National Park Service

U.S. Department of the Interior
The Conservation Study Institute (CSI) was

established by the National Park Service in

1998 to enhance leadership in the field of

conservation. A partnership with academic,

government, and nonprofit organizations, the

institute provides a forum for the National

Park Service, the conservation community, and

the public to discuss conservation history,

contemporary issues and practices, and future

directions for the field. 

We encourage you to share the information in

this report, and request only that you give

appropriate citations and bibliographic credits.

Copyrighted images are not placed in the

public domain by their appearance in this

document. They cannot be copied or otherwise

reproduced except in their printed context

within this publication without the written

consent of the copyright holders.

Recommended citation: Conservation Study

Institute: A Report for the Years 2002 to 2004.

Woodstock, Vermont: Conservation Study

Institute, 2004.

For additional copies, contact:

Conservation Study Institute

54 Elm Street

Woodstock, VT 05091

Tel: (802) 457-3368 / Fax: (802) 457-3405

www.nps.gov/csi

CSI publications in the Conservation and

Stewardship Publication Series:

No. 1 — Landscape Conservation: An International

Working Session on the Stewardship of Protected

Landscapes, 2001

No. 2 — International Concepts in Protected

Landscapes: Exploring Their Values for Communities

in the Northeast, 2001

No. 3 — Collaboration and Conservation: Lessons

Learned in Areas Managed through National Park

Service Partnerships, 2001

No. 4 — Speaking of the Future: A Dialogue on

Conservation, 2003

No. 5 — A Handbook for Managers of Cultural

Landscapes with Natural Resource Values, 2003

(web-based)

No. 6 — Collaboration and Conservation: Lessons

Learned from National Park Service Partnership

Areas in the Western United States. A Report on a

Workshop March 18–19, 2003, Santa Fe, New

Mexico, 2004

All publications are available in PDF format at

www.nps.gov/csi.

Our most effective

[conservation] work results from

engagement with others, where the

collective effort extends the reach of all. The

[National Park] Service and our partners

understand it is only through our

combined efforts that we can help our

society to succeed in passing on unimpaired

to future generations the national

system of parks and special places... 

—National Park Service Director Fran P. Mainella 
Letter from the Director

Successful stewardship of national parks and other places of heritage

depends on broad-based partnerships, increased community engagement,

and a commitment to the future. This means that conservation today is

complex and challenging, but also provides tremendous opportunities for

more people to be involved in many more ways than in the past. 

“The world has profoundly changed since the late nineteenth century when the first

national parks were created. These changes have challenged the National Park

Service to assume responsibilities never anticipated when the agency was established

in August 1916 ... [today] parks are part of broader communities ... [and] park

management is more complex ...”

– NPS Director’s Order on Communication

The National Park Service established the Conservation Study Institute to

help the agency and its partners stay in touch with the evolving field of

conservation and develop more sophisticated partnerships and new tools and

strategies. 

This three-year report highlights our work in sharing best practices,

cultivating leadership, and analyzing trends in conservation. A diversity of

programs creates opportunities to reflect on lessons learned, to exchange

leadership experience, and to maintain a dialogue on the best thinking and

practice in the larger world of conservation. The Institute is dedicated 

to assisting the National Park Service and its partners in becoming 

increasingly effective and creative in meeting new challenges, and more open 

and responsive leaders in building collaboration and commitment for 

the stewardship of our national system of parks and special places.

Nora Mitchell

Director

Conservation Study Institute

National Park Service
4 Conservation Study Institute Report for 2002 to 2004

The Institute’s mission is 

to create opportunities for dialogue, inquiry, and lifelong learning

to enhance the

stewardship of

parks, landscapes, and communities.
1 Letter from the Director 

4 Sharing Best Practices on Partnerships

Exploring the Lessons of Partnerships: Workshop Advances a National Park Service Priority 

Building Bridges between Public Lands and Their Neighbors: Gateway Communities Leadership Program

National Heritage Areas: Landscapes for Partnerships and Community Engagement

Learning from 20 Years of Experience: A Sustainability Study for the Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor 

Considering Future Directions for National Heritage Areas: A Report to the NPS from the National Park System 

Advisory Board’s Partnership Committee 

8 Sharing Best Practices on Civic Engagement

Conversations on the Contemporary Meaning of Parks: Civic Engagement Initiatives

Exploring the Relationship between Nature and Culture

Recognizing the Diversity of Innovation in National Park Stewardship

Celebrating Stewardship: An Atlas of Places, People, and Handmade Products 

10 Sharing Best Practices on Place-based Education

Education, the Parks, and Leadership: Seminars Kindle a New National Vision

Renewing the NPS Education Mission: Follow-up Actions to the National Seminar Series

Crossing Boundaries and Generations: Education Connects People to Parks

Sustaining Public Land–Community Connections through Place-based Education: A Forest for Every Classroom

Testing Program Effectiveness: The Place-based Education Evaluation Collaborative 

Sharing the Promise of Place-based Education: A New Research Learning Center Focused on Innovation and Evaluation

14 Cultivating Leaders

The Power of the Group: Leadership Roundtable Creates Lifelong Learning

Convening National Dialogues on Conservation

Exchanging Perspectives on Innovation: National Conservation Leadership Dialogues

Forging the Link between People and Place: Land Trust Alliance National Workshops

Exploring the Connection between Experience of Place and Conservation: Murie Center Symposium

Growing the Next Generation of NPS Leaders

18 Analyzing Trends in Conservation

Conservation’s New Century: Thinking, Talking, and Working Together; A National Symposium Gathers Insights

Sharing National Symposium Findings through Two Publications

Conservation at the Landscape Scale: Lecture Series Explores Emerging Models and Strategies

22 Reaching Out

23 Working with a Network of Partners

Conservation Study Institute Report for 2002 to 2004 5

Contents
Exploring 

theLessons

of Partnerships

Workshop Advances a 

National Park Service Priority

By Doug Wilhelm

When Laura Gates, superintendent of the Cane River

Creole National Historical

Park in northwest

Louisiana, arrived at the

workshop that CSI co-sponsored in Santa Fe

last March, she hoped that she could both

contribute lessons from her own experience

and learn from other seasoned practitioners.

Gates traveled to this program, “Collaboration and Conservation: Lessons Learned

from National Park Service Partnership

Areas in the Western U.S.,” with a partner in

her work, Nancy Morgan, executive director

of the Cane River National Heritage Area, 

a congressionally designated regionally

distinct rural agricultural landscape that

includes the historical park. 

Within the National Park Service, diverse

working partnerships are a growing

presence; these include areas that are managed through collaboration with many other

organizations, such as national heritage

areas. In recognition of the increasing

importance of collaboration, NPS Director

Fran P. Mainella created an associate director for partnerships and the NPS Partnership Council. Drawing its membership from

parks and regions, the council advises

Mainella and her leadership team on ways

that partnerships could be expanded “across

NPS program and geographic lines.”

“Our most effective work results from

engagement with others, where the collective

effort extends the reach of all,” Director

Mainella wrote. “The [National Park] Service

and our partners understand it is only

through our combined efforts that we can

help our society to succeed in passing 

on unimpaired to future generations the

Conservation Study Institute Report for 2002 to 2004

Sharing Best Practices

on Partnerships

The Institute examines and shares conservation

efforts that create vital connections for sustaining

heritage conservation among a broad set of

partners. These partnerships cross disciplines,

boundaries, and sectors to accomplish 

large-scale conservation, placing national 

parks in their landscape context.

Laura Gates and Nancy

Morgan at Santuario de

Chimayo within the proposed

Northern Rio Grande National

Heritage Area.

FACING PAGE: Ernest Ortega

(center) leads a field trip in

the proposed heritage area

with Jim Bellamy (left) and

San Juan Pueblo Councilor

Herman Agoyo (right). 
national system of parks and

special places ...” 

CSI designed the partnership

workshop in collaboration with the

QLF/Atlantic Center for the Environment and the NPS Planning

and Special Studies Program. The

workshop created an opportunity

for 27 people with substantial

partnership experience to reflect on

what they have learned, and to

collectively identify insights and

strategies. Jackie Tuxill, CSI

director for partnership programs,

explained, “workshops like this

allow people to share their experience with peers—it’s structured for

dialogue.”

“One of the things I loved about

the program,” Gates said, “was

learning how partners in other

parts of the country are operating.”

She was particularly impressed

with the idea that “partnerships are

key,” not only to her park and heritage area, but “for any kind of concept to flourish, that partnerships

are built on trust, [and] that every

interaction must have trust as the

basis of it.”

More Interactive, 

More Proactive

Another experienced partner who

participated in the workshop was

Greg Moore, executive director of

the Golden Gate National Parks

Conservancy, a community-based

nonprofit that has been working

for 15 years with Golden Gate

National Recreation Area, a 75,000-

acre complex of national parks in

the San Francisco Bay area. 

