Building a Stewardship Economy: Insights from Community Innovation in the Rural American West

Abstract

Over the last three decades, rural, isolated communities in the Western U.S. have contended with five intersecting challenges: environmental degradation from past fire suppression, resource extraction, and intensive use; the need to build community resilience amidst a changing climate; a downturn in natural resource-based economies; a desire for economic opportunities beyond tourism and recreation; and demographic trends such as aging and declining populations. This report identifies and studies communities that have responded to these challenges by fostering stewardship economy (SE) activities, which use environmental stewardship as an economic and community development strategy. Three research methods were employed: a literature review and semi-structured interviews with ten individuals to determine criteria and candidate communities for selection as case studies; a series of case studies, which involved semi-structured interviews with more than 80 individuals in thirteen communities; and cross-case analysis to identify strategies and activities employed by these communities and the factors that have enabled and constrained their success.

The thirteen communities studied have engaged in a broad array of activities. Activities ranged from those with direct ecological and economic impacts — such as forest and watershed restoration conducted by local contractors — to those that enable on-the-ground work, such as building partnerships and networks to coordinate cross-boundary stewardship. SE activities were supported by a range of factors. At the local level, sustained leadership, a strong sense of place, and a shared community vision enabled SE activities, while state and national policies and programs provided key funding and authorization for communities. Institutional support also played an important role, including financial support from foundations and individual donors and local and regional partnerships. Also critical was the existence of local assets and infrastructure to build upon. Although communities have advanced SE activities with some success, this success has been constrained by limited financial stability, capital, and administrative capacity. On top of capacity limitations, SE activities often received insufficient support from government agencies and/or local public officials. Other constraining factors include ecological complexity and uncertainty exacerbated by climate change, fluctuations in and difficulty accessing markets for SE products, and state and federal land management policies that are unresponsive to local contexts.

Drawing on this research, we propose recommendations for advancing SE activities, targeted to communities, community organizations, regional and national organizations, agencies, policymakers, foundations, and researchers. Across the board, communities advancing SE activities need both financial and intellectual capital, buy-in from individuals and organizations within and outside of the community, increased organizational capacity, and more responsive state and federal policies and programs. Finally, these communities need greater attention and validation, particularly from those who can help them build the tools and optimism needed to continue SE work.