Picture This

Gary Bentrup, United States Department of Agriculture, National Agroforestry Center, Southern Research Station, Forest Service, Lincoln, Nebraska
Gary Wells, United States Department of Agriculture, National Resource Conservation Service, Lincoln, Nebraska

Document Type Article

United States government work

Abstract

Integrating production and environmental protection goals on private lands is a challenge faced by many resource professionals. While scientific research and data on conservation practices will still be beneficial to planners and policy makers, we need to realize this information may actually play only a very limited role in promoting the adoption and acceptance of conservation by landowners. As Nassauer and colleagues (2001) state, we must go beyond providing tools that only address the ecological and economic aspects of sustainability and provide those which also enhance the cultural sustainability of our working landscapes; that is, it must elicit sustained human attention over time.Without this, benefits may be compromised as land ownership changes, as development pressure increases, or as different political viewpoints arise. Visual simulations can help build that foundation for cultural sustainability by communicating ideas clearly, by inviting feedback on alternatives, and by instilling a sense of shared ownership in the conservation system. As the old saying goes, a picture is worth a 1000 words!