“Here at Golden Gate, our community is broad and diverse—it

runs the gamut from school kids to

senior citizens, to people of all

economic and [ethnic] backgrounds, to people who see that the

ideals of the NPS have resonance

within their own communities.”

“When the conservancy began, we

started with the primary purpose

of providing quality interpretive

and education materials for park

visitors ... over time, we began to

see that interpreting park values

was a multifaceted enterprise, and

it meant more than publishing

brochures—it needed to be more

interactive, more proactive, it had

to reach outside park boundaries

and involve people.”

Moore said he, too, took away

new ideas and insights from the

Santa Fe workshop. “Partnerships

by their nature are very custombuilt for each individual alliance,”

he said. “So the ability to be among

professional practitioners who are

trying a whole variety of interesting

and effective techniques and programs is illuminating in terms of

the content, and it’s also inspiring.”

Creating a “Road Map”

Among the newest partners who

came to Santa Fe was Sarah

Schlanger, associate state archeologist for the U.S. Bureau of Land

Management (BLM) in New

Mexico. In a first-time collaboration of its kind between the two

agencies, NPS and BLM began in

2000 to co-administer the new 

El Camino Real National Historic

Trail in New Mexico.

“The trail runs through lands that

we have long-term ties with—either

we manage them, or communities

that live along the trail provide

management,” Schlanger explained.

The partnership, she said “is a way

for the bureau to reach out to

those communities in a different

way: not through issuing permits,

but by working with those communities to come to a better understanding of our shared heritage.”

The El Camino Trail collaboration

has, she said, “opened BLM’s eyes

to the opportunity to connect with

communities in a totally different

way than we normally do.” 

At the partnership areas workshop, Schlanger found that, indeed,

“the things that people are doing

out there are models for being

creative to get things done. The

people who were at that workshop

are really an astonishing group,

who have been able to put together

quite diverse and powerful partnerships.”

Karen Wade, former NPS regional

director for the Intermountain

Region, agrees. “The parks that are

doing the best are those that have

Conservation Study Institute Report for 2002 to 2004 7
8 Conservation Study Institute Report for 2002 to 2004

Sharing Best Practices

on Partnerships

GATEWAY COMMUNITIES LEADERSHIP PROGRAM:

Building Bridges between Public Lands and Their Neighbors

Public land managers

and neighboring towns

and cities—often

referred to as gateway communities—are building their

collaboration through a

program cosponsored by the

Institute and a consortium of

partners in the Gateway

Communities Leadership

Program. Over the last five

years, the partners have

worked together to create a

multidimensional program that builds the capacity of public land

managers and gateway communities to collaboratively identify and

address issues of mutual concern. The program includes national

course offerings, tailored regional and community workshops, interactive television workshops, case study videos, and publications.

Every two years, a national training course, “Balancing Nature and

Commerce in Gateway Communities,” offers assistance to public

land–gateway community teams to plan and carry out collaborative

community-based initiatives. During the workshop, teams of public

land and community representatives work together to craft strategies

that can be implemented in their home regions. Offered in Seattle in

September 2002 and in Savannah in October 2003, the national

course attracted teams from Great Smoky Mountains National Park

and the neighboring Nantahala National Forest, Apostle Islands

National Lakeshore, Cape Lookout National Seashore, and Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Parks, among others.

Often requests for follow-up workshops and technical assistance

originate with teams that attend the national course. This was the

case with the teams from Denali National Park and Preserve (Alaska)

and the St. Croix National Scenic Riverway (Minnesota and

Wisconsin). Follow-up technical assistance from CSI Director of

Community Engagement Delia Clark assisted the Alaska team with

conducting a vision-to-action workshop that launched a community

conservation and sustainable development initiative complementing

national park efforts to develop the new Denali south-side visitor

center. The team from the St. Croix National Scenic Riverway developed a series of eight regional workshops in 2003 designed to address

the needs of communities along the 25-mile-long river corridor.

These workshops created a sense of regional identity and a common

agenda among the communities along the two-state river valley.

PARTNERS: The Conservation Fund, NPS Park Planning and Special Studies Program, Sonoran

Institute, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service National Conservation Training Center

figured out how to collaborate and

share ... It is my belief that building

relationships creates opportunities.”

Wade also participated in the

workshop. “It was very exciting;

[the dialogue] allowed for consensus ideas to emerge. We ended up

with a list of ideas that were so

well-constructed that it provides a

road map for the development of

partnership programs for the whole

service.” The workshop participants

produced a brief summary of the

workshop, “Developing a Sustainable Environment for Partnerships,” and presented it to the NPS

Partnership Council. These recommendations call for placing communities at the center of

partnerships, developing a compelling vision statement for partnership work, mapping the assets

from which the NPS can learn, and

doing research and analysis that

can support partnership work. CSI

published the findings of this

workshop in Conservation and Collaboration: Lessons Learned from National

Park Service Partnership Areas in the

Western United States to encourage

more discussion on partnerships.

“A conventional view of partnership is that it’s something that you

enter into so that each party can

advance an agenda, or have more

resources to get something done,”

Moore reflected after the program.

“A deeper view has evolved for me—

that a partnership really allows for

broader community and societal

ownership of what the national

park values are all about, and to

help evolve the meaning of what

national parks and protected areas

mean for people from a variety of

backgrounds. ... This creates a

richer concept of what national

parks can be and should be for the

future.”

Continued from page 7

Planner with Matanuska-Susitna 

Borough, Alaska
Conservation Study Institute Report for 2002 to 2004 9

NATIONAL HERITAGE AREAS: 

Landscapes for Partnerships and Community Engagement

Heritage areas are an important direction in conservation, as demonstrated by

the growth in the number of heritage area initiatives at every level in

the U.S. Today, there are 27 congressionally designated heritage

areas and corridors, and many proposals for additional national areas.

A number of new state heritage

programs have joined the established ones in New York and Pennsylvania, and literally hundreds of

regional grassroots initiatives are

underway across the country.

While the first national heritage

area was designated as recently as

1984, the concept of conserving

important lived-in regional landscapes—by engaging every level of

government and, most critically,

the people who live in them—had

been under development for over

30 years. These ideas have been

tested not just in the U.S., but also

in Europe and around the world. 

Brenda Barrett, NPS national

coordinator for heritage areas, and

Nora Mitchell, CSI director, served

as guest editors for the June 2003

issue of the George Wright Forum on

“Stewardship of Heritage Areas.”

These papers examine global trends

in conservation stewardship, review

the historical development of heritage areas in the U.S., and identify

the benefits of this collaborative

approach in telling richer stories

and tackling daunting preservation

projects.

Learning from 20 Years of

Experience: A Sustainability Study 

for the Blackstone River Valley 

National Heritage Corridor

Now in its twentieth year, the

John H. Chafee Blackstone

River Valley National Heritage

Corridor Commission is taking

both a reflective and forwardthinking approach to determining

its future. The commission decided

to evaluate progress toward achieving the corridor’s goals established

by Congress in 1986, and to review

the existing management structure

and look at options for strengthening its effectiveness. The commission’s desire to be transparent and

open in its deliberations led to a

partnership with the NPS Conservation Study Institute. The Institute is conducting a “Sustainability

Study” that will provide the commission with a framework to

inform its decisions about strategic

future directions for the corridor.

The report will:

 Evaluate the commission’s

accomplishments, including

documenting leverage of

National Park Service funding;

 Analyze potential management

alternatives for achieving the

national interest of the

Blackstone Valley; and

 Assess future commitments

needed to attain sustainability

of the conservation efforts.

This project is being used as a

case study by the Partnership

Committee of the National Park

System Advisory Board in its

deliberations on the future of

National Heritage Areas and their

relationship to NPS. A report on

this sustainability study will be

presented to the commission in

February 2005.

Considering Future Directions for

National Heritage Areas: A Report 

to the NPS from the National 

Park System Advisory Board’s

Partnership Committee 

I

n 2004, NPS Director Fran

Mainella asked the National Park

System Advisory Board to look at

the future of national heritage

areas and their relationship to the

National Park Service. The board,

authorized by Congress to advise

the director of the National Park

Service on current conservation

issues, asked the Partnership

Committee to prepare a report

based on a series of discussions and

cases studies. The Conservation

Study Institute has been working

with NPS National Heritage Area

Coordinator Brenda Barrett and 

the NPS Policy Office to support

the work of the Partnership

Committee.

Mayor Jerry N. Hruby of Brecksville, Ohio, Chair of the Partnership Committee, convened the first

meeting in the John H. Chafee

Blackstone River Valley National

Heritage Corridor (Massachusetts

and Rhode Island) and the second

in the Cane River National

Heritage Area (Louisiana). The

Institute’s sustainability study for

the Blackstone National Heritage

Corridor is serving as a case study

for the committee’s deliberations. 

