When places collide: power, conflict and meaning at Malheur

Sense of place in social–ecological systems: from theory to empirics

“…Their narrative reveals a local emphasis on agriculture as an alternative development pathway. Ingalls et al (2019) demonstrate how the conflict at Malheur was a flashpoint for latent meanings and claims to place to come to the surface.…”

“…Stewardship activities promoted a more complex understanding of intertwined social-ecological functions, and inspired groups to advocate for an ecosystem-based approach to management. Ingalls et al (2019) take us to the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon, USA, where an armed standoff erupted in 2016 between federal enforcement agents and ranchers wishing to convert the wildlife refuge to rangeland for grazing. The authors trace the origins of this conflict through the complex histories of place claims of cattle ranchers, homesteaders, the Burns Paiute people, and federal conservationists.…”

“…Local groups make deliberate and effective use of both historic place meanings and broader discourses, as demonstrated by Ingalls et al (2019) who trace how current day ranchers in Oregon appeal to popular romantic notions of the West as a frontier to push for their agenda: that federal lands under conservation should devolve to the state and be reopened to ranching and mining rather than conservation. Similarly, a group of farmers in the Wild Coast of South Africa study of Masterson et al (2019) make effective use of their community's historical dispossession of the local forest land by colonial and Apartheid operatives to successfully oppose the establishment of a nature reserve on community land.…”

“…These authors trace the histories of place claims and their impact on the landscape which in turn influences what place meanings are now possible: in many cases, dominant meanings may even have shaped social-ecological processes for long enough that alternative meanings are difficult to see or imagine. Early ranching operations in Malheur, Oregon, altered the flood irrigation which extended natural riparian functions and which later became a focal point for managing waterfowl populations in the wildlife reserve (Ingalls et al 2019). Similar processes have formed the backdrop in cases from Bangalore and New York City (Murphy et al 2019;Enqvist et al 2019), where decades of urban development eventually limit the public consciousness of places' identity and potential.…”

“…This theme also encompasses the influence of slow chronic versus acute changes to place and people's ability to respond and adapt to such changes (Tidball and Krasny 2014; Masterson et al 2017;Raymond et al 2017). Ingalls et al (2019) examine the slow unfolding of meanings over time, as driven both by landscape change and entrenched power interests, as well as the potential for discrete events to bring to the fore hitherto co-existing meanings. Murphy et al provide a case, where the loss and decline of lakes were a big enough and rapid enough social-ecological change that it spurred on the need for radical stewardship actions.…”