Using Social Network Analysis to Bridge Gaps in Natural Resources Management
Recent findings from the Forest Futures Report, a study carried out and published by the US Forest Service Southern Research Station, show that drought and other water stress is a prominent threat to our southeastern forests and human-dominated communities. As a result, there is a compelling need to mitigate these threats by bringing forest landowners and water resource managers together to mediate political changes and form best practices to preserve or restore healthy, forested watersheds. Southern Regional Extension Forestry and the USFS Southern Research Station have partnered to conduct a social network analysis involving water networks that cover a large area with diffuse boundaries. The goal of this analysis, which includes input from over 100 water resource professionals in the greater Atlanta, GA metro region, is to help guide the Southern Research Station’s efforts in allying the diverged water and forestry resources professionals in order to protect the future water supply across the southern region.