A report from the National Park

System Advisory Board to the NPS

director is anticipated in late 

spring 2005.

Blackstone River Valley 

National Heritage Corridor
Conversations on

the Contemporary

Meaning of Parks 

Civic Engagement Initiatives

Over the last three years, the Northeast

Region, with the leadership of

Regional Director Marie Rust, initiated a national discussion on how

civic engagement can enhance

stewardship and strengthen the public’s connection to national parks. Subsequently, in 2003, 

NPS Director Fran Mainella issued a director’s

order articulating the park service’s commitment

to civic engagement.

“Civic engagement is a continuous, dynamic

conversation with the public on many levels

that reinforces public commitment to the

preservation of heritage resources, both

cultural and natural, and strengthens public

understanding of the full meaning and

contemporary relevance of these resources.” 

— Director’s Order 75A: 

Civic Engagement and Public Involvement, 2003

Exploring the Relationship 

between Nature and Culture

I

n 2004, the Institute collaborated with the NPS

Northeast Region and Marsh-BillingsRockefeller National Historical Park to host a civic

engagement seminar, “Contested Landscapes:

Humans and Nature in National Parks.” This

workshop explored the challenges of interpreting

American landscapes and, in particular, national

parks with discordant views about natural and

cultural resources.

Dr. Edward T. Linenthal (Professor of Religious

and American Culture at the University of Wisconsin) and Dr. William Cronon (Professor of History,

Geography, and Environmental Studies at the

University of Wisconsin) served as seminar discussion leaders. Three case studies—Cuyahoga River

Valley National Park, Point Reyes National

Seashore, and Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National

Historical Park—demonstrated the dilemmas

involved with managing public landscapes that are

Conservation Study Institute Report for 2002 to 2004

Sharing Best Practices

on Civic Engagement

The Institute convenes dialogue on

current issues to encourage innovation,

strengthen public commitment, and

ensure the relevancy of national parks

and other special places to all citizens.

“Within this [Northeast] region,

the emphasis is on how our sites speak

to visitors, so they can understand all

the stories and engage in dialogue

about what happened here and why.

We use our sites not only for interpretation, but also for education and participation. The goal is about building better

citizens through civic engagement.” 

— Marie Rust, NPS Northeast Regional Director
Conservation Study Institute Report for 2002 to 2004 11

S

tewardship begins with

people. This atlas celebrates the personal stories

of stewardship, while illustrating

its broad, rich geography. Its

inspiration comes from people

taking care of special places. For

more than 30 years, Mary Lee

Begay (right) has woven traditional Navajo rugs for Hubbell

Trading Post National Historic

Site in Ganado, Arizona. Dave

Evans, a fifth-generation Pierce

Point rancher at Point Reyes

National Seashore, California, is

developing innovative, 

sustainable approaches to keep

agriculture alive on the peninsula. Along the Blue Ridge

Parkway, Judy and Bill Carson

and Kit Trubey, owners of The

Orchard at Alta Pass in Spruce

Pine, North Carolina, encourage

local theater and music, while

growing heirloom apples. These

are faces of stewardship—friends,

neighbors, and communities in

and around our national parks,

heritage areas, and national

historic landmarks. They

preserve authentic traditional

cultures and landscapes,

demonstrating for local residents

and visitors alike an enduring

stewardship ethic and a commitment to sustainability. 

A project update is the beginning of an exploration of the

connections between places,

people, and special products. 

This update includes three case

studies illustrating good stewardship and highlighting

traditions and innovations that

advance conservation and

sustainability. In An Atlas of

Places, People, and Handmade

Products, we will include more

stories from more places. 

With this project, we plan to

create a network of park people

and producers eager to share

their knowledge and experiences.

CELEBRATING STEWARDSHIP: 

An Atlas of Places, People, and Handmade Products

rich in history, cultural traditions,

and dynamic natural ecosystems.

Deliberations highlighted the

importance of public lands as

places of learning and as great laboratories for cultivating a more

mindful and integrated relationship with our natural and cultural

environment. Participants acknowledged the deeply held values in the

NPS and in American society, and

discussed ways that civic engagement contributes ideas related to

site-specific management as well 

as defining new intellectual

constructs for a more complex

meaning of place. 

PARTNERS: NPS Northeast Region, MarshBillings-Rockefeller NHP, NPS Policy Office

Recognizing the Diversity 

of Innovation in National

Park Stewardship

The goal of

Eastern

National’s

publication,

Branching Out:

Approaches in

National Park

Stewardship, is

to create a

greater understanding of innovations in national

park management, and in particular to recognize the significant role

partnerships play in meeting the

challenge of resource stewardship.

Published in 2003, this booklet

points out that the evolution of the

park concept over time has been in

response to changes in American

society and cultural values. Today,

“partnerships that combine a landscape perspective with a growing

community-based commitment to

stewardship have become critical

factors in the sustainability of all

national park areas.” CSI Director

Nora Mitchell served on the

editorial advisory team for the

publication. 

Principal Project Objectives: 

1. Recognize people practicing

stewardship that sustains

important landscapes and

living cultures.

2. Demonstrate the relationship between people, special

products, and landscapes

and explore issues related to

marketing, branding, and

certification. 

3. Highlight the biodiversity

value of cultural landscapes.

4. Model sustainable behaviors

to visitors and neighbors,

demonstrating a commitment to community stewardship of landscapes.

5. Enhance relationships

between parks and 

neighboring communities.

6. Build a network of people

and organizations involved

in this work.
The Institute demonstrates and 

evaluates education that forges an 

enduring connection between people, 

their communities, and public 

lands. Place-based education 

provides youth and adults 

with opportunities to become 

engaged in stewardship.

Sharing Best Practices on

Place-based Education

Education, 

theParks,and

Leadership

Seminars Kindle a 

New National Vision

By Doug Wilhelm I

n its landmark report, Rethinking the

National Parks for the 21st Century, the National Park System Advisory

Board challenged the NPS to “proclaim anew the meaning and value

of parks, conservation, and recreation; to

expand the learning and research occurring

in parks and share that knowledge broadly;

and to encourage all Americans to experience these special places.” In addition, the

board emphasized that “parks ... are powerful resources offering unique, place-based

learning opportunities ... [and] offer citizens

of all ages opportunities to strengthen their

connections to the environment and to

renew their sense of wonder and appreciation for our democracy.” The nation as a

whole has been seeking fresh perspectives

on how its educational institutions can have

a much greater impact, the advisory board

said. The National Park Service is such an

institution, and American society will bene- fit enormously if NPS takes a deep new look

at all the best ways it can help people learn

and become more engaged citizens.

The NPS National Leadership Council

(NLC) responded to this advisory board

report and its education challenge with an

effort unlike any it had undertaken in the

past. From December 2002 through June

2003, with support from the new NPS

Director Fran P. Mainella and help from a

national working group that included CSI,

the NLC devoted part of each bimonthly

meeting to a series of seminars in which

council members listened and talked in

depth with a succession of experts,

researchers, and field practitioners engaged

with leading-edge education as it relates to

American parks. 

Conservation Study Institute Report for 2002 to 2004

Ecologist Tom Wessels reads

the natural and

cultural history

of the forested

landscape. FACING PAGE

: Renewing Our Educational

Mission Report to the National Leadership

Council, June 2003, National Park Service.
“The series was conceived as a

bridge between NPS leadership and

the best ideas on education in this

country,” said Nora Mitchell, CSI’s

director. To develop the topics and

assemble the speakers, the working

group gathered ideas and input

from park superintendents and

education practitioners across the

country. 

“We drew on the experience in

education out in the field, which is

tremendous and impressive,”

Mitchell said. “We also drew on the

knowledge from a wide range of

experts outside the NPS—this was a

great combination to bring to NPS

leadership as it crafted a response

to the challenge set by the advisory

board—to raise the bar higher.”

“It’s important that the NLC had

the interest and took the time and

the energy to go through a series of

seminars to learn about the potential of national parks as a contributor to learning in America today,”

said Julia Washburn, a member of

the series working group who is

vice president for grants and programs at the National Park Foundation. “So this,” she added, “was a

very important step forward.”

Loran Fraser, director of the NPS

Office of Policy, agrees. “This was a

commitment by the leadership of

the organization to learn [and] to

gain information on current practices, research, and theory before

making any decisions on what the

course of action would be.”

“Place-based Education 

Has Great Promise”

The topics that seminar speakers

and the NLC explored included

“place-based education, highlighting the strong connection between

place and the learner; learning

styles and the need to understand

the different ways in which people

process information; the challenge

of providing meaningful multiple

learning experiences; and the need

for program evaluation,” along

with technology and distance learning, the NLC Journal reported.

