Sense of Place

Senseof Place "Senseofplace" offers resource managers a wayto identify and respond tothe emotional An Elusive Concept andspiritual bonds people form with certain spaces.Weexamine reasons forthe increasing interestinthe concept and offer four broad That Is Finding a Home in recommendationsforapplying sense ofplace toecosystem management. Byinitiating a EcosystemManagement discussionaboutsense ofplace, managers canbuild aworking relationship withthe relationshipwith citizensthat reflects publicthat reflects thecomplex webof unmetchallenges associated the complexweb of lifestyles,mean- lifestyles,meanings, andsocial relations withneof ecosystemthe greatmanagementand largely ings,and social relations endemic to a endemictoa place. is treatingpeople as a rightfulpart of placeor resource.Sense of placecan be ecosystems.In many ecosystem mod- theshared language that eases discus- els,despite occasional rhetoric to the sionsof salientissues and problems By Daniel R.Williams and contrary,there is still a tendencyto andthat affirms the principles under- Susan I. Stewart treatpeople as autonomous individual lyingecosystem management. agentsoutside the ecosystem, at best a Thoughthe term sense ofplace re- sourceof valuesto be incorporated mains elusive,ill defined, and contro- intodecisions, at worst agents of cata- versialas a resourcemanagement con- strophicdisturbance of an otherwise cept, it is turning up in a surprising smoothlyrunning system.Many number of academic discussions of scholarshave made suggestionsfor ecosystemmanagement (Grumbine bringingsocial concepts and variables 1992; Samsonand Knopf 1996) as intoecosystem models and assessments well as in recentecosystem assessments (Driveret al. 1996; Forceand Machlis (USDA 1996). Similarly,in popular 1997). Far fewer have demonstrated mediaand a widerange of publicpol- how day-to-dayland management icyissues, Spretnak (1997) sees a grow- mightchange when people are recog- ing interestin senseof placeand re- nizedas part of theecosystem. latedconcepts, like community,place Senseofplace is a conceptwith great attachments,symbolic meanings, and potentialfor bridging the gap between spiritualvalues. For her this suggests a the scienceof ecosystemsand their resurgenceof the reality of placethat management(Mitchell et al. 1993; haslong been denied, suppressed, and Brandenburgand Carroll 1995; devaluedby a mechanisticview of na- Schroeder1996). But ironically,sense ture. At this point, with so many of placeis sometimesseen as a barrier groupsready to jointhe sense-of-place to sensibleresource management. parade, we think it is usefulto ask Managerswho haveheard the term three questions:What is meant by usedby peopleopposed to proposed senseof placein itsvarious forms and changeswrongly conclude that sense guises?Why is it increasinglyin the of placeis an argumentfor keeping hearts of citizens and on the minds of themfrom doing their job. In fact,the landmanagers? And finally, what does conceptoffers managers a way to an- it suggestabout managing ecosystems? ticipate,identify, and respond to the bondspeople form with places. By ini- DefiningSense of Place tiating a discussionabout senseof Thereare many definitions and de- place,managers can build a working scriptionsof senseof place.As a geo- 18 May 1998 graphicterm, place commonly refers or dimensionsthat capture the multi- At Devil'sTower National Monument, to a centerof meaningand felt value: facetednature and complexity of what the NationalPark Serviceis caughtbe- "Whatbegins as undifferentiated space wewill referto hereas sense of place: tween a rock and a holy place:the site becomesplace when we endow it with ß theemotional bonds that people is sacred to Native Americans and a value"(Tuan 1977, p. 6). A seemingly formwith places (at various geographic destination of choice for rock climbers. straightforwardapproach to defining scales)over time andwith familiarity Thefeelings associated with places senseof placeis to think of it asthe with thoseplaces; havealways been a part of our rela- collectionof meanings,beliefs, sym- ß thestrongly felt values, meanings, tionshipwith the natural world but at bols,values, and feelings that individ- andsymbols that arehard to identify an intuitive level-as somethingmany ualsor groupsassociate with a particu- or know(and hard to quantify),espe- peopleunderstood but did not talk lar locality.In somerecent ecosystem ciallyif one is an "outsider"or unfa- about or name. Awareness of sense of assessments,this collection of mean- miliarwith theplace; placehas increased in proportionto ingsand feelings is reduced to a single ß thevalued qualities of a placethat globalizationand our capacityto make attributeand viewedas just another evenan "insider"may not be con- and remake placesvirtually overnight. oneof