embedded in colonial power dynamics that create socio-economic vulnerability and multi-dimensional hardships in tribal members' everyday life. What they face remains perceived and defined primarily by an etic/outsider perspective, which hinders expressions of local resilience. Ground observations indicate that creative sustainable projects with unique features actually emerge in response to local stress. Yet, by western definitions, these projects are not visible and do not qualify as resilient. This research questions the western hegemonic use of resilience in Lakota country and explores endogenous expressions of social change that shape alternative definitions and challenge the colonial discourse.