Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
ration I find a way to actually be a positive part of the ecology of the dunes. . . . Joining
together with other community members who care about this place completes my
sense of connection and belonging” (Vander Meer 2001,1). These sentiments evince
a strong commitment to integrative forms of restoration, but are they at odds with re-
cent and current transformations within the North Coast restoration sector?
Theoretical debates about the meaning of restoration come to life in Humboldt
County, where tensions and transitions between small-scale, community-based efforts
and large-scale, technical efforts are increasingly manifest. Current funding structures
and priorities favor the latter mode of restoration over the former. How are we to make
sense of these changes, and what are their implications for the future course of resto-
ration in Humboldt County? Is science eclipsing community, as argued by Higgs
(2005), or do the two complement each other, as suggested by Clewell and Aronson
(2006)? On the one hand, we see critical changes in funding structures and priorities
through which efficient, technical, science-based restoration is gradually supplanting
models of integrative restoration that produce both community and ecological values.
Yet on the other hand, we see that the Mattole Restoration Council, one of the most
successful nonprofit restoration organizations in Humboldt County, has crafted an ap-
proach that draws on community vision and strength while simultaneously building
administrative, scientific, and technical capacity and expertise. This unified approach,
which successfully conforms to and indeed takes advantage of the current restoration
funding structure, is also able to remain true to restoration practitioners' earlier com-
mitment to community-based stewardship and restoration practice.
Conclusion
How do we ensure that ecological restoration, and the desirable ecological and com-
munity values it produces, grows with the restoration economy? Part of the answer in-
volves acknowledging the diversity of potential meanings and purposes of restoration,
and encouraging forums in which those meanings and purposes can be rendered ex-
plicit, discussed, and debated. Acknowledging the important role of choice as it influ-
ences the who, what, why, when, and where of ecological restoration is an important
part of this process (Allison 2007; see chaps. 5, 6, 10, 11, this volume). Identifying the
actual and potential trajectories of restoration, as this study has done for Humboldt
County's restoration system, can provide the basis for informed discussion about
which forms of restoration should be supported and why. Unparalleled in both com-
plexity and potential, ecological restoration requires unprecedented deliberation in
approach—efficiency-based and community-based forms of restoration may be com-
patible, but integration entails considerable cognizance and reflection on the part of
all involved.
Acknowledgments
This research would not have been possible without the generous financial assistance
provided by the Ford Foundation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the
