Managing for naturalness at Mt. Diablo state park

The 1989 General Plan for California's Mt. Diablo State Park recommended ending a long tradition of livestock grazing in the park based on the assertion of a policy of managing for “natural processes.”; Controversy associated with the removal of grazing delayed implementation of the Park General Plan for almost 5 years. At Mt. Diablo, grazing supporters were largely suburban homeowners concerned about fire risk, many of them quite vocal and wealthy. We argue that the ecological and legislative mandates for removing grazing do not fully explain the park staff's firm stance. A shift of professional norms from a recreation‐oriented to a preservation outlook similar to that described for the National Park Service helps explain the decision. Further, as has been argued for “ecosystem management,”; setting the goal of managing for natural processes, managing for a means rather than an end, may be one way parks and other land management agencies can cope with diverse constituencies over the long run.

Keywords:

• fire management
• livestock grazing
• natural processes
• professional norms