Such a vision is the necessary culmination of every facilitation process dealing with resolving destructive environmental conflict if society, as we know it, is to survive the 21st century. Toward Sustainable Community Development. He spent over 25 years as a research scientist in natural history and ecology in forest, shrub steppe, sub-arctic, desert, and coastal settings. In addition to his work as a facilitator in resolving environmental conflicts, Maser is an international consultant on forest ecology and sustainable forestry and said he has authored more than 260 publications. Environmental conflicts, Maser said, are among the most passionately debated and potentially destructive conflicts.
Sentiments run deep, and neighbor is often pitted against neighbor.
The conflict over the disposition of the Waterman Gap forest in the mountain community of Boulder Creek, California is a prime example. The local water board had originally purchased the 3,000-acre Waterman Gap redwood forest as a potential dam site, but the dam was never needed, so the cost of holding the property and paying property taxes became an issue. Some maintained that the forest should be sold or the trees on it should be cut to recoup expenses and pay for needed equipment for the existing water system. Others argued that because the forest sits at the headwaters of the San Lorenzo River watershed, the water board should keep the property and protect it from the development or other exploitation. The controversy grew and raged for years, polarizing the tiny town.