Speakers were both national and

community-based leaders in their

fields.

Among them was Megan Camp,

vice president of the Vermontbased educational nonprofit, Shelburne Farms. CSI has worked

with Shelburne Farms on a placebased education project titled “A

Forest for Every Classroom: Learning to Make Choices for the

Future,” together with MarshBillings-Rockefeller National Historical Park, the Green Mountain

National Forest, the National

Wildlife Federation, and teachers

from a number of Vermont communities. This partnership was

crafted on a common vision of students learning from and caring for

public lands. A professional development program for teachers introduces them to public lands in their

communities as places for exploration and real-world learning, and

then supports their development of

curriculum that integrates interdisciplinary study of place with stewardship and civics. 

“Parks themselves are place-based,

so they are an incredible classroom,” Camp later reflected. “In

addition, there’s a close relationship between knowledge of place

and a sense of stewardship—

through learning opportunities on

public lands, learners have the

chance not only to gain knowledge,

but also to be stewards of their own

heritage. The long-term goal is to

contribute to developing important

civic engagement and citizenship skills.”

Camp said the NLC members

asked her questions about the

results learned from the project’s evaluation, which was

then in mid-process. “They

wanted to know: Is there evidence that if we invest in these

types of programs, we’ll see a

longer-term outcome of more

involved citizenry practicing

stewardship in our communities?” Although research is

ongoing, Camp notes that “the

evidence to date indicates that

place-based education has great

promise for both engaged student

learning as well as revitalizing

teachers.” Camp quoted one of the

participating teachers, “This program has rekindled my soul and

passion for teaching. It has made it

meaningful again.”

The Results: 

A National Strategy

“Throughout the seminar series,

NLC members grappled with the

issues and ideas very directly,”

said working group member Patti

Reilly, director of NPS’s Northeast

Center for Educational Services.

“The seminar series was an opportunity to take a step back for

thoughtful discussions with

experts and people outside the

NPS, and to consider the larger picture. This was also a look forward—

how are we going to be operating

into the next century? What are the

implications of demographic

changes and the need for more

Conservation Study Institute Report for 2002 to 2004 13
14 Conservation Study Institute Report for 2002 to 2004

RENEWING THE NPS EDUCATION MISSION:

Follow-up Actions to 

the National Seminar Series

Rethinking the National Parks for the Twenty-first Century (published in 2001) called on the National Park Service to further develop its capacity in education. The report declared

that education is central to the mission of the National Park

Service, and stated that NPS can not accomplish its mission without a more coherent and comprehensive educational focus. It

observed that parks are powerful educational resources, and that

NPS has enormous potential to advance its purposes through

education. It called on the National Park Service to become a more

significant part of America’s educational system, with budgets,

policies, and an organizational structure reflecting this vision. 

[The board recommends that] the National Park Service

embrace its mission, as educator, to become a more significant

part of America’s educational system by providing formal 

and informal programs for students and learners of all ages

inside and outside park boundaries. 

— National Park System Advisory Board, National Parks for the 21st Century, 2001

In response to this report, the NPS director and the National

Leadership Council initiated a seminar series designed to explore

state-of-the-art education theory and practice, and to consider NPS

opportunities. The seminars invited scholars and experts outside

the park to present and discuss with NPS leaders a variety of initiatives and current research. The goal of the seminars was to inform

decision making for designing a comprehensive twenty-first century National Park Service education program. The Conservation

Study Institute played a key role in organizing this seminar series

(see related story, pages 10–12).

During the concluding seminar in June 2002, the NPS National

Leadership Council agreed on a vision statement, guiding principles, and goals for a national framework for an education program.

After field review, a report, Renewing Our Education Mission, was

approved by the director and the NPS Education Council created.

In May 2002, the director asked the National Park System Advisory

Board to create an education committee. 

In May 2004, the NPS Education Council, an interdisciplinary

advisory forum of representative NPS national and field staff,

convened for its first meeting. They agreed that to guide implementation of the national actions in Renewing Our Education Mission

a number of work groups must be formed and asked to recommend issue-specific plans. 

CSI Director Nora Mitchell is serving on the evaluation work

group and will work with the NPS Education Council and,

through the NPS Policy Office, the National Park System Advisory

Board’s Education Committee, to develop a nationwide approach

to evaluation.

Sharing Best Practices on

Place-based Education

Continued from page 11

community connections? How can

we be more strategic? At the conclusion, I hoped the series would

put the agency in a position to

develop a national approach to

education,” Reilly said, “and it did

that.” 

The NLC followed up by recommending to NPS Director Mainella

a vision, guiding principles, and

three goals for National Park

Service education: build capacity,

guarantee opportunities, and

strengthen partnerships. The NLC

then asked a group of NPS staff

from across the country to review

these recommendations and

develop a more detailed educational strategy that was published

in June 2003 as Renewing Our Education Mission. Director Mainella then

created a National Education

Council, with NPS representatives

from across the country, to guide

the implementation of this effort.

The National Park System Advisory

Board has formed an education

committee to continue its focus on

the learning potential of national

parks, and to work in concert with

the NPS education council.

“I have never seen an issue so

excite this organization as the

prospect of developing our capacity

as an educator,” reflected seminar

participant Loran Fraser. “This was

very exciting, it was reaching out. 

It was growth.”
Conservation Study Institute Report for 2002 to 2004 15

Sustaining Public Land–

Community Connections 

through Place-based Education:

A Forest for Every Classroom

For the past three years, the

Institute has worked with a

network of partners to design and

evaluate a place-based education

program to demonstrate and

evaluate the strength of public

land–community connections that

can be created. “A Forest for Every

Classroom: Learning to Make

Choices for the Future” is a professional development program

for educators built on place-based

education principles. Participants

commit to a year-long program

and develop their own curricula

integrating exploration of local

natural and cultural heritage with

hands-on service learning and

civic engagement. At the heart of

the program is the belief that educators and their students who are

immersed in the interdisciplinary

study of their home place are

more eager to learn and be

involved in the stewardship of

their communities and public

lands. For the sponsoring partners, each organization has built

professional capacity by learning

from each other, and enhanced

their community relationships

while providing a high quality

program (see related story on program evaluation below).

PARTNERS: Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National

Historical Park, Green Mountain National

Forest, Shelburne Farms National Historic

Landmark, National Wildlife Federation,

Northern Forest Center

Testing Program Effectiveness:

The Place-based Education

Evaluation Collaborative

Rigorous evaluation is essential

to ensure that programs are

achieving their intended goals. In

2002, several New England organizations formed the Place-based

Education Evaluation Collaborative in order to professionally

evaluate each of their four individual place-based education programs and to identify successful

characteristics that span all of the

programs. Although distinct, the

programs—including A Forest for

Every Classroom (see related article above)—share goals of enhancing the connections between

communities and schools, cultivating motivation and skills for

citizenship and civic engagement,

and building social capital for

more successful, innovative, and

resilient communities. This evaluation partnership is also laying the

foundation for research into the

effectiveness of place-based education models. 

PROGRAMS AND PARTNERS: Community

Mapping Program at Orton Family Foundation,

Vermont Institute for Natural Sciences,

Community-based Environmental Education at

Antioch New England Institute, Sustainable

Schools at Shelburne Farms, Upper Valley

Community Foundation

For evaluation reports, see http://peecworks.org

Crossing Boundaries and Generations: 

Education Connects People to Parks

Working Definition 

Place-based education

provides youth and adults,

teachers and students with

opportunities to connect

with their communities and

public lands through handson, real-world learning

experiences on communitybased projects.

SHARING THE PROMISE OF PLACE-BASED EDUCATION:

A New Research Learning Center 

Focused on Innovation and Evaluation

Place-based education is emerging as an innovative and effective

way to strengthen civic engagement, connections between public lands and communities, and resource stewardship. The Center

for Place-Based Learning and Innovation is one of 32 research

learning centers around the country initiated through the NPS

Natural Resource Challenge. Through this center, the CSI and its

partners contribute to the state of the art in place-based education,

research, and evaluation of programs on national parks and other

public lands.

To share lessons learned, the center co-sponsored “Promise of

Place: Community-based Education in the Northern Forest

Region” in November 2002 and again in March 2004. The center

has also offered “Principles and Best Practices for Place-based

Education,” a training program for public land managers and educators regionally and nationally through the Gateway Communities Leadership Training Program (see related story, page 6).

PARTNERS: Shelburne Farms National Historical Landmark, Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller

National Historical Park, NPS Natural Resource Program
ThePower 

oftheGroup”

Leadership Roundtable 

Creates Lifelong Learning 

By Doug Wilhelm

Across the country, National Park

Service superintendents share

many similar challenges: very

busy days, much responsibility,

high community profiles, complicated, often contentious issues, and often

a sense of isolation at the top. 

