Voices from Michigan's Black River: Obtaining Information on 'Special Places' forNatural Resource Planning

摘要

In recent years, the USDA Forest Service and other land management agencies haveadvocated ecosystem management as an approach to the stewardship of natural environments. For the Forest Service, the shift toward ecosystem management has included a recognition that people are an important part of ecosystems and that human values, behaviors, and perceptions must therefore be integrated into the ecosystem management process. The purpose of this report is to illustrate one approach that has been used in the context of land management planning to obtain information about people's feelings and attachments toward places they consider to be special. The research was carried out in the Black River area of the Ottawa National Forest on the Lake Superior shore of Michigan's Upper Peninsula.