ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the role of mediators in place-based controversies over forest resource management, and specifically, those that play out at the landscape scale. It begins by explaining the context for place-based conflict, reviews traditional definitions of mediation and facilitation, and discusses how these practices manifest in this niche. Fisher and Tees provide an excellent discussion of the similarities and differences between mediation and facilitation, as they have been understood in the public policy arena over the last three decades. In the latter, an impartial third party uses an integrated blend of mediation and facilitation to help participants in a particular landscape-scale collaborative initiative pursue their common goals and resolve conflicts as they come up. Conflict is more prevalent at the landscape scale than other scales due to the high degree of scientific uncertainty, coupled with the potential magnitude of the impacts of making a mistake when working at the landscape scale.