manypotential attitudes, values, sciouslyaware of untilthey are threat- andbeliefs people might hold toward a ened or lost; of placesand emphasizes people's ten- resource(USDA 1996).The problem ß theset of placemeanings that are dencyto formstrong emotional bonds with theserudimentary definitions is activelyand continuously constructed with places.It isworth noting that al- they tend to diminishthe holistic, and reconstructed within individual thoughwe emphasizethe importance emotive,social, and contextual quality minds, shared cultures, and social of recognizing"local" meanings, these of theidea, robbing it of thevery rich- practices;and should not be limited to residents' nessthat is itsappeal. ß the awarenessof the cultural, his- senseof place.Many tourists and regu- Place,place attachment, and sense of torical, and spatialcontext within lar visitorshave strong attachments to placeare used by various writers to de- whichmeanings, values, and social in- places.It isnot the possessors of mean- scribe similar but not identical con- teractions are formed. ingsthat arelocal, but the m6anings cepts.Dra•ing fromthis diversity of Mostpeople who inter}ect sense-of- themselves.Similarly, "insiders" are thought(Tuan 1977; Hester 1985; placeconcerns into naturalresource is- thosewho know what a placemeans to Agnewand Duncan 1989; Shamai suesprobably have in mindsomething a group.Too oftenplanners are "out- 1991; Altman and Low 1992; Groat akinto oneof thefirst three interpreta- side"the socialcircles that assign 1995;Harvey 1996; Relph 1997), we tions.Sense of place,for mostpeople, meaningto a placeand therefore tend suggestseveral overlapping approaches refersto therich and varied meanings to discount them. Journalof Forestry 19 Protecting a sense of socialprocesses. Both ecosystems can be invoked by diverse and conflict- andplaces are dynamic, with a past,a inggroups---local commodity haterests of place is the reason present,and a future. seekingto maintaina wayof life,envi- Senseof placeis shaped by increas- ronmentalistsembracing Leopold's behind commonly inglycomplex social, economic, and landethic, Native Americans focusing accepted urban politicalprocesses. At a local level, on thespiritual or transcendentquali- placemeanings are less stable than they tiesinherent in a place,recreation and planning tools, such oncewere, being buffeted by increas- wildernessenthusiasts voicing con- inglydistant and uncontrollable social cernsabout new or nonconforming as zoning ordinances, andeconomic forces. Meanings have uses,and heritage preservationists try- regional tourism become more individualized and ingto maintainlandscape character or boundarieshave become more perme- restorepresetdement ecological condi- marketing authorities, able.In addition,a senseof placethat tions. Such sentiments are sometimes at one time may havebeen largely dismissedasthe merely cosmetic or ro- and regulations on shapedand maintained by community manticconcerns of designers,nature architectural styles. insidersis nowincreasingly subject to lovers,and heritageenthusiasts. Yet more distantmarket and political evenwhat planners and scientists put forces. forwardas a data-drivendescription of Thelast two dimensions, emphasiz- Forexample, tourism, urban flight, a placein the formof a scientificas- hagthe social processes that create and retirementmigration, and economic sessmentis itselfanother competing transformplaces, describe aspects often developmentincreasingly challenge or senseof thatplace. overlooked in natural resource man- contesttraditional meanings of many Within forest planningdebates agement.They expand sense of place communities.For long-timeresidents those various sentiments whether beyondits commonconception as a thisoften means that an identity based localor nonlocal in origin,new or long hard-to-defineattitude, value, or belief on agriculture,forestry, or ranchhagis established---areall legitimate,real, to include the social and historical beingchallenged by newerresidents and stronglyfelt and an important processesby which place meanings are andoutsiders' meanings and usesof sourceof political conflict. Competing constructed,negotiated, and politically surroundingnatural landscapes. As placemeanings should not be dis- contested.Understood as something theydevelop their own sense of place, missedbecause they do not conform to sociallyproduced, sense of placebe- thenewcomers may become strongly someexpert's technical sense of place. comesanalogous to conceptionsof attachedto thenatural landscape of an Ratherthey must be acknowledged, if ecosystemsas dynamicand open- areawithout being socially and histor- not embraced,for resourcemanage- ended.That is,just as ecosystems are icallyrooted in theplace or commu- ment

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