Parks Stewardship Forum

Public land management decisions rely on science but there is a disconnect between research and practical application; this is referred to as the research–management gap. Within the context of the United States (US) National Wilderness Preservation System, this gap has implications across 111 million acres of land managed by four federal agencies. To better understand how to bridge research with management within the US wilderness context, we conducted facilitated conversations with 68 wilderness managers using interactive virtual whiteboards to guide conversations around decision contexts, the role of science in wilderness management decision-making, and opportunities to improve the use of science in wilderness management. We found that wilderness managers operate within four main decision contexts (operational, relational, informational, and policy), and that they rely on a variety of sources of information, with science as one of many sources, to guide management action and decisions, both directly and indirectly. Bridging the research–management gap requires a two-tiered approach: (1) bottom-up, working with local managers to develop, apply, and interpret relevant science in a co-produced manner; and (2) top-down, working with agency and wilderness leaders to champion the integration of research into policy and management directives. Better working relationships between managers and scientists could improve the adoption of science in wilderness management as well as improve how scientists understand the range of competing policies, programs, and priorities that guide wilderness managers.