Boundary spanners as trust ambassadors in collaborative natural resource management

Abstract

Collaboration is a growing trend in agency-led natural resource management in the USA, carrying the promise of defusing conflict and incorporating a broader range of stakeholder ideas. However, concerns exist that confrontational or litigious groups may use collaborative forums to their organization's own advantage. We conducted case studies on three collaboratives to understand how these efforts have influenced the behavior of environmental groups who were previously at odds with the managing agency, the US Forest Service. Results suggest that trust between boundary spanners from historically adversarial groups can support a realignment of the accountabilities they feel. As rational, affinitive, and procedural trust developed, boundary spanners began to advocate, within their home organizations, for the collaborative's goals. Key activities driving these realignments included the development of fair and transparent procedures governing the collaborative group, structured interaction designed to build consensus, and planned informal interactions that revealed shared values among collaborative participants.

Keywords:

• trust
• boundary spanners
• relationship building
• natural resource management
• stakeholder accountabilities

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank David Seesholtz, Dr Bruce Hull, Dr Steve McMullin, Dr Jocelyn Widmer, and Dr Will Butler for their feedback on earlier drafts of this manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was funded in part by the USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station, Goods, Services, and Values Program as part of the NEPA for the 21st Century project under agreement number 12-JV-11261976-077, and in part by the Virginia Agricultural Experiment Station and the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture McIntire Stennis project 1009027.