Since the NPS Superintendents’ Leadership

Roundtable program began in 2001, four

groups of 12 superintendents, along with

some deputy and assistant superintendents,

have come together for a four-day initial

program and continue to meet once a year.

Convened by CSI and begun as a pilot

among three NPS regions—Northeast, Intermountain, and Pacific West—the Roundtable

is now a national program that has drawn

comments like these from participants:

“If I only have money for one development opportunity—this is it!”

“It is the best learning experience that I

have had since becoming a superintendent.”

“This is a great opportunity to connect

with peers, discuss difficult issues, and

build lasting support networks.”

Why has the program struck such a chord

among park leaders? 

“For me it was very freeing to be able to say,

‘I’ve got the same issues as everybody else,’

and to be able to ask, ‘how did you handle

it?’” said Gayle Hazelwood, superintendent

at National Capital Parks East. “It’s open

and refreshing to be able to talk with your

colleagues, in a very safe environment, about

what your concerns are, or your perceived

limitations. We all have elements of selfdoubt; we get second-guessed a lot, and in

this forum we can say, ‘Hey, this is what’s

going on.’ We have opportunities to learn

new best practices, as well.”

Conservation Study Institute Report for 2002 to 2004

The Institute cultivates leadership

that is reflective and collaborative,

that embraces innovation and

leads change in response to new

directions in conservation. 

Cultivating Leaders

2004 roundtable participants

FACING PAGE: Superintendents’ Leadership Roundtable 2003

“
Solving Problems and 

Building Leadership

The NPS Roundtable is facilitated

by Dennis Duncan, who has extensive experience in leadership professional development and who plays

a parallel role in the U.S. Forest

Service’s Leadership Program.

Virginia Farley, CSI director of

leadership programs, notes that

Duncan “offers a leadership framework including information on

current research. Dennis has the

ability to create a learning environment that skillfully blends presentation of leadership concepts,

encouragement of participant

inquiry, offering of professional

counsel, and facilitation of meaningful dialogue.”

The content is helpful—yet participants say that what they value

most are the open discussions,

building of mutual trust, and continuing relationships that the

roundtables develop, along with

the chance simply to reflect on

their work.

“It gave me time to back away

from being in the midst of the

action, and to really think about

what’s going on, where we’re going

as a park, and how I might be able

to effect change in a positive way.

It’s hard to think and plan, because

you are so busy doing,” said Sarah

Craighead, superintendent of

Saguaro National Park in Arizona. 

Craighead took on the leadership

post at Saguaro shortly after her

group’s initial, multi-day roundtable session. She quickly found

herself using some of the leadership development techniques she

had learned from the program.

“Dennis suggested conducting a

transition session with the park’s

leadership staff,” she said. “We held

a one-day session, and it was very

productive. We got to know each

other a little bit better, and talked

about the individual goals of the

members of the team and what

motivated them.”

Within NPS, said Bill Laitner,

superintendent of Olympic

National Park, the roundtable program is unique: a professional

development opportunity at the

superintendent’s level that focuses

both on building skills and on

developing and supporting leadership.

He reflected, “Building this network is an important way of creating relationships with peers whom

you can call and who will just listen

to you, where you can be open and

honest in your conversations.

“I think it’s really important that

this continue over time,” Laitner

said of the roundtable program

and its ongoing groups. “It may be

next year when the huge challenge

occurs that will make or break your

park area—and you’ll need this

help. Twelve people working

together with a trained facilitator

can solve difficult problems; there’s

a synergy that comes together

that’s almost magic. 

“I think you get much, much

closer to the root causes of leadership challenges,” he added. “And

we do that with a trained facilitator, who can dig or probe or push

gently when needed. It’s all in the

power of the group.”

Conservation Study Institute Report for 2002 to 2004 17
18 Conservation Study Institute Report for 2002 to 2004

Exchanging Perspectives on

Innovation: National

Conservation Leadership

Dialogues

I

n cooperation with the Lincoln

Institute of Land Policy and

the Program on Conservation

Innovation at Harvard University,

the Institute cosponsored

“Conservation in the Twenty-first

Century: A Leadership Dialogue.”

This national symposium, held in

June 2002 at the Lincoln Land

Institute in Cambridge,

Massachusetts, was a gathering of

top conservation leaders. Twentyfive participants from across the

country discussed innovation in

conservation science, conservation

education, resource protection,

and stewardship. 

This dialogue launched an annual series. In June 2003, the second

conservation leadership dialogue,

“Landscape-scale Conservation:

Grappling with the Green Matrix,”

was held at the Presidio in Golden

Gate National Recreation Area in

San Francisco. Participants

explored definitions, examples,

and strategies through a series of

case studies on landscape-scale

conservation.

In 2004, the focus of the leadership dialogue shifted to “Frontiers

of Conservation Finance” and was

held at the Lincoln Land Institute.

This discussion investigated promising new techniques for financing

conservation projects. A publication on this seminar is underway. 

2002 PARTNERS: Lincoln Institute of Land

Policy, Program on Conservation Innovation at

Harvard University 

2003 PARTNERS: Lincoln Institute of Land

Policy, Program on Conservation Innovation at

Harvard University, Golden Gate National

Parks Conservancy, Golden Gate National

Recreation Area, QLF/Atlantic Center for the

Environment

2004 PARTNERS: Lincoln Institute of Land

Policy, Program on Conservation Innovation at

Harvard University 

Forging the Link between

People and Place: Land Trust

Alliance National Workshops

At the Land Trust Alliance

national conference in

October 2004 (in Providence, RI), CSI co-sponsored two

workshops on “Theories of Change

in Conservation.” These workshops were organized and facilitated by CSI leadership program

director Virginia Farley and Andy

Pitz with the Natural Lands Trust.

This dialogue focused on identifying critical points for change to

support sustainable conservation

at the individual and community

level. A third workshop on “The

Role of Place-based Education in

Fostering Land Conservation” was

organized by CSI community

engagement program director

Delia Clark in collaboration with

Megan Camp (from Shelburne

Farms National Historic Landmark in Vermont) and Constance

Washburn (from Marin Agricultural Land Trust in California).

Participants examined and discussed the key role of place-based

education in engaging citizens—

youth and adults—in stewardship

of their own communities.

In October 2003, CSI co-sponsored a workshop titled “Connecting Land and People: The Stories

and Motivations for a New Practice

of Land Conservation” at the

national conference in Sacramento, California. The workshop was

facilitated by CSI leadership program director Virginia Farley in

cooperation with Peter Forbes of

the Trust for Public Land and the

Center for Whole Communities.

The workshop focused on redefining our notions of success in

conservation and on the power of

stories.

At the Land Trust Alliance

national conference in Austin,

Texas, in October 2002, Virginia

Farley co-facilitated a workshop on

“The Why of Land Conservation.”

This workshop featured Scott

Russell Sanders, distinguished

professor of English at Indiana

University and author of 18 books.

The workshop challenged participants to explore their commitment

to land stewardship. CSI also 

co-sponsored a day-long seminar,

“Stories of Place” featuring Nan

Jenks-Jay, director of environmental affairs at Middlebury College,

and Gary Paul Nabhan, noted

author, MacArthur Fellow, and

former member of the National

Park System Advisory Board.

Exploring the Connection

Between Experience of Place

and Conservation: Murie

Center Symposium

The Murie Center, located on

the historic Murie Ranch in

Grand Teton National Park,

carries forward the values inherent

in the teachings of the Murie

family—respect for nature, the

importance of wilderness, and

responsible action. During the

center’s 2002 Summer Symposium, CSI leadership program

director Virginia Farley participated in a panel discussion on the

interrelationship of personal and

professional values. She focused on

the link between formative experiences on the land and professional

interest in conservation. Virginia

also led two workshops exploring

the use of dialogue and reflective

writing as tools for conservation

leadership.

Cultivating Leaders

Convening National Dialogues on Conservation
Conservation Study Institute Report for 2002 to 2004 19

Conservation Curriculum 

for Emerging Leaders

The Institute has been conducting the conservation leadership curriculum for the

NPS Entry-Level Intake Program for six

years. This is a two-year leadership development

training program for NPS employees early in their

career who show leadership promise. In 2003, the

Institute conducted a two-week course titled

“Conservation Leadership: History, Current

Practice, and Future Directions.” Through this

course, participants explored partnerships

between government agencies and nonprofit

organizations through site visits to Essex National

Heritage Area and Salem Maritime National

Historic Site. NPS and outside guest speakers

joined the group for a look at conservation history

and reflections on NPS leadership. The intake

class graduated at CSI in August 2003. In August

2004, Virginia Farley conducted a workshop on

“The Meaning of Place to the NPS” for the new

class of 2005. The workshop was held at the Lied

Conference Center in Nebraska.

