Willingness to pay for reintroducing wolves in a divided voting base

Wolves will soon be reintroduced in Colorado based on a statewide ballot initiative that narrowly passed in November 2020. Using an economic choice experiment, we estimate the benefits that wolf introduction might bring to Colorado. We calculated willingness to pay (WTP) for a sustainable wolf population by considering six program attributes: 1) state wolf population, 2) compensation for livestock-related losses, 3) cost-sharing for conflict reduction, 4) number of livestock killed statewide, 5) lethal government control of wolves, and 6) wolf hunting. Respondents who reported they voted yes on the ballot initiative had a positive WTP for a population of 200 wolves, referred to as the minimum sustainable population in the survey, but WTP diminished for larger populations. Preferences for a population of 200 wolves amounts to an annual WTP of approximately $31.1 million when extrapolating to all yes-voting households statewide. In contrast, respondents who reported they voted no would have to be paid to accept wolf populations. We also found statistically significant preferences for other attributes of the management program, such as cost sharing for conflict reduction measures to livestock producers or compensating livestock losses. When these attributes were included, the willingness to pay increased to$115 million statewide among yes-voting households. We estimated a $57.5 to$1 benefit-cost ratio for a sustainable wolf population. However, benefits and costs are not evenly distributed across urban and rural residents, which suggests that mechanisms to transfer resources from those willing to pay to those that incur costs would be needed to balance that distribution

Rapid changes in public perception toward a conservation initiative

Rapid, widespread changes in public perceptions and behaviors have the potential to influence conservation outcomes. However, few studies have documented whether and how such shifts occur throughout the span of a conservation initiative. We examined the 2020 ballot initiative to reintroduce wolves into Colorado, which passed with less support than prior surveys had estimated. We conducted a postelection survey of Colorado residents using the same methods as our preelection survey to compare responses between surveys and to official election results. Reported voting in favor of wolf reintroduction in the postelection survey decreased in comparison to voting intentions shared in the preelection survey, but not enough to reflect the actual vote. While bias from survey methods and/or sampling contributed to differences, we also found evidence that public perception changed. Specifically, beliefs about the potential for negative impacts of wolves increased, while beliefs about the potential for positive impacts of wolves decreased. Our findings highlight the need to conduct longitudinal monitoring of public perception given perceptions may be highly fluid as different entities attempt to sway voters. In addition, to better understand evolving perceptions, survey methods and sampling need to be improved

Integrating social science into conservation planning

A growing body of literature has highlighted the value of social science for conservation, yet the diverse approaches of the social sciences are still inconsistently incorporated in conservation initiatives. Building greater capacity for social science integration in conservation requires frameworks and case studies that provide concrete guidance and specific examples. To address this need, we have developed a framework aimed at expanding the role for social science in formal conservation planning processes. Our framework illustrates multiple ways in which social science research can contribute to four stages of such processes: 1) defining the problem and project team; 2) defining goals; 3) identifying impact pathways and designing interventions; and 4) developing and evaluating indicators of success (or failure). We then present a timely case study of wolf reintroduction in Colorado, U.S.A., to demonstrate the opportunities, challenges, and complexities of applying our framework in practice

Opportunities for better use of collective action theory in research and governance for invasive species management

Sònia Graham va finalitzar el seu treball quan treballava a l'ICTA, que ha col·laborat al seu finançament amb fons Maria de Maeztu.Unidad de excelencia María de Maeztu MdM-2015-0552Controlling invasive species presents a public-good dilemma. Although environmental, social, and economic benefits of control accrue to society, costs are borne by only a few individuals and organizations. For decades, policy makers have used incentives and sanctions to encourage or coerce individual actors to contribute to the public good, with limited success. Diverse, subnational efforts to collectively manage invasive plants, insects, and animals provide effective alternatives to traditional command-and-control approaches. Despite this work, there has been little systematic evaluation of collective efforts to determine whether there are consistent principles underpinning success. We reviewed 32 studies to identify the extent to which collectiveaction theories from related agricultural and environmental fields explain collaborative invasive species management approaches; describe and differentiate emergent invasive species collective-action efforts; and provide guidance on how to enable more collaborative approaches to invasive species management. We identified 4 types of collective action aimed at invasive species-externally led, community led, comanaged, and organizational coalitions-that provide blueprints for future invasive species management. Existing collective-action theories could explain the importance attributed to developing shared knowledge of the socialecological system and the need for social capital. Yet, collection action on invasive species requires different types of monitoring, sanctions, and boundary definitions. We argue that future government policies can benefit from establishing flexible boundaries that encourage social learning and enable colocated individuals and organizations to identify common goals, pool resources, and coordinate efforts

Broadband Multi-wavelength Properties of M87 during the 2017 Event Horizon Telescope Campaign

Abstract: In 2017, the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) Collaboration succeeded in capturing the first direct image of the center of the M87 galaxy. The asymmetric ring morphology and size are consistent with theoretical expectations for a weakly accreting supermassive black hole of mass ∼6.5 × 109 M ⊙. The EHTC also partnered with several international facilities in space and on the ground, to arrange an extensive, quasi-simultaneous multi-wavelength campaign. This Letter presents the results and analysis of this campaign, as well as the multi-wavelength data as a legacy data repository. We captured M87 in a historically low state, and the core flux dominates over HST-1 at high energies, making it possible to combine core flux constraints with the more spatially precise very long baseline interferometry data. We present the most complete simultaneous multi-wavelength spectrum of the active nucleus to date, and discuss the complexity and caveats of combining data from different spatial scales into one broadband spectrum. We apply two heuristic, isotropic leptonic single-zone models to provide insight into the basic source properties, but conclude that a structured jet is necessary to explain M87’s spectrum. We can exclude that the simultaneous γ-ray emission is produced via inverse Compton emission in the same region producing the EHT mm-band emission, and further conclude that the γ-rays can only be produced in the inner jets (inward of HST-1) if there are strongly particle-dominated regions. Direct synchrotron emission from accelerated protons and secondaries cannot yet be excluded

Efficacy-Based and Normative Interventions for Facilitating the Diffusion of Conservation Behavior through Social Networks

Field experiment on promoting diffusion of native plant gardening throughout neighborhoods in Fort Collins; registered report attached accepted for publication at the journal Conservation Biolog

Wolf Survey Followup

Repository for Niemiec et al. 2022 (in press). This archive contains the following: Pre-Election Survey Data. Data set from pre-election survey described in “Public perspectives and media reporting of wolf reintroduction in Colorado” by Niemiec et al. (2020) in PeerJ, with added columns for reintroduction outcome belief items. [swp_supp.csv] Post-Election Survey Data. Data set from post-election survey described in the present study. [pefu_data.csv] Data Codebook. Codebook for data sets from pre-election survey described in “Public perspectives and media reporting of wolf reintroduction in Colorado” by Niemiec et al. (2020) in PeerJ and post-election survey described in the present study. [pefu_codebook.docx] R Code. R script used for all analyses and the generation of figures. [pefu_analyses.R