Beyond formal groups: neighboring acts and watershed protection in Appalachia

Abstract

This paper explores how watershed organizations in Appalachia have persisted in addressing water quality issues in areas with a history of coal mining. We identified two watershed groups that have taken responsibility for restoring local creeks that were previously highly degraded and sporadically managed. These watershed groups represent cases of self-organized commons governance in resource-rich, economically poor Appalachian communities. We describe the extent and characteristics of links between watershed group volunteers and watershed residents who are not group members. Through surveys, participant observation, and key-informant consultation, we found that neighbors -group members as well as non-group-members -supported the group's function through informal neighboring acts. Past research has shown that local commons governance institutions benefit from being nested in supportive external structures. We found that the persistence and success of community watershed organizations depends on the informal participation of local residents, affirming the necessity of looking beyond formal, organized groups to understand the resources, expertise, and information needed to address complex water pollution at the watershed level. Our findings augment the concept of nestedness in commons governance to include that of a formal organization acting as a neighbor that exchanges inforNeighboring acts and watershed protection in Appalachia 879 mal neighboring acts with local residents. In this way, we extend the concept of neighboring to include interactions between individuals and a group operating in the same geographic area.

Care, not incarceration: exploring the carcerality of fisheries enforcement and potential decolonial futures in Hawaiʻi

“…The decentralization of powers into nested systems of governance has been promoted as a means to simultaneously improve the efficacy of environmental management arrangements and empower communities (Akutagawa et al, 2016;Berkes, 2009;Lukacs et al, 2016;Marshall, 2008;Tipa and Welch, 2006;Vaughan and Caldwell, 2015). Although formally handing off power to local organizations is possibility, opening up governing power to informal institutions, groups, and individuals has also been demonstrated as a means to improve environmental governance and care (Akutagawa et al, 2016;King, 2000;Lukacs et al, 2016;Vaughan and Caldwell, 2015). Hawaiʻi has made several such attempts to decentralize governance and empower communities, most notably through Community-based Subsistence Fishing Areas (CBSFAs), the ʻAha Moku system, and the Makai Watch Program.…”

The Important Role of Environmental Stewardship Groups in Supporting Human Health and Well-Being

“…Community-based groups often host environmental stewardship activities that provide individuals with physical access to natural areas and meaningful opportunities to steward nature. These groups (hereafter, environmental stewardship groups or ESGs) may operate formally (e.g., registered nonprofit organizations, associations, civic groups) (Svendsen and Campbell, 2008;Wolf et al, 2013;Westphal et al, 2014) or informally (e.g., individuals, households, extended families, neighborhoods) (Lukacs et al, 2016;Vaughan, 2018). While these groups engage in some form of environmental stewardship, stewardship may not necessarily be a primary goal or central activity (Svendsen and Campbell, 2008;Wolf et al, 2013;Westphal et al, 2014).…”

Recognizing “reciprocal relations” to restore community access to land and water

“…Some residents watched the local group's efforts for years before joining as a group member themselves. Other non-member residents supported the group in many, often invisible ways, such as cooking for watershed events or reporting sudden stream changes to a watershed group leader (Lukacs et al 2016). Visible results of watershed group successprojects, events, meetings, and environmental outcomes-motivated the initial and ongoing participation of local residents in watershed groups.…”