Natural Resources Conflict Management

(Natural Resource Advocacy)

FOR 480

Department of Forestry

Southern Illinois University Carbondale

Fall Semester, 2008

Instructor:                  Dr. Mae A. Davenport

            194D Agriculture Building

            (618) 453-7476                      

            mdaven@siu.edu

            webpage: http://mccoy.lib.siu.edu/~mdaven/

Office hours:              Tuesdays, 8:00 am – 11:00 am

                                    Thursdays, 9:00 am – 12:00 pm

                                    or by appointment

Scheduled time:         Tuesdays 3:35 pm – 4:50 pm

                                    Thursdays 3:35 pm – 4:50 pm

Room:                         Life Science II, Room 450

Course materials:

Required text:              Wondolleck. J. M. & Yaffee, S. L. (2000). Making collaboration work: Lessons from innovation in natural resource management. Washington, D.C.: Island Press.

Suggested supplies:     3-ring binder (to keep handouts and readings organized)

                                    Stapler (you will need to staple all assignments)       

Course description and learning objectives:

1) Learn conflict management theory and policy

Explore attitude theory and strategies of persuasion in the context of natural resource issues. Examine the concept of social justice, including distributive and procedural justice, in light of natural resources planning and decision making. Understand theories and policies related to natural resources planning and conflict resolution.

2) Assess natural resource conflicts

Analyze historical and contemporary paradigms of natural resource advocacy and conflict across the United States. Assess stakeholders, including government at various levels, non-profit organizations, private corporations, and citizen interest groups. Learn from case studies of natural resources advocacy and conflict.

3) Engage in natural resources conflict resolution

Investigate a real-world natural resources conflict, such as recreation use conflict on the Shawnee National Forest. Play advocate roles representing various stakeholder groups (e.g., Sierra Club, Four Wheel Drive Association, Shawnee Trail Conservancy, equestrian outfitters). Practice coordinating and facilitating a collaborative conflict resolution process designed to exchange information, promote relationship building, and produce effective decisions in natural resources planning.

Student evaluation:

Overall participation (25 percent): Your participation grade is based on attendance and performance in class, including in-class assignments, small group activities, and large group discussion. Specifically you are expected to 1) attend all class sessions (unless arrangements are made prior to the session), 3) listen attentively and respond respectfully to the ideas of others, and 4) be prepared to think critically and share ideas in large and small group settings.  Students who have more than one unexcused absence or are repeatedly late to class will lose participation points. You are expected to act professionally, including practicing professional conduct and ethics in this class. One critical component to participation is completing the reading assignments. Pop quizzes may be given to assess your reading progress.

Conflict assessment (27 percent): The conflict assessment makes up the bulk of your grade in this class. This is a series of assignments to be completed by each student, individually. The overall goal of the conflict assessment is to gather information about your conflict through a stakeholder interview and literature search (government documents, media stories, fact sheets, etc.). You will present this information in three products:

1. Conflict assessment worksheet (10 points): You will complete a conflict assessment worksheet which outlines each stakeholder’s position and interests in your conflict. You will receive an example worksheet in class.
2. Stakeholder interview report (25 points): You will conduct a 10 to 15 minute interview with a stakeholder (organization member, agency official, community leader) in your conflict and write a 3-5 page report of the interview including purpose of interview, findings summary, discussion of findings, and overall conclusions. Attach a copy of the interview questions in an appendix.
3. Conflict assessment final report (100 points): This report is the final report that details your conflict assessment and provides recommendations to agency officials and/or community leaders for conflict resolution. The report should be 12-15 pages double-spaced.

Conflict resolution (28 percent): Your performance on the team project will be evaluated in two ways: 1) your individual effort and accomplishments and 2) your team’s overall effort and accomplishments. Teams will be required to design, plan and facilitate a collaborative conflict resolution process around your chosen topic.  

