Constraints to Delivering the Public Trust: A State Agency Perspective

摘要

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), like other state conservation agencies, is faced with an increasingly complex conservation arena. The paradigm of fish and wildlife management has shifted and we are confronted by many organizational and institutional constraints to provide desired conservation benefits to a broader set of stakeholders. When revenues decline, we struggle to continue to provide high quality services and opportunities to those who have traditionally participated in and supported conservation activities. And, at the same time, we are facing new challenges and opportunities to address the needs of emerging and underserved stakeholders. By revisiting the public trust principles we recognize they are enduring but flexible enough to accommodate changing ecological conditions and social norms. To effectively deliver the benefits of the public trust we need to ensure that our staff, elected and appointed officials, and stakeholders understand what these foundational principles for fish and wildlife trust management are and how they provide the "why" of what we do. State agencies can use them as guiding principles as we move forward to ensure that we can find common ground with all stakeholders to wisely use and conserve our public trust assets for current and future generations. We identify constraints that FWC and many state fish and wildlife management agencies face and offer solutions to reduce those constraints. By using the public trust principles we can become more resilient and responsive to a changing society. We can build upon the traditional fish and wildlife management model, reduce constraints, and broaden the application of public trust principles to conserve all wildlife for all people, now and in the future.