Partnership and Community Engagement Models for Stewarding National Scenic Trails: A Social-Ecological Systems Perspective

ABSTRACT Long distance trails offer distinctive opportunities for people to connect with natural and cultural heritage through recreation, tourism, and stewardship. Such connections can lead to broad support for conservation goals. In the United States, National Scenic Trails (NSTs) promote community engagement in trail planning, development, maintenance, and management. Governance of these multi-jurisdictional trails occurs through a diverse array of governmental and non-governmental actors. We conducted interviews (n=17) with federal trail administrators and non-governmental trail organizations to trail management and administration. A social-ecological systems framework helped us to examine power relations and dynamics in the NST network and identify the role that trails play in fostering community resilience. We observe that the NST governance model emphasizes partnerships with established non-governmental organizations and leverages relationships of these partners with community-based stewardship organizations. Targeted engagement of local partners may strengthen the NST system while improving opportunities for tourism development and community resilience.