Prepared by Paul Schmidt, Dale Humburg, Kacie Miller, Ashley Dayer, Brad Bortner, Dean Smith, and Allison Vogt
Using the Science of Human Dimensions to Advance Bird Conservation: Manfredo et al.
(1998) defines the concept of "human dimensions" in wildlife conservation as the assessment and application of social information in fish and wildlife decision making. The assessment component of human dimensions deals with the techniques used to understand human thought and action toward wildlife. The application component of human dimensions includes the use of tools and information associated with policy making and program development.
Use of human dimensions tools and research can offer the bird conservation community a better understanding of the driving forces behind people’s conservation behaviors, how people’s behaviors lead to successes of conservation programs, and the management strategies required to address people’s different perceptions and behaviors relative to bird habitat conservation. In particular, the bird community needs to know what inspires or drives individuals to directly or indirectly support bird habitat conservation.
Defining the Issue: Across all bird groups, common conservation challenges continue to threaten the sustainability of habitats shared by bird populations. For example, habitat loss and fragmentation, conflicting uses of habitat/landscapes, regulatory and population management systems, access to birding and hunting areas, etc. all threaten the future of birds and opportunities to enjoy them. Conservation budgets dwindle, the traditional conservation constituencies of hunters and anglers decline in number, while the birding community increases in size (U.S. Department of the Interior, 2006 & 2009).
The solutions to these challenges involve motivating a broad set of bird conservation constituencies to work in tandem to support the conservation of birds and their habitats. In order to understand the desires of the diverse groups of the North American public that enjoy and use wildlife resources, the bird conservation community needs to better understand how and why people value natural resources, how people want resources managed, and how people affect or are affected by bird and bird habitat management decisions. To positively impact bird conservation, it’s imperative that we not just better understand how people connect with bird conservation but also apply that knowledge in a way that more readily engages the public’s active support in bird habitat conservation programs.
Recent Momentum: The bird conservation community’s acknowledgement of the need to use human dimensions information to improve bird habitat conservation efforts is growing. This information has the potential to inform policy development, program design, and

communications to engage a broad constituency of hunters, birders, and outdoor recreationists in bird habitat conservation. However, significant human dimensions research needs remain and many opportunities exist to foster collaboration among the nascent efforts already underway.
Recommended first step: A workshop to share information related to the current understanding of human dimensions research about bird conservation constituencies. For this purpose, we define constituencies as the potential and known active supporters of bird habitat conservation. We include hunters, backyard birdwatchers, birding enthusiasts, and financial supporters of member-based bird conservation organizations (e.g., ABC, NAS, DU, NWTF, etc.) in this definition.
In addition to sharing the current state of human dimensions research, we propose that the workshop agenda include time to develop recommendations related to the application of this research to encourage increased participation in existing bird habitat conservation funding program as well as examine what new programs might be developed that fit well with the values and motivations of our target constituencies. Existing programs include membership in bird conservation organizations, the Migratory Bird/Duck Stamp sales, user fees for wildlife viewing, license plate programs, etc.
Workshop Objectives
1) Inform bird conservation leaders about HD research that has been conducted on the current or potential bird conservation constituencies and the relevance of this research for the bird conservation community;
2) Identify bird conservation challenges that could be supported by additional human dimensions information;
3) Share examples of how HD research is currently applied by bird conservation agencies and how NGOs use the information for communications to constituents;
4) Use real-world examples of bird conservation programs to create a framework for the application of HD information to influence policy, program design, and collaboration around messaging among bird conservation agencies and organizations.
5) Develop recommendations to guide future collaboration between the human dimensions research community and bird conservation agencies and organizations.
Preliminary Workshop Details
Agenda:

½ day session: HD researchers present on the state of our HD knowledge of bird conservation and related constituencies.
 ¼ day session: Bird conservation leaders present on how the bird conservation agencies and organizations are already using HD information to guide communications, policy development, and program design.


½ day session: Group discussion and brainstorming to identify opportunities for collaborative implementation of efforts to advance bird conservation and HD understanding in a framework of adaptive management.
 ¼ day session: Identify HD research needs
Audience: A combination of no more than 40 leaders in bird conservation (representing the breadth of bird conservation initiatives and types of partner organizations), plus approximately 5 human dimensions professionals with experience in wildlife conservation.
Time and Place: Tentative timing would be between late-fall and early winter, 2012-13 and the workshop would potentially be hosted by Ducks Unlimited at their HQ in Memphis. A location in DC is also a possibility, depending on the final attendee list and how to minimize travel time and costs for the majority of participants.
Budget: Project funds of up to $10,000 for a facilitator and travel costs of up to 5 HD experts to contribute their knowledge
Potential human dimensions professionals to engage: Dr. Dan Decker (Cornell University),
Dr. Tara Teel (Colorado State University), Dr. David Fulton (University of Minnesota Co-op
Unit), [ID from Canada], Ashley Dayer (Cornell Lab of Ornithology), Andrew Raedeke
(Missouri Department of Conservation), Natalie Sexton (USGS/USFWS).
Potential bird conservation professionals to engage: Members of the US NABCI
Committee-including federal and state agencies, NGOs and Bird Initiatives; leaders in the development of the North American Waterfowl Management Plan Revised Action Plan; state agency leadership engaged in diversity funding issues.
References
Manfredo, M. J., Decker, D. J., & Duda, M. D. 1998. What is the future for human dimensions of wildlife? Transactions of the North American Wildlife and Natural
Resources Conference, 64, 278–292.
U.S. Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service, and U.S. Department of
Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau. 2006 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-
Associated Recreation.
U.S. Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service, and U.S. Department of
Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau. 2009. Demographic and Economic Analysis, Addendum to the 2006 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-Associated Recreation.
Wildlife-Associated Recreation