Maintaining relevancy: Implications of changing societal connections to wilderness for stewardship agencies

Abstract

The growing concerns about civil society’s connections with wilderness raise intriguing questions about the dynamic character of wilderness meanings and engagement. In this review, we use the notion of an adaptive cycle to suggest that our societal relationships with wilderness are dynamic and not static and that by understanding the adaptive character of connectedness and social cohesiveness, stewardship organizations will have a greater capacity to adapt and respond rather than feel threatened. For each of four stages in the adaptive cycle, we propose information and organizational needs, including leadership that is sensitive to the changing character of relevancy and that can steer an agency through change.