Building Trust in Natural Resource Management Within Local Communities: A Case Study of the Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie

Communities neighboring federally protected natural areas regularly weigh the costs and benefits of the administering agency’s programs and policies. While most agencies integrate public opinion into decision making, efforts to standardize and formalize public involvement have left many local communities feeling marginalized, spurring acrimony and opposition. A significant body of research has examined barriers to effective public participation as well as strategies for relationship building in planning processes; many of which point to trust as a key factor. Trust is especially tenuous in local communities. This paper explores perceptions of trust, expectations for management, as well as constraints to building trust. In-depth interviews were conducted with 21 community members and USDA Forest Service personnel at the Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie in northeastern Illinois. The interviews revealed that trust is perceived as important to effective management. Distinct expectations for management outcomes and processes emerged, including the values, knowledge, and capacity demonstrated in management decisions and actions and opportunities provided for communication, collaboration, and cooperation within the agency-community relationship. The case study identified several constraints to building trust, including competing values, knowledge gaps, limited community engagement, and staff turnover.     

基于离散元的钢‑土界面往复剪切特性研究∗

架空直立式码头结构被越来越多的应用于现代化内河港口建设，码头中所使用的大直径钢护筒嵌岩桩与桩周回填土形成钢?土界面，在船舶系靠等重复荷载作用下，界面的往复剪切行为影响桩基的承载性能。使用颗粒流软件及离散元方法，通过改变接触面的运动方式模拟了钢?土界面往复剪切特性，研究了接触面类型、剪切频率和剪切振幅等对往复剪切特性和界面能量变化的影响。研究结果表明：试样的剪切区域面积、剪切应力分布受接触面类型及粗糙度影响较大；同种类型的接触面，法向应力越大剪切区域面积会随之增大，但剪切区域面积的增加存在上限；剪切应力的主要作用范围在接触面中部，作用范围随着法向应力的增大而增大，剪切效果是几种因素共同作用的结果；在往复剪切运动中，各界面接触面附近孔隙率随时间步长增大不断减小，部分接触面孔隙率呈周期性波动；剪切频率、振幅对接触面附近孔隙率影响不大；边界能中大部分转化为应变能，小部分转化为摩擦能并受界面类型、界面粗糙度等因素的影响。