1. Conflict resolution roles and readings (10 points-group grade): Your team will write up role descriptions (interests and positions) for three to four stakeholder groups in your conflict (2-3 paragraphs each). You will also be responsible for assigning at least one reading to the class to provide your classmates with some background on the conflict.
2. Conflict resolution agenda (5 points-group grade): Your team will design and plan a conflict resolution meeting and create a detailed meeting agenda.
3. Conflict resolution team facilitation (125 points): Your team will facilitate a conflict resolution meeting using principles, tools, and formats discussed in class. You will have the entire class period to conduct the meeting. Each meeting will have three to four stakeholder groups (your classmates).

Exams (20 percent): Two exams are scheduled during class time. Exams will be primarily short answer and essay in format.

Assignment due dates:

Natural resources conflict resolution case study proposal (team): Aug. 28^th

Conflict assessment worksheet draft (ind.): Sept. 11^th

Stakeholder interview report (ind.): Sept. 20^th

Exam I-Oct. 9^th

Conflict resolution roles (teams #1-5): Oct. 14^th

Conflict resolution readings (team): Oct. 21^st – Nov. 18^th

Conflict resolution agenda (team): Oct 21^st – Nov. 18^th

Conflict resolution facilitation (team): Oct. 30^th – Dec. 2^nd

Conflict assessment final report (ind.): Nov. 20^th

Exam II-Dec. 9^th (Tuesday, 5:50-7:50 pm)

Point breakdown:

500 points are possible and distributed as follows:

Grading component                                                                                      # points

Class participation and attendance                                                               125

Conflict resolution facilitation (group and individual grade)                            125

Conflict assessment final report                                                                    100                   

Exam I                                                                                                        50

Exam II                                                                                                       50

Conflict assessment stakeholder interview report                                          25

Conflict resolution roles, readings, & agenda (group grade)                          15

Conflict assessment worksheet                                                                    10

                                                                                                                                  500

The A-F grading scale will be used. Grades of “INC” (incomplete) are typically not given.

A     = 450.00 and >                                               

B     = 400.00-449.99                                                                                            

C     = 350.00-399.99            

D     = 300.00-349.99

F      = <300.00      

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Special notes:

Formatting: The standard formatting requirements for written assignments in this class, unless otherwise directed, are 12 pt. font, 1-inch margins (top, bottom, left and right), and double spacing. Be advised: these format settings may not be the default settings on your computer. Thus, you may need to set them yourself.

Course text and materials on reserve: The required text is available for purchase at the University Bookstore at the SIUC Student Center. Their phone number is (618) 536-3321. Reserve materials are available on Morris Library electronic reserve. The web address is:

http://library.ilcso.illinois.edu/sic/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?DB=local&PAGE=rbSearch

To access: Search by instructor, department, or course. Click on article title. Click on E-items: Click Here. Enter in your student ID.

Honor system: As a member of the University community you are expected to engage in the highest level of academic integrity. Academic dishonesty or plagiarism will not be tolerated. Plagiarism is cheating. Anyone who copies the work of other professionals, authors, or students and doesn’t cite their sources in the body of the paper and in the reference section of the paper will receive a failing grade. If you are unclear about what this means, ask your instructor to explain it to you. Please refer to the website: http://www.siu.edu/~docedit/policies/conduct.html for a description of the University’s student conduct code.

Attendance policy: It is extremely important that you attend all classroom sessions and show up on time. Attendance is taken and poor attendance or punctuality will affect your participation grade. Students are allowed to miss a class session only in extenuating circumstances, which must be made clear to the instructor prior to the session or immediately following the session (in emergency situations). Students are responsible for contacting the instructor for make up assignments. More than one unexcused absence will result in point deductions.

Disability statement: Any student with a documented disability condition (e.g. physical, learning, psychiatric, vision, hearing, etc.) who needs to arrange reasonable accommodations should contact me as soon as possible at the beginning of the semester. Students with special needs should also contact Disability Support Services on campus. Their phone number is (618) 453-5738 and their website is http://www.siu.edu/~dss/ .

