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Abstract

Scientists, policymakers, and citizens around the world are seeking proactive solutions to the ongoing biodiversity crisis. However, designing effective and equitable conservation interventions requires grappling with both ecological and socio-cultural complexity simultaneously. In this dissertation, I explore perspectives about and potential pathways to work toward implementation of one proposed ‘conservation intervention’ – reintroducing grizzly bears in the North Cascades Ecosystem of Washington State and British Columbia. I suggest that understanding the diverse frames and habits of thinking that underpin perspectives about conservation dilemmas and proposed solutions is one pathway toward discovering tenable solutions. In Chapter 2 I argue for attending to shared meanings and memories, personal experience, power, and trust in carnivore recoveries. I draw from semi-structured interviews with 20 practitioners who are leading outreach and engagement efforts for large carnivore recovery efforts around the world, with a special focus on bears. Chapter 3 highlights three distinct viewpoints about grizzly bear reintroduction in the North Cascades based on findings of a Q-methodology study. The analysis underscores the need to identify and attend to latent viewpoints that may be overlooked in polarized public discourse about conservation interventions. In Chapter 4 I analyze the complexity of emotional and analytical thinking about grizzly bear reintroduction among visitors to E.C. Manning Provincial Park through a mixed-data questionnaire. Emotions and thoughts about coexisting with reintroduced grizzly bears sometimes did not correlate with stated in-principle levels of support for reintroduction. The analysis suggests a need to understand a broader range of salient emotional experiences in carnivore reintroductions. Chapters 5 and 6 reflect in novel ways – through a short film and reflection piece – on lessons learned during a three-day Knowledge Exchange Summit that facilitated dialogue across knowledge systems about grizzly bear recovery in the North Cascades. Chapter 7 concludes the dissertation and offers reflections. Collectively, the chapters underscore the importance of moving toward a deeper consideration of the social, cultural, and historical contexts that shape perceptions and preferences about conservation interventions. I highlight the need to engage with complexity and plurality in perspectives.