Public involvement, trust, and support for endangered species programs

The success of wildlife conservation, including endangered species programs, often depends on public support. We examined public support for threatened and endangered species management in New York State (NYS) and the factors influencing support. We surveyed 3 stakeholder groups important to the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) in 2017: residents of upstate New York, hunters, and anglers. We measured support in 2 ways: (1) the importance people placed on the government protecting threatened and endangered species in NYS, and (2) satisfaction with DEC's efforts to protect these species. Using structural equation modeling, we examined factors hypothesized to increase public support: trust in the agency, adequate public involvement in decision-making, and the perceived importance of program outcomes. For hunters and anglers, we found that perceived adequacy of public involvement was positively related to program satisfaction, but only because it fostered perceptions of good management decisions. Although adequacy of public involvement also contributed to program satisfaction for upstate residents, we found no evidence that they were more satisfied because they thought public involvement led to better decisions. For all 3 groups the perception of adequate public involvement was directly related to trust in the agency, which in turn was positively related to belief in agency competency to protect threatened and endangered species. Our results suggest that wildlife managers can enhance public satisfaction with decisions and programs through public involvement, communication about how public involvement contributes to decisions, and building trust in the agency.