Cultivating a Culture of Environmental and Natural Resources Collaboration in Utah

Unhealthy air quality. Growing demands for water in an arid state. Conflicts over public lands and how those lands should be managed. These are just a few environmental and natural resources challenges here in Utah that we hear “keep people up at night.” Such challenges are indeed daunting, and they will not be easily solved. However, in every challenge there is an opportunity. And when it comes to environmental and natural resources challenges, there is a powerful opportunity for people to work together to find mutually beneficial solutions that are, as consensus building guru Larry Susskind puts it, “fair, efficient, stable, and wise.

Growth, Land Use, and Planning in Bonner County, Idaho

During the summer and fall of 2016, Environmental Dispute Resolution Program staff conducted in-­‐depth confidential interviews with 30 individuals representing a diverse range of stakeholder groups in Bonner County, Idaho. The intent of these interviews was to illuminate the diversity of perspectives, areas of agreement and disagreement, and opportunities and challenges related to growth, land use, and planning in the county. A list of stakeholder groups and jurisdictions represented by interviewees is provided in Appendix A. This report shares the findings from this assessment, which are organized according to: summary of findings; vision and priorities for Bonner County; sources of tension and disagreement; specific concerns; perspectives on engaging key stakeholders and the public; and perspectives on countywide coordination and collaboration

Rural Gentrification and the Spillover Effect: Integrated Transportation, Housing, and Land Use Challenges and Strategies in Gateway Communities

Small towns and cities near national parks, public lands, and other natural amenities throughout the West are experiencing rapid growth and increased visitation. These “gateway communities” comprise a significant portion of the rural West, constituting about 31% of all communities and more than 60% of those under 25,000 people. Our prior NITC-funded research shows that growth and increased tourism create a range of “big city challenges” for gateway communities, particularly a significant increase in housing prices, which pushes the local workforce to outlying areas and other rural communities. As a result, despite being small towns, many developed gateway communities have large commuter sheds and more employees who commute into the community than employees who live and work in the community. Our observations suggest this rural gentrification and its related spillover effect results in longer worker commutes, higher transportation costs, and impacts on transportation infrastructure, land use, access to opportunity, mobility, equity, and quality of life in these rural towns and cities and the regions around them. Our observations also suggest this trend has intensified in the last year and is now rapidly playing out across the rural West due to COVID-19, which has expedited amenity migration and resulted in the “Zoom Town” phenomenon of remote workers relocating from high-income urban areas to rural towns and cities. While we have plenty of anecdotal evidence that this is happening and creating profound impacts throughout the rural West, our understanding of these dynamics in gateway communities and appropriate solutions for addressing them was limited prior to this study. To address this gap, we examined the extent to which gateway communities throughout the West are experiencing interconnected housing, transportation and land use challenges, and how increased visitation and growth affect these issues. We also explored the innovative things these communities are doing to respond and what can be learned from their experiences for small and large communities throughout the country. We did so by conducting a regional survey of western gateway communities; in-depth case studies of four gateway communities that are “out front” in experiencing and/or responding to these issues; and a series of workshops and informal interviews with gateway community representatives from across the West. We also used Census data to map commuter sheds and explore growth and development trends in these places. This report shares the key descriptive findings from our study

Building the Capacity of Coastal Communities to Adapt to Climate Change through Participatory Action Research: Lessons Learned from the New England Climate Adaption Project

Climate change adaptation presents a complex and increasingly urgent planning challenge for coastal communities. To prepare for and manage climate change risks, coastal cities and towns will need increased capacity and resources. This article argues that participatory action research (PAR) offers academics a way to help build the capacity of at-risk communities to respond to climate change. I use the experience of the New England Climate Adaptation Project to illustrate, exploring the advantages and challenges of “research as capacity building” and providing guidance for those wishing to do this kind of work. The intent of this article is to encourage a conversation between communities and scholars about how to use research to support local adaptation planning

Planning in Gateway and Natural Amenity Region Communities: Understanding the Unique Challenges Associated with Transportation, Mobility, and Livability

