ABSTRACT
Abstract ....................................................................................................................64 Introduction ..............................................................................................................64 The Importance of Collaboration .............................................................................65 Dogma in Science and Management ........................................................................69 Value of Independence at Private Research Institutes .............................................. 72 Mutual Respect among Managers and Researchers ................................................. 74 Long-Term Research at Private Research Stations .................................................. 76 Adaptive Management .............................................................................................77 Perceptions by Managers and Researchers .............................................................. 79 Going Public ............................................................................................................80 Summary .................................................................................................................. 81 References ................................................................................................................ 81
Privately owned wildlands have signišcant conservation value, and wildlife managers in¦uence habitat on large acreages of such properties. Private research institutes are suited for developing long-term collaborative relationships between wildlife scientists and managers because their mission is to conduct research over longer periods of time. Universities have access to the latest technologies and other knowledge in scientišc and statistical methods that complement resources available at private research institutions. Thus, collaboration among private research institutes, universities, and land managers is a natural link to closing the gap between managers and researchers in wildlife science. Managers tend to have an inherent distrust of agendas, dogma, and short-term research results, as do many researchers. However, through adaptive management researchers can help managers answer pragmatic questions while testing ecological theory and benešting conservation. To build these relationships requires researchers to strive to understand and respect a manager’s objectives and remain open-minded and humbled by contextual in¦uence and emergent patterns in complex ecosystems on management and research results. Managers need to be progressive, be willing to accept uncertainty, and be willing to apply changes to their management strategies and tactics in an adaptive framework. Private research institutes often foster independent thought that permits testing potentially controversial ideas. The benešt from working with private landowners for researchers is potentially large-scale, replicated, long-term research projects that benešt constituents (i.e., managers), as well as provide reliable inferences. The benešt to land managers is a structured learning process that provides improved and more efšcient management and success toward attaining management objectives. Most importantly, such a process results in improved conservation of natural resources.