PARTNERS: NPS Training and Employee Development, Essex National

Heritage Area, Salem Maritime National Historic Site, Marsh-BillingsRockefeller National Historical Park

Mid-Career Leadership Development

The Institute provided training for the 2002–

2003 pilot of the Mid-Level Intake Program,

a leadership development program for midcareer NPS employees. The two-year program was

designed to create a highly competent, motivated,

and diverse group of people ready for the challenges of professional and management careers in

NPS. The Institute conducted a series of three

sessions—held in Rhode Island and Vermont—on

“Conservation Leadership: History and Practice.”

Guest speakers offered insights on NPS history,

the spectrum of stewardship philosophies, the

importance of connecting people to “place,”

reflective leadership styles, future scenario planning, and effective leadership in today’s NPS.

Through Northeast case studies at the MarshBillings-Rockefeller National Historical Park,

Blackstone River Valley National Heritage

Corridor, and the Green Mountain National

Forest, participants looked at current trends in

conservation, including partnerships—one of the

new directions for NPS—and the current dialogue

on wilderness. 

PARTNERS: NPS Training and Employee Development, Blackstone

River Valley National Heritage Corridor, Green Mountain National

Forest, Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park

Intake participants at Salem Maritime National

Historic Site and Essex National Heritage Area.

Growing the Next Generation of NPS Leaders 
Conservation’s 

New Century:

Thinking,Talking, and

WorkingTogether

A National Symposium Gathers Insights

By Doug Wilhelm

W hat does the future look like for

conservation? What is our legacy

from previous generations? 

Where is the field of conservation

headed? What do academics who

study the movement say? What about conservation

practitioners?

Those were the essential questions posed and

explored during “Reconstructing Conservation:

History, Values, and Practice,” an ambitious national

symposium co-sponsored by CSI in November 2001.

The program attracted 50 scholars and practitioners

for five days of presentations and dialogue—first in

an academic setting, at the University of Vermont

(UVM), then at CSI in Woodstock. The discussions

and reflections that participants shared have since

given birth to both a book and an Institute report

on the symposium. 

Several participants said that for them, the benefits

of stepping away from day-to-day challenges and

reaching for a wider, deeper, more expansive view

have had lasting benefits.

“We’re all busy with conservation work and the

forum gave us a chance to put our work down and

reflect on where we’ve been, where we are, and where

we might be going,” said J. Glenn Eugster, NPS assistant regional director, Partnerships Office, National

Capital Region. “I think it was very appropriate that

the program was held in New England, because of

the history of the conservation movement there. The

context enriched the discussions.

“It took you to a higher plane,” he added of the

symposium, which was co-sponsored by The Woodstock Foundation, UVM’s Rubenstein School of the

Environment and Natural Resources, the NPS CSI,

the Trust for Public Land, and the Marsh-BillingsRockefeller National Historical Park. “... It was an

honor to be in the company of all those scholars and

practitioners; it was an inspiration. But also, asking a

Conservation Study Institute Report for 2002 to 2004

The Institute examines new directions 

in conservation to stay informed on the

best thinking and practice. As the field

of conservation evolves, the Institute

offers opportunities for evaluation and

discussion of new strategies.

Analyzing Trends 

in Conservation

FACING PAGE: Beth Humstone and Phil Huffman 

present themes resulting from small group dialogues.
large number of people to share

their thoughts challenges you to

reflect on your own experience and

to distill what works and what

doesn’t.”

Pushing for a 

Fresh Perspective

“What we wanted to do with the

symposium was bring the leading

academic scholars together and ask

them to focus on the future—and,

perhaps more important, to translate their academic perspective into

a set of principles that would be

relevant to people and communities grappling with issues around

conservation,” said Donald

DeHayes, dean of the UVM Rubenstein School of Environment and

Natural Resources. 

The second stage of the program,

in Woodstock, he added, “was

aimed at dialogue between the

academics and community-based

professionals and organizations,

and I think it was very successful.”

“The main theme was

community-based conservation,”

said participant Susan Flader, a

professor of history at the University of Missouri–Columbia. “This is

not new; there’s been local-level

activity all along, but ... now we’re

realizing that what happens at the

local level is really the most important thing—and that it can be

assisted by other levels of organizations and government.”

Flader said she has looked into

the history of American conservation and found a legacy of vital

community-based work reaching

back to the era of the American

Revolution. In scholarly interpretation today, she added, “the whole

tendency is to look at the grass

roots, from the bottom up.

“The conference organizers

invited people to the program who

are alert to what is happening in

conservation today and at the community level,” she added. “It was a

very, very stimulating conference

for me. I was at several others, right

at about the same time; but this

was the most concentrated look at

what is happening with the conservation movement—and I got a lot

of insight from this experience.”

Commitment to Place and

Community over Time

“There’s a pretty widely held view

that the conservation movement,

and certain ways of thinking 

about conservation, need to be

rethought,” said John Elder, a

participant and author on conservation who is a professor at

Middlebury College. Along with

Flader, Eugster, and others, Elder

contributed an essay to the CSI

symposium report Speaking of the

Future: A Dialogue on Conservation.

Reflecting on the symposium,

Elder—whose next book will examine the career and influence of

George Perkins Marsh—said, “for

me, it’s trying to put conservation

of resources and places in a richer

social context. We’re moving

beyond simplistic dichotomies.

That’s finally what it’s about.

“People are talking about the

relationship between conservation

and citizenship,” he explained.

“Basically the reason we have

conservation is both to sustain the

resources that we need, and to

explore what it means to be a

citizen and to live in a society ...

‘Stewardship’ is a critical word

from the lineage of George Perkins

Marsh— and stewardship implies a

special personal commitment to a

particular place and a

particular community

over time.”

Added Eugster of

NPS, “that’s one of

the exciting things

about this change to a

more community- or

place-based philosophy: you recognize

that we’re all experts

in something. We’ve

gotten away from this

notion that government agencies or nonprofits are the sole

answer and actor for

conservation. Rather, the solutions

are in the communities. Some of

them are still to be discovered; but

the refreshing thing that came out

in Vermont was that by working

with people at the community level

in an equitable way, you create an

opportunity for people to help

solve problems and identify opportunities.”

Said Dean DeHayes of UVM, “we

had voices at the table from land

trusts, and people talking about

multiculturalism in conservation,

as well as people talking about the

history of the movement, and

about communities and parks from

a national and international perspective. That was a very moving

experience ...”

For both the National Park Service and the broader conservation

community, said John Elder, CSI

“is creating settings where people

can think about these broader

issues. This is a very important role

and it’s a good time for it."

Conservation Study Institute Report for 2002 to 2004 21
22 Conservation Study Institute Report for 2002 to 2004

Sharing National Symposium Findings

through Two Publications “This symposium and the publications emanating from it are an 

excellent example of what can be accomplished through partnerships.” 

— Dean Don DeHayes, University of Vermont’s Rubenstein 

School of Environment and Natural Resources

Fifty prominent academicians in

environmental philosophy and

history, as well as leading conservation practitioners from the public

and private sectors, participated in a

national symposium. Two publications

based on this symposium critically

examine long-held conservation tenets

and envision principles for conservation in the twenty-first century. 

In 2003, the Institute edited and

published a report, Speaking of the

Future: A Dialogue on Conservation, that

included nine papers presented at the

symposium describing lessons learned

and insights gained from conservation

practice. Also included were a summary of key themes that emerged from

the symposium dialogue and reflective

essays by four symposium participants that

create a broad vision for the future of

conservation. Professor David Lowenthal’s

epilogue provides a historical context for 

re-envisioning conservation and concludes

with a challenge: to find a future path that

intentionally embeds stewardship in the

fabric of society and in our daily lives.

Twenty-three leading scholars and practitioners contributed to Reconstructing

Conservation: Finding Common Ground, a 2003

Island Press book that explores the conceptual foundations and contemporary vitality

of the American conservation tradition. One

chapter, “Reinventing Conservation: A

Practitioner’s View,” was co-authored by

Rolf Diamant (superintendent, MarshBillings-Rockefeller National Historical

Park), Glenn Eugster (assistant regional

director, Partnership Office, National

Capital Region), and CSI director Nora

Mitchell. The book was edited by Ben A.

Minteer (Arizona State University) and

Robert E. Manning (University of Vermont).