Communities outside of major public lands and other natural amenities throughout the western United States face a variety of transportation and planning-related concerns associated with rapid growth and increases in tourism. Surprisingly, while the unique transportation and planning-related challenges of these western gateway and amenity region (GNAR) communities have, to some extent, been documented in recreation and tourism research, these concerns have largely been overlooked in planning scholarship. To begin to address this gap, this report presents key descriptive findings from a study aimed at examining the unique transportation, mobility, and access to opportunity-related challenges being experienced by GNAR communities throughout the western U.S. It draws on findings from in depth interviews with 31 planners and other key public officials from 25 western GNAR communities, an online survey of planners and other key public officials in GNAR communities throughout the west, and observation of planning efforts in the regions around Zion National Park and Moab, UT, and Sandpoint, ID. Our results provide empirical evidence that many western GNAR communities are experiencing significant increases in growth and visitation pressures along with a number of related “big-city” problems, such as lack of affordable housing, income inequality, and transportation issues. These changes contrast against the fact that these communities value their small town character and related community characteristics. Our data suggest that despite these pressures, most GNAR communities are experiencing improved quality of life and visitor experience. However, some communities report declining quality of life and visitor experience, as well as extreme challenges associated with housing, transportation, and other planning concerns, raising the question of whether GNAR communities reach a tipping point at which visitation and development pressures result in overall impacts on community wellbeing. Our results also show that GNAR communities throughout the west are experimenting with innovative and promising approaches for tackling their housing and transportation issues. Further analysis is needed to better understand what kinds of GNAR communities are experiencing what kinds of challenges, as well as to assess the effectiveness of different kinds of strategies for addressing these challenges; we will explore those topics in future publications. One key takeaway from this study is that housing, transportation, and land use decisions are highly interwoven in GNAR communities throughout the west; further research is needed to better understand this connectivity and what it means for appropriate housing and access solutions

Outdoor Recreation Use and Indicators of the Ecological, Physical, and Social Characteristics of Recreation Settings in the Central Wasatch: Phase 1 Interim Report

The purpose of this study is to explore how outdoor recreation use and its associated impacts can be quantified and monitored over time within the canyons. Establishing indicators of the ecological, physical, and social characteristics of recreation settings throughout the canyons is an essential first step to quantifying and monitoring change. Our goal is to establish a set of indicators that are collaboratively generated and grounded in the best-available science and reflect the unique needs and concerns of the diverse stakeholders and interest groups who use, manage, and depend on the canyons. Through the work detailed below, the Central Wasatch Commission, the State of Utah, and the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest will gain a clear understanding of what data on outdoor recreation use currently exist and what data are essential to understand the ecological, physical, and social characteristics of recreation settings

Rural Gentrification and the Spillover Effect: Integrated Transportation, Housing, and Land Use Challenges and Strategies in Gateway Communities

NITC-1475, 69A3551747112Small towns and cities near national parks, public lands, and other natural amenities throughout the West are experiencing rapid growth and increased visitation. These \u201cgateway communities\u201d comprise a significant portion of the rural West, constituting about 31% of all communities and more than 60% of those under 25,000 people. Our prior NITC-funded research shows that growth and increased tourism create a range of \u201cbig city challenges\u201d for gateway communities, particularly a significant increase in housing prices, which pushes the local workforce to outlying areas and other rural communities. As a result, despite being small towns, many developed gateway communities have large commuter sheds and more employees who commute into the community than employees who live and work in the community. Our observations suggest this rural gentrification and its related spillover effect results in longer worker commutes, higher transportation costs, and impacts on transportation infrastructure, land use, access to opportunity, mobility, equity, and quality of life in these rural towns and cities and the regions around them. Our observations also suggest this trend has intensified in the last year and is now rapidly playing out across the rural West due to COVID-19, which has expedited amenity migration and resulted in the \u201cZoom Town\u201d phenomenon of remote workers relocating from high-income urban areas to rural towns and cities. While we have plenty of anecdotal evidence that this is happening and creating profound impacts throughout the rural West, our understanding of these dynamics in gateway communities and appropriate solutions for addressing them was limited prior to this study. To address this gap, we examined the extent to which gateway communities throughout the West are experiencing interconnected housing, transportation and land use challenges, and how increased visitation and growth affect these issues. We also explored the innovative things these communities are doing to respond and what can be learned from their experiences for small and large communities throughout the country. We did so by conducting a regional survey of western gateway communities; in-depth case studies of four gateway communities that are \u201cout front\u201d in experiencing and/or responding to these issues; and a series of workshops and informal interviews with gateway community representatives from across the West. We also used Census data to map commuter sheds and explore growth and development trends in these places. This report shares the key descriptive findings from our study

Webinar: Tools and Techniques for Teaching Collaborative Regional Planning and Enhancing Livability and Sustainable Transportation in Gateway & Natural Amenity Regions

