James Harding Ph.D.

Program Director, Masters of Science in Environmental Studies

Associate Professor of Natural Resources Management

Ames Hall 102
One Brennan Circle
Poultney, VT 05764-1199
Email: hardingj@greenmtn.edu
802-287-8328; Fax: 802-287-8099

Since beginning my graduate degree in 1993, I have been committed to shrinking the distance that many people see between themselves and the natural world. In my experience, the most convenient and obvious vehicle for shrinking this distance has been in encouraging direct involvement in outdoor recreation. However, simple participation in one or more recreational engagements is a necessary yet insufficient condition for reacquainting people with their natural environment. Understanding and knowledge about the natural world must accompany any recreational engagement in order for the gap to close. And from this knowledge comes the two-way path of influence: identifying how human actions impact the natural world and in turn how the natural world affects us. The wisdom necessary for true environmentally sensitive behavior will come. Yet, it will not come through heavy-handed proscriptions, nor will it come through reading platitudes on bumper stickers and tee shirts. Rather it will percolate through individual actions and community-level policies following a more intimate encounter with the natural world--encounters facilitated by recreational engagements and open access to America's public lands.

My own crusade--convincing people that the dichotomy of humans and nature is false, and that policies at the intersection of the two need not result in some zero-sum solution--weaves throughout my classes and research. Human well-being is intimately tied to environmental well-being; this argument is met with less resistance today than perhaps at any time during the past 100 years. However, the argument that requires much more effort is the one which suggests that environmental well-being need not be seen as some limitation on human freedoms. Rather, human freedoms blossom through human well-being and, as the health of the human state is so intimately tied to the health of the natural world, we must find ways that help others to see this relationship. Once people recognize that it is not only unnecessary, but misguided to erect some false dichotomy pitting human well-being against environmental concerns, then they will come to conclude that human welfare, growth (not in the population sense, but in the personal, psychological sense), and aspirations of excellence are coupled with environmental health.

Education
Ph.D. in Forestry, University of Montana, Missoula, MT
M.S. in Forestry, University of Maine, Orono, ME
B.A. in Advertising and French, University of Evansville, IN

Relevant Professional Experiences
Assistant Professor, Green Mountain College, Poultney, VT (9/03-Present)
Assistant Professor, Union College, Barbourville, KY (1/01-8/03)
Graduate Assistant, University of Montana, (7/98-12/00)
Public Involvement Coordinator, US Forest Service, Missoula, MT (5/99-8/99)
Instructor of Forest Resources, University of Maine, (1/97-5/98)
Senior GIS Technician, James W. Sewall Co., Old Town, ME (11/94-8/97)

Publications
Harding, J. A. (2004). Book Review: Reconstructing Conservation, edited by Ben Minteer and Bob Manning. Journal of Park and Recreation Administration.

Harding, J. A. (2004). Cruising. Encyclopedia of Recreation and Leisure in America. Ed. Gary S. Cross. 2 vols. Woodbridge, CT.

Borrie, W. T., & Harding, J. A. (2002). Effective Recreation Visitor Communication Strategies: Rock Climbers in the Bitterroot Valley, Montana. USDA Forest Service Research Note RMRS-RN-15. Missoula, MT: Rocky Mountain Research Station.

Harding, J. A. (2002). Narratives on Nature, Beauty, and Public Lands: A Search for an Elusive Environmental Ethics. (Doctoral dissertation, University of Montana).

Miller, T. A., Borrie, W. T., & Harding, J. A. (2001). Basic knowledge of factors that limit the practice of low-impact behaviors. USDA Forest Service General Technical Report INT-97068-RJVA. Missoula, MT: Rocky Mountain Research Station.

Harding, J. A. (2001). Fair Chase or Fair Game? How Guides and Outfitters Market Hunting on the Internet. Book of Abstracts for the 10th Annual Meeting of the Association for Practical and Professional Ethics. (p. 