Stakeholder Perspectives on the Evolving Role of Nature Conservation in the United States: New Challenges for the National Park Service, Particularly in Land Use

Balázs Megyeri, Third-Year Doctoral Student

I am a third-year doctoral student in the Geopolitics and Sustainable Development Doctoral Program, and I would like to delve into the topic mentioned in the title within the framework of the cooperation between Corvinus University of Budapest and the NEURUS network during the 2024/2025 academic year at Arizona State University in Tempe.

While the primary task of the US National Park system is to protect the unparalleled natural values found in its areas and to maintain vulnerable ecosystems, they also play a huge role in tourism, environmental education, and maintaining national pride. The 21st century’s rapidly changing world brings many different challenges for the National Park Service (NPS), which is responsible for maintaining the system. Mentioning just a few, such as extreme weather events caused by climate change and the increasingly frequent forest fires, the constantly growing number of visitors and the various pressures arising from this, as well as the aging tourist and field infrastructure, it immediately becomes clear that the NPS does not have an easy task.

Furthermore, the traditional concept of “fortress conservation,” which emphasizes the strict separation of protected areas from human activities, has been receiving more and more criticism lately, as it does not take into account the needs of local communities and the need to reconcile nature conservation and sustainable development. This necessitates a shift from traditional protection towards a more holistic approach that integrates conservation and development goals, taking into account the perspectives of different stakeholders. The aim of my research is to analyze these perspectives regarding the role of national parks in regional development, with particular emphasis on uncovering land-use conflicts and how each stakeholder group envisions the optimal use of the landscape to reconcile nature conservation and sustainable (economic) development.

Within the framework of the NEURUS Research Fellowship, in cooperation with the host Arizona State University, I would like to “draw” a perspective map of the stakeholder groups of a national park in the Lower Colorado Basin, paying particular attention to the converging and conflicting ideas of the NPS, local, state and federal agencies, tourism interest groups, and local residents regarding land use.