Emergency procedures: Southern Illinois University Carbondale is committed to providing a safe and healthy environment for study and work.  Because some health and safety circumstances are beyond our control, we ask that you become familiar with the SIUC Emergency Response Plan and Building Emergency Response Team (BERT) program.  Emergency response information is available on posters in buildings on campus, available on the BERT’s website at www.bert.siu.edu , Department of Public Safety’s website www.dps.siu.edu (disaster drop down) and in the Emergency Response Guidelines pamphlet.  Know how to respond to each type of emergency.

Instructors will provide guidance and direction to students in the classroom in the event of an emergency affecting your location.  It is important that you follow these instructions and stay with your instructor during an evacuation or sheltering emergency.  The Building Emergency Response Team will provide assistance to your instructor in evacuating the building or sheltering within the facility.

Course schedule (updated 8/19/08):

		Topic:	Assignments due:	Readings:
Week 1	Aug. 19^th	Course overview; intro to NR conflict management
	Aug. 21^st	Prisoner’s dilemma; team assignments; group development		Carpenter & Kennedy (2001): Ch. 1-e
Week 2	Aug. 26^th	Environmental attitudes and behavior: Attitude theory		Cordell & Tarrant (2002)-e; Vaske & Donnelly (1999)-e
	Aug. 28^th	Video: In the Light of Reverence	NR conflict resolution case study proposals
Week 3	Sept. 2^nd	Environmental attitudes and behavior: Attitude change
	Sept. 4^th	NR advocacy movements and organizations		Hendee & Pistick (1994)-e;  Weber (2000)-e
Week 4	Sept. 9^th	Persuasion in environmental discourse		Spangle & Knapp (1992)-e
	Sept. 11^th	Video: Whose Home on the Range?	Conflict assessment worksheet-draft
Week 5	Sept. 16^th	NR conflict management		Carpenter & Kennedy (2001): Ch. 2 & 4-e
	Sept. 18^th	NR conflict assessment	Conflict assessment stakeholder interview report
Week 6	Sept. 23^rd	NR conflict resolution
	Sept. 25^th	Legal framework for public participation and conflict management		Cox (2006)-e
Week 7	Sept. 30^th	Public participation: Traditional approaches		Wondolleck & Yaffee (2000); Ch: 1, 2 & 3
	Oct. 2^nd	Public participation: Collaborative approaches		SNF readings, roles & agenda
Week 8	Oct. 7^th	Shawnee NF equestrian conflict resolution (Dr. Davenport)
	Oct. 9^th	Exam I
Week 9	Oct. 14^th	Video: Trails of Controversy: A Wilderness Debate	Teams #1-5 conflict resolution stakeholder roles	Ch: 4, 5, 6, & 7
	Oct. 16^th	Collaboration: Strategies and techniques
Week 10	Oct. 21^st	Facilitation: Principles, tools and formats	Team #1 readings & agenda	Ch: 8, 9, 10 & 11 Facilitation skills handouts
	Oct. 23^rd	Facilitation: Skills
Week 11	Oct. 28^th	Facilitation: Skills workshop	Team #2 readings & agenda	Ch: 12, 13, & 14 Team #1 readings & roles
	Oct.30^th	Team facilitated CR #1	Team facilitated CR #1
Week 12	Nov. 4^th	Conflict resolution planning time	Team #3 readings & agenda	Team #2 readings & roles
	Nov. 6^th	Team facilitated CR #2	Team facilitated CR #2
Week 13	Nov. 11^th	Conflict resolution planning time	Team #4 readings & agenda	Team #3 readings & roles
	Nov. 13^th	Team facilitated CR #3	Team facilitated CR #3
Week 14	Nov. 18^th	Conflict resolution planning time	Team #5 readings & agenda	Team #4 readings & roles
	Nov. 20^th	Team facilitated CR #4		Team #5 readings & roles
		Holiday Break
Week 15	Dec. 2^nd	Team facilitated CR #5	Team facilitated CR #5
	Dec. 4^th	Communities, conflict, and natural resource management
Finals	Dec 9^th	Exam II  Tuesday 5:50-7:50 pm