University of Kentucky UKnowledge University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School 2005 PRAGMATISM AND THE POLITICS OF REWILDING NATURE: THE CASE OF GRIZZLY BEAR REINTRODUCTION IN IDAHO John G. Hintz University of Kentucky Right click to open a feedback form in a new tab to let us know how this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Hintz, John G., "PRAGMATISM AND THE POLITICS OF REWILDING NATURE: THE CASE OF GRIZZLY BEAR REINTRODUCTION IN IDAHO" (2005). University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations. 357. https://uknowledge.uky.edu/gradschool_diss/357 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at UKnowledge. It has been accepted for inclusion in University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized administrator of UKnowledge. For more information, please contact [email protected]. ABSTRACT OF DISSERTATION John G. Hintz The Graduate School University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences 2005 PRAGMATISM AND THE POLITICS OF REWILDING NATURE: THE CASE OF GRIZZLY BEAR REINTRODUCTION IN IDAHO __________________________________ ABSTRACT OF DISSERTATION ___________________________________ A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Kentucky By John G. Hintz Lexington, Kentucky Director: Dr. Susan M. Roberts, Associate Professor of Geography Lexington, Kentucky 2005 Copyright © John G. Hintz 2005 ABSTRACT OF DISSERTATION PRAGMATISM AND THE POLITICS OF REWILDING NATURE: THE CASE OF GRIZZLY BEAR REINTRODUCTION IN IDAHO In 1975, the US Fish and Wildlife Service listed the grizzly bear as a “threatened species” under the Endangered Species Act. Following the listing, a recovery plan was drafted in which the Bitterroot Ecosystem of central Idaho and extreme western Montana was one of six proposed grizzly bear recovery areas. It was the only one of the six, however, which did not contain a resident population of grizzlies. The Fish and Wildlife Service eventually accepted a proposal submitted by a coalition of environmental and timber industry groups. The coalition proposed to reestablish a population of grizzlies in the Bitterroot by translocating 25 bears over five years from existing populations in the US and Canada. The proposal, however, included significant concessions, including reduced protection for the reintroduced grizzlies and management of the grizzly population by a “Citizen Management Committee.” A large contingent of regional and national environmental groups quickly rose up in vociferous objection to the proposal – exposing a significant rift within the environmental movement. These environmentalists objected to the very idea of Citizen Management and also claimed that the proposed recovery area was too small to ensure recovery. Drawing on interviews and document analyses, this dissertation employs an environmental pragmatist approach to examine the intra-environmentalist disputes that flared up throughout the Bitterroot grizzly recovery debates. The dissertation focuses on the relationship between environmental ideologies, science, and conservation advocacy, with an eye toward examining how environmentalists crafted and defended rival proposals for grizzly recovery. Through this interpretive lens, the dissertation aims to explain the existence and persistence of this intra-environmentalism rift as well as explore its ramifications for environmentalism in the region. While no wholly unified environmental movement can ever be possible – or is even necessarily desirable – unwavering commitments to unreachable ideals on the part of many environmentalists are hindering the growth, flexibility and efficacy of conservation in the region. The main contribution of this dissertation will be to provide an empirical case study that defends the environmental pragmatist assertion that hostile and unnecessary divisiveness within the environmental movement ultimately obstructs the development of a more successful environmentalism. KEYWORDS: Environmental Pragmatism, Nature-Society Geography, Environmental Politics and Policy, Grizzly Bear Conservation, Rocky Mountain Northwest PRAGMATISM AND THE POLITICS OF REWILDING NATURE: THE CASE OF GRIZZLY BEAR REINTRODUCTION IN IDAHO By John G. Hintz Susan M. Roberts Director of Dissertation Wolfgang Natter Director of Graduate Studies RULES FOR THE USE OF DISSERTATIONS Unpublished dissertations submitted for the Doctor’s degree and deposited in the University of Kentucky Library are as a rule open for inspection, but are to be used only with due regard to the rights of the authors. Bibliographical references may be noted, but quotations or summaries of parts may be published only with the permission of the author, and with the usual scholarly acknowledgments. Extensive copying or publication of the dissertation in whole or in part also requires the consent of the Dean of the Graduate School of the University of Kentucky. DISSERTATION John G. Hintz The Graduate School University of Kentucky 2005 PRAGMATISM AND THE POLITICS OF REWILDING NATURE: THE CASE OF GRIZZLY BEAR REINTRODUCTION IN IDAHO __________________________________ DISSERTATION ___________________________________ A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Kentucky By John G. Hintz Lexington, Kentucky Director: Dr. Susan M. Roberts, Associate Professor of Geography Lexington, Kentucky 2005 Copyright © John G. Hintz 2005 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The following dissertation could never have come about were it not for the help of so many family members, friends, mentors, and colleagues. First and foremost, I want to thank my wife Michelle for her patience, support, and unwavering belief in my ability to write and finish the dissertation. It seems like such a cliché to say “without you, none of this could have been possible,” but I write this with as much sincerity as any words I have every written. Thanks, Michelle, I love you. I want to thank my advisor and friend, Sue Roberts, for her support, encouragement, suggestions, editing, scholarly advice – the list really could go on and on. Thanks, Sue, for five great years of advising and mentoring. My other dissertation committee members all provided invaluable guidance and insight into my research project. Rich Schein has been consistently energetic, helpful, and insightful, both as Director of Graduate Studies and as a committee member. John Paul Jones III, a member of my committee before he headed to the desert, provided the initial list of readings on contemporary nature-society geography that really kickstarted my tenure as a “critical” scholar. Randall Roorda was an incredibly helpful and active external committee member. I appreciate Randall’s close and critical readings of articles and dissertation chapters; and where would I be without his pointing me to Berthoff, Burke, and other pragmatist rhetoricians? (Answer: probably not here typing this right now.) Wolfgang Natter has been a supportive mentor who has generously shared his wealth of theoretical insight. Tom Barnes was the ideal external examiner, and I appreciate his flexibility and willingness to take part in the whole process pro bono. I would also like to thank Karl Raitz, who, as chair of the Kentucky geography department, was always willing to help out wherever and however his assistance was needed, often on little to no notice. I have greatly benefited from the insight gained in graduate seminars due to the outstanding luck I had in taking offerings from Herb Reid (political science), Ted Schatzki (philosophy), and Dave Maehr (conservation biology). I would also like to thank my master’s advisor at Idaho, Gundars Rudzitis, who has been a great mentor and friend since 1994, and a very active supporter during my doctoral studies. Many thanks are due to Josh Clemons, Dave Correia, Ben Smith, Paul Robbins, Sarah Moore, Jean Lavigne, and Jason Strange for excellent proofreading and critiques of iii articles, conference papers, and dissertation chapters. Without the use of Andy Doolen’s library cubicle, the home stretch would have been much more difficult. Many thanks to Andy for his generosity and trust. I would like to thank my parents, Jim and Mary Jane Hintz, for their generous help and encouragement on so many fronts. And finally I would like to thank my children, Lyell, Claire, and Theo, who showed amazing sensitivity to the pressures I was facing during my stretch run. Thanks for believing in me, kids! I hope to repay the favor every day from here out. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements............................................................................................................ iii List of Figures ................................................................................................................... vii Chapter 1. Introduction: Examining an Intra-Environmentalism Debate........................... 1 1.1. Grizzly Bears in the Bitterroot: Gone but not Forgotten......................................1 1.2. The Evolution of an Environmental Debate .........................................................2 1.3. The Object of Analysis: Conflict within Conservation.........................................5 1.4. Organization and Overview of the Dissertation....................................................6 1.5. Roads not Taken..................................................................................................10