Small towns and cities outside of national parks and other major natural amenities throughout the western United States are becoming increasingly popular places to visit and live. As a result, many of these gateway and natural amenity region (GNAR) communities—including places such as Jackson, Wyoming, and Moab, Utah—are facing a variety of “big city” issues, such as severe congestion, lack of affordable workforce housing, and concerns about sprawl and density. This webinar will introduce the planning and transportation concerns being experienced by GNAR communities throughout the west. It will then share the tools and resources developed by the University of Utah to train planners to work in these unique communities and to help these communities enhance livability and sustainable transportation options. The webinar will also introduce the University of Utah’s new Gateway and Natural Amenity Region Initiative and ongoing research aimed at better understanding and addressing the planning and transportation issues in GNAR communities. Key Takeaways Many small western communities near major natural amenities, such as national parks, are experiencing “big city” planning and transportation challenges. Professional and academic planners need to pay far greater attention to these GNAR communities and to helping them effectively plan for and respond to the planning and transportation challenges they face. The University of Utah has developed a range of tools and resources aimed at training planners to work in these communities and assisting these communities in tackling the challenges and opportunities they face. We hope other will use and build on these tools and resources. There are considerable opportunities for further research, education, and capacity building efforts aimed at understanding and addressing the transportation and planning needs of GNAR communities.https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/trec_webinar/1030/thumbnail.jp

Tools and Techniques for Teaching Collaborative Regional Planning and Enhancing Livability and Sustainable Transportation in Gateway and Natural Amenity Regions

Communities throughout the nation face a variety of interconnected transportation, livability and sustainability challenges that can only be effectively addressed through regional planning collaboration. These challenges are particularly pressing in gateway and natural amenity region (GNAR) communities throughout the western United States. This project engaged graduate students in developing curricular materials to teach planning students, professional planners and community members (1) the core concepts and skills of regional collaborative transportation and land use planning and (2) about the unique transportation and planning-related challenges and opportunities in GNAR communities. It did so through an applied graduate-level studio course taught in fall 2016 and fall 2017, as well as through leveraging the ongoing Zion Regional Collaborative (ZRC). The ZRC is a regional planning effort aimed at enhancing livability and promoting more sustainable transportation and land use decision making along Utah State Route 9, the main transportation corridor leading to Zion National Park in southern Utah. Through using this effort as a laboratory, faculty and graduate students learned about and studied real-world efforts to support collaborative regional transportation and land use planning. Engaging students in the ZRC also provided them an opportunity to gain experience with facilitation, collaborative processes, and key planning and transportation challenges in gateway and natural amenity communities. Building on what they learned from the ZRC, as well as literature reviews, background readings and insights from experts, graduate students in the studio course developed two parallel toolkits. The first toolkit is designed to teach graduate and undergraduate students the theory and practice of collaborative regional transportation and land use planning, particularly in gateway and natural amenity communities, via a set of role-play simulations, scenarios and teaching guidelines. The second toolkit is aimed at community members and professionals, providing a set of tools and resources to assist GNAR communities in addressing their key transportation, land use, and planning-related challenges and opportunities. All tools developed via this project are free and will be made available online. This project also resulted in a number of additional impacts and activities, ranging from providing valuable professional opportunities for graduate students to catalyzing collaborative regional planning efforts elsewhere; these additional impacts and activities are detailed in this report

Tool for transformative civic education and engagement around science-intensive environmental issues

Thesis: Ph. D. in Environmental Policy and Planning, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Urban Studies and Planning, 2015.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (pages 305-315).This dissertation tests the effectiveness of tailored, science-based role-play simulations as a tool for transformative civic education and engagement around science-intensive environmental issues. I do so by studying the results of the New England Climate Adaptation Project (NECAP). NECAP was a two-year participatory action research project aimed at building the capacity of coastal New England communities to adapt to climate change while also testing the effectiveness of role-play simulations as a civic engagement tool. The project engaged 555 diverse stakeholders across four partner coastal New England municipalities in role-play simulation workshops. Data were collected through pre- and post-workshop questionnaires administered to all participants, follow-up interviews with 30 percent of participants from each workshop, and observation. Results show that, when used in a civic engagement context, role-play simulations can stimulate transformative learning about science-intensive environmental issues in the way the simulations are designed to. Participation in the NECAP simulations led to statistically significant increases in participant concern about local climate change risks, support for local adaptation action, and confidence in the prospects of effective local adaptation action. For many participants, the simulations also resulted in increased familiarity with and support for using the consensus building approach for local adaptation decision-making; increased empathy for different perspectives and interests related to adaptation; and generally enriched understanding of local climate change risks and adaptation options. Results were largely consistent across the four towns, as well as across people of different genders, age groups, income levels, education levels, and political viewpoints. The simulations had the greatest learning effect for people who came into the workshops being somewhat concerned about climate change risks. These findings suggest that role-plays are effective across diverse demographics, and that they may be particularly powerful for engaging people who are generally in the "undecided middle" in terms of their perspectives on the issue of interest. I conclude that tailored, science based role-play simulations do, in fact, offer a powerful approach for transformative learning and civic engagement around complex science-intensive environmental issues like climate change adaptation. I also explore the mechanism through which role-play simulations catalyze transformative learning.by Danya Lee Rumore.Ph. D. in Environmental Policy and Plannin