PARTNERS: The Woodstock Foundation, University of Vermont

Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, the

Trust for Public Land, Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National

Historical Park

Analyzing Trends 

in Conservation

Twelve Principles for 

Reconstructing Conservation 

from Reconstructing Conservation: Finding Common Ground,

edited by Ben A. Minteer and Robert E. Manning

A “reconstructed conservation” will:

1. adopt an integrative understanding of nature and culture;

2. be concerned with working and cultural landscapes as

well as more “pristine” environments;

3. rely on a wider and more contextual reading of the

conservation tradition;

4. require long-range landscape stewardship and restoration

efforts;

5. have “land health” as one of its primary socio-ecological

goals;

6. be adaptive and open to multiple practices and objectives;

7. embrace value pluralism;

8. promote community-based conservation strategies;

9. rely on an engaged citizenry;

10. engage questions of social justice;

11. be politically inclusive and partnership driven; and

12. embrace its democratic traditions.
Conservation Study Institute Report for 2002 to 2004 23

CONSERVATION AT THE LANDSCAPE SCALE:

Lecture Series Explores Emerging Models and Strategies

To protect remaining wild

lands and sustain working landscapes, many

conservation efforts today operate at the landscape scale. To be

successful at this large scale,

these efforts must integrate

ecological, cultural, and recreational values with economic

and community development.

As a result, the practice of

landscape–scale conservation is

complex and challenging: it

requires working across political

and ecosystem boundaries,

adopts an interdisciplinary perspective, and involves the collaboration of many organizations. 

In spring 2003, the Institute

initiated an annual lecture

series co-sponsored with the

Rubenstein School of

Environment and Natural

Resources at the University of

Vermont. The series, titled

“Conservation at the Landscape

Scale: Emerging Models and

Strategies,” invites leading

experts to share their experiences in working on large-scale

landscape conservation initiatives. 

Selected lectures and panel

discussions are broadcast

nationally through the NPS distance learning network and

videos are also available on our

website http://www.nps.gov/

csi/trends/uvm_lecture_series.

htm. In spring 2005, a thematic

issue of the George Wright Forum

will be dedicated to landscape–

scale conservation based on this

lecture series. 

PARTNERS: University of Vermont

Rubenstein School of Environment and

Natural Resources, Snelling Center for

Government, Shelburne Farms,

QLF/Atlantic Center for the Environment

F A LL 2004

Kathleen Fitzgerald, executive

director and co-founder,

Northeast Wilderness Trust.

Don Murphy, deputy director,

National Park Service.

Gustavo Fonseco, executive vice

president, Conservation International. Dr. Fonseco also participated in a panel discussion

moderated by CSI director Nora

Mitchell, which was broadcast to

sites across the U.S. as a distance

learning event. Luis Vivanco,

assistant professor of anthropology, University of Vermont

and Jessica Brown, vice president

for international programs at

QLF/Atlantic Center for the

Environment, served as panelists.

F ALL 2003 

Brenda Barrett, national coordinator for heritage areas, National

Park Service.

Jeffrey McNeely, chief scientist,

IUCN–The World Conservation

Union. Dr. McNeely also participated in a panel discussion moderated by CSI director Nora

Mitchell, which was broadcast to

sites across the U.S. as a distance

learning event. Mike Soukup,

NPS associate director for natural resources stewardship and

science, and Jessica Brown, vice

president for international

programs at QLF/Atlantic Center

for the Environment, served as

panelists.

Liz Thompson, consulting conservation biologist, University of

Vermont.

SPRING 2003

Dr. Reed Noss, Davis-Shine professor of Conservation Biology at

the University of Central Florida

and chief scientist for the

Wildlands Project. 

Adrian Phillips, senior advisor to

IUCN’s World Heritage

Programme. Mr. Phillips also participated in a panel discussion

moderated by CSI director Nora

Mitchell, which was broadcast to

sites across the U.S. as the

Institute’s first distance learning

event with a viewer call-in component. Mike Soukup, NPS

associate director for natural

resources stewardship and

science, and Jessica Brown, vice

president for international

programs at QLF/Atlantic

Center for the Environment,

were on the panel.

Nancy Bell, Vermont director for

The Conservation Fund.

Panelists prepare for the distance education broadcast at the UVM TV studio.
24 Conservation Study Institute Report for 2002 to 2004

The Institute uses a variety of formats, designed for

professionals and the public, to share information on

conservation history, current practices, and perspectives on the future. The Institute continues the

Conservation and Stewardship Publication Series,

edited by CSI director Nora Mitchell.

To obtain a copy of any Conservation Study Institute publication, visit our website: www.nps.gov/csi 

or contact us by e-mail: stewardship@nps.gov or by

mail: Conservation Study Institute, 54 Elm Street,

Woodstock, VT 05091.

CSI Publications

Tuxill, Jacquelyn L., Nora J. Mitchell,

and Jessica Brown. Conservation and

Collaboration: Lessons Learned from

National Park Service Partnerships in the

Western U.S., Conservation and

Stewardship Publication No. 6,

Woodstock, VT: Conservation Study

Institute, 2004. This book presents

deliberations and recommendations

from a workshop held in Santa Fe,

New Mexico, in March 2003. The

workshop brought together 27 experienced partnership practitioners from

the NPS and partner organizations to

share what they have learned about

building effective conservation partnerships and to discuss how to create a

sustainable approach to partnerships

within the NPS, other federal agencies,

and a wide range of partner organizations. This workshop was designed to

build on a similar workshop held in

Woodstock in 2000, which convened

practitioners primarily from the eastern United States.

Slaiby, Barbara, Nora Mitchell, Brent

Mitchell and Susan Buggey. Handbook

for Managers of Cultural Landscapes with

Natural Resource Values. Conservation

and Stewardship Publication No. 5,

Woodstock, VT: Conservation Study

Institute, 2003. http://www.nps.gov/

csi/csihandbook/hame.htm (web-based

only). The Institute developed this

web-based handbook for managers of

cultural landscapes as part of its work

to bridge the traditional gap between

natural resource and cultural heritage

conservation. It is meant to be a living

document that will continue to evolve

and expand as readers contribute additional case studies and advice gleaned

from their professional experience. 

Mitchell, Nora J., Leslie J. Hudson, and

Deb Jones, eds. Speaking of the Future: A

Dialogue on Conservation. Conservation

and Stewardship Publication No. 4,

Woodstock, VT: Conservation Study

Institute, 2003. 

National Park Service. Stewardship

Begins with People: An Atlas of Places,

People, and Handmade Products, Project

Update. Woodstock, VT: Conservation

Study Institute, July 2004. 

Articles

Barrett, Brenda, and Nora J. Mitchell,

eds. “Stewardship of Heritage Areas.”

The George Wright Forum 20, no. 2

(2003).

Brown, Jessica, Nora Mitchell, and

Jacquelyn Tuxill. “An Evolving U.S.

System of Parks and Protected Areas.”

Parks 13, no. 2 (2003): 31–41.

Buggey, Susan, and Nora Mitchell.

“Cultural Landscapes Venues for

Community-based Conservation." 

In press (2004). 

Diamant, Rolf, J. Glenn Eugster, and

Nora J. Mitchell. “Reinventing

Conservation: A Practitioner’s View.”

Chapter 19 in Reconstructing Conservation: Finding Common Ground. Ben A.

Minteer and Robert E. Manning, eds.

Washington, DC: Island Press, 2003.

Mitchell, Nora, Barbara Slaiby, and

Mark Benedict, “Local Community

Leadership: Building Partnerships for

Conservation in North America.” 

Parks 12, no. 2 (2002): 55–66.

Web Resources

Expanded CSI website,

www.nps.gov/csi, including:

Handbook for Managers of Cultural

Landscapes with Natural Resource Values

www.nps.gov/csi/csihandbook/home.htm

A Forest for Every Classroom

Place-Based Education Curricula

www.nps.gov/csi/trends/forest.htm

Video archive of the lecture series,

“Conservation at the Landscape Scale” 

www.uvm.edu/conservationlectures

Videos

Rattigan, Charles F. “A Forest for Every

Classroom: Learning to Make Choices

for the Future.” Woodstock, VT,

Company for Home Entertainment,

Inc., 2003. A 15-minute documentary

featuring interviews with participating

teachers and program partners.

Available in DVD and VHS format.

Other Publications

Minteer, Ben A., and Robert Manning,

eds. Reconstructing Conservation: Finding

Common Ground. Washington, DC:

Island Press, 2003. This book resulted

from the 2001 symposium,

“Reconstructing Conservation:

History, Values, and Practice.”

National Park Service. Branching Out:

Approaches in National Park Stewardship.

Fort Washington, PA: Eastern

National, 2003. This booklet features a

sampling of U.S. national park areas

that represent the tradition and growing trend of shared stewardship. 

Reaching Out
Conservation Study Institute Report for 2002 to 2004 25

Partnerships are the cornerstone of the

Institute’s vision and success. We are committed to collaborating with others to capitalize on

various perspectives on conservation from

academic, government, and private interests,

and to shape relevant programs. Through

collaboration, the Institute ensures that its

programs examine the most challenging current

issues and draw on contemporary experience

and state-of-the-art thinking within the NPS

and the broader conservation community.

