Participatory research has emerged as an approach to producing knowledge that is sufficiently grounded in local needs and realities to support community-based natural resource management (CBNRM), and it is often touted as crucial to the sustainable management of forests and other natural resources.This book analyzes the current state of the art of participatory research in CBNRM. Its chapters and case studies examine recent experiences in collaborative forest management, harvesting impacts on forest shrubs, watershed restoration in Native American communities, civic environmentalism in an urban neighborhood and other topics. Although the main geographic focus of the book is the United States, the issues raised are synthesized and discussed in the context of recent critiques of participatory research and CBNRM worldwide. The book's purpose is to provide insights and lessons for academics and practitioners involved in CBNRM in many contexts. The issues it covers will be relevant to participatory research and CBNRM practitioners and students the world over.

Not a day goes by that humans aren't exposed to toxins in our environment - be it at home, in the car, or workplace. But what about those toxic places and items that aren't marked? Why are we warned about some toxic spaces' substances and not others? The essays in Inevitably Toxic consider the exposure of bodies in the United States, Canada and Japan to radiation, industrial waste, and pesticides. Research shows that appeals to uncertainty have led to social inaction even when evidence, e.g. the link between carbon emissions and global warming, stares us in the face. In some cases, influential scientists, engineers and doctors have deliberately "manufactured doubt" and uncertainty but as the essays in this collection show, there is often no deliberate deception. We tend to think that if we can't see contamination and experts deem it safe, then we are okay. Yet, having knowledge about the uncertainty behind expert claims can awaken us from a false sense of security and alert us to decisions and practices that may in fact cause harm.

The exploitation of Latino workers in many industries, from
agriculture and meat packing to textile manufacturing and janitorial
services, is well known. By contrast, pineros -- itinerant workers who
form the backbone of the forest management labour force on federal land
-- toil in obscurity.

Drawing on government papers, media accounts, and interviews with
federal employees and Latino forest workers in Oregon's Rogue
Valley, Brinda Sarathy investigates how the federal government came to
be one of the single largest employers of Latino labour in the Pacific
Northwest. She documents pinero wages, working conditions, and benefits
in comparison to those of white loggers and tree planters,
exposing exploitation that, she argues, is the product of an ongoing
history of institutionalized racism, fragmented policy, and
intra-ethnic exploitation in the West. To overcome this legacy, Sarathy
offers a number of proposals to improve the visibility and working
conditions of pineros and to provide them with a stronger voice in
immigration and forestry policy-making.

This vividly drawn account fills many gaps in our understanding of
forest management in the Pacific Northwest, making clear that true
environmental justice must take into account not only stewardship of
forests, but also the treatment of the people who work in them.

Brinda Sarathy is an assistant professor of
environmental analysis at Pitzer College in Claremont, California.

Participatory research has emerged as an approach to producing knowledge that is sufficiently grounded in local needs and realities to support community-based natural resource management (CBNRM), and it is often touted as crucial to the sustainable management of forests and other natural resources. This book analyses the current state of the art of participatory research in CBNRM. Its chapters and case studies examine recent experiences in collaborative forest management, harvesting impacts on forest shrubs, watershed restoration in Native American communities, civic environmentalism in an urban neighborhood and other topics. Although the main geographic focus of the book is the United States, the issues raised are synthesized and discussed in the context of recent critiques of participatory research and CBNRM worldwide. The book's purpose is to provide insights and lessons for academics and practitioners involved in CBNRM in many contexts. The issues it covers will be relevant to participatory research and CBNRM practitioners and students the world over.