Working with a 

Network of Partners

Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National

Historical Park is the only national

park to tell the story of conservation

history and the evolving nature of land

stewardship in America. Home to pioneer conservationist George Perkins

Marsh, the park includes a model farm

and forest developed by Frederick

Billings and continued by granddaughter Mary French Rockefeller and her

husband, Laurance S. Rockefeller. The

park, working in partnership with the

Billings Farm & Museum, chronicles

three generations of stewardship and

the emergence of a national conservation ethic. The Conservation Study

Institute’s home office is located here.

www.nps.gov/mabi

Rolf Diamant, Superintendent 

NPS National Heritage Areas

Program manages heritage areas

around the country to conserve and

celebrate heritage and special landscapes.

http://www.cr.nps.gov/heritageareas/

Brenda Barrett, Program Director

Suzanne Copping, Program Assistant

NPS Northeast Region

Marie Rust, Regional Director

Chrysandra Walter, Deputy Regional Director

John Maounis, Chief of Staff

Robert McIntosh, Associate Regional Director

NPS Park Planning and Special

Studies Program establishes policies

and coordinates activities related to

general management planning for all

units of the national park system.

http://inside.nps.gov/waso/

waso.cfm?lv=2&prg=50

Warren Brown, Program Manager

NPS Partnerships Office offers

nationwide partnership programs for

interpretation, education, volunteers,

and outdoor recreation to further

support and foster stewardship for the

388 national parks and a multitude of

programs.

Chris Jarvi, Associate Director for Partnerships,

Interpretation and Education, Volunteers and

Education

John Piltzecker, Partnership Program Manager

NPS Policy Office develops and communicates policy and regulations (and

helps others do so), administers the

committee management program, and

plans and coordinates conferences.

Loran Fraser, Chief, Office of Policy

NPS Training Community provides

resources, context, and stimulus for

personal and professional growth in

support of the NPS mission and strategic goals and trains and develops NPS

employees from sites throughout the

United States.

www.nps.gov/training

Chris Perry, (former) Training Manager, 

Entry–level Intake Program 

Mary Bonacorda, Employee Development

Specialist

Peggy Sandretzky, NPS Liaison to the National

Conservation Training Center

Sandy Taylor, Training Manager, Supervision,

Management, and Leadership

Michael Watson, Superintendent, Mather

Training Center

Constantine Dillon, Superintendent, Albright

Training Center

Clarenda Drake, Superintendent, National

Capital Training Center

Harvard University/Program on

Conservation Innovation at the

Harvard Forest advances the practice

of land and biodiversity conservation

in the twenty-first century.

http://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu/research/

pci/Welcome.htm

Jim Levitt, Director

Land Trust Alliance works to accelerate the pace of land protection and to

safeguard the long-term future of land

trusts and the lands they conserve.

http://www.lta.org/aboutlta/index.html

John Bernstein, Director of Conservation

Ezra Milchman, Northeast Director

Lincoln Institute of Land Policy is a

nonprofit educational institution

established in 1974. Its mission is to

study and teach land policy, including

land economics and land taxation. 

http://www.lincolninst.edu/aboutlincoln/

index.asp

Armando Carbonell, Senior Fellow 

and Co-chair

Jean Hocker, Board Member

Murie Center “inspires people to act

mindfully on behalf of wild nature.”

http://www.muriecenter.org/

Nancy Shea, Executive Director

National Park Foundation strengthens the enduring connection between

the American people and their national

parks by raising private funds, making

strategic grants, creating innovative

partnerships and increasing public

awareness.

http://www.nationalparks.org/Home.asp

Julia Washburn, Vice President,

Grants and Programs

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS
26 Conservation Study Institute Report for 2002 to 2004

QLF/Atlantic Center for the

Environment (QLF) is a private, nonprofit organization whose mission is

to support the rural communities and

environment of New England and eastern Canada and to create models for

stewardship of natural resources and

cultural heritage that can be applied

worldwide. Incorporated in the United

States and Canada, QLF has over 35

years of experience working in rural

communities of the Atlantic region. 

www.qlf.org

Lawrence B. Morris, President

Jessica Brown, Vice President, International

Programs

Brent Mitchell, Vice President, Stewardship

Tom Horn, Vice President, Programs

Stephanie Tuxill, Coordinator, International

Programs

Shelburne Farms is a national historic landmark and a nonprofit, placebased educational organization whose

mission is to cultivate a conservation

ethic in Vermont and around the

world by teaching and demonstrating

the stewardship of natural and agricultural resources. Its educational

programs reach students and teachers,

conservation professionals, and the

public. 

www.shelburnefarms.org

Alec Webb, President

Megan Camp, Vice President, Programs

Pat Straughan, Family Program Coordinator

Sonoran Institute is a nonprofit

organization that works collaboratively

with local people and interests to conserve and restore important natural

landscapes in western North America,

engaging partners such as landowners,

public land managers, local leaders,

community residents, and nongovernmental organizations. “Community

Stewardship” is the Institute’s innovative approach to conservation. 

http://www.sonoran.org/

Luther Propst, Executive Director

John Shepard, Associate Director of Programs 

and Administration

The Conservation Fund forges partnerships to preserve our nation’s

outdoor heritage: America’s legacy of

wildlife habitat, working landscapes,

and community open space.

http://www.conservationfund.org/

Larry Selzer, President and CEO

Ed McMahon, former Vice-President

Mark Benedict, Senior Associate for Strategic

Conservation

Kristin Peppel, Training Program Manager

Nancy Bell, Vermont Director

The Woodstock Foundation, Inc.

promotes conservation, sustainable

land use, and heritage as values that

are essential to culture, community,

and the human spirit. The foundation’s centerpiece is the Billings Farm

& Museum, an operating dairy farm

and museum dedicated to telling the

story of Vermont’s rural heritage.

David Donath, President

University of Vermont (UVM) provides both scholarship on conservation

history and educational programs

through the Rubenstein School of

Environment and Natural Resources

and allied programs on campus.

Faculty in the Rubenstein School have

extensive expertise in recreation

management research in national

parks and national forests across the

country. The Conservation Study

Institute has an office at the university.

www.uvm.edu

Rubenstein School of Environment 

and Natural Resources

Don DeHayes, Dean

Deane Wang, Associate Dean

Steve Libby, Lecturer 

Robert Long, Doctoral Student

Robert E. Manning, Professor

Leslie Morrissey, Associate Professor

Pat Stokowski, Associate Professor

Wes Graff, Manager, Instructional Television

Robert McCullough, Lecturer, Historic

Preservation Program 

Rick Paradis, Director, Natural Areas Center

Walter Poleman, Lecturer, Botany

Tom Vissar, Director and Associate Professor,

Historic Preservation Program

Vermont Law School provides legal

education rooted in a commitment to

civic values.

http://www.vermontlaw.edu

Geoffrey Shields, President and Dean

Karin Sheldon, Assistant Dean, Environment

Program; Director of the Environment 

Law Center

Belinda Sifford, Assistant Professor

US Fish and Wildlife Service/

National Conservation Training

Center is a gathering place where

conservation professionals from all

sectors can learn together in an

environment especially designed for

them. Individuals from governments,

nonprofit organizations, and corporations can come together in a nonthreatening, collaborative setting to

learn new skills, share perspectives,

break down barriers, establish networks, find common ground, and

move toward field-based solutions

built on consensus and mutual

interest.

http://training.fws.gov/

Steve Chase, Special Assistant to the Director,

NCTC

Dawn Lagrotteria

Laura Jones

Conservation Study Institute

Nora Mitchell, Director

Mea Arego, Administrative Officer

Delia Clark, Community Engagement 

Program Director

Virginia Farley, Leadership Program Director

Leslie Hudson, Editor

Deb Jones, former Program Associate 

Daniel Laven, CSI Fellow at University of

Vermont

Susanne McDonald, Management Assistant

Leslie Shahi, Program Management Specialist

Barbara Slaiby, Education Program Coordinator

Jackie Tuxill, Partnership Program Director

STAFF AND PROJECT PARTNERS
The Conservation Study Institute thanks the following

for the photographic contributions to this report:

Jonathan Blake: inside back cover

Suzanne Copping: 2 top

Delia Clark: 6

BJ Dunn: 14 inset

Bo Hoppin: 2 bottom right, 12

Bill Laitner: 14

National Park Service: 2 middle right, 7, 8

Nora Mitchell: front cover, 2 bottom left, 4, 5

Ernest Ortega: 23

Jeff Roberts: 9

Barb Slaiby: 2 middle left, 10, 12, 15, 17, 18, 19, 21 

Special thanks to Deb Jones.

Design: Brian P. Graphics Arts, brianpgraphics@adelphia.net

Printed on recycled paper.
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

Conservation Study Institute

54 Elm Street / Woodstock, Vermont 05091

Tel: (802) 457-3368 / Fax: (802) 457-3405

Web: www.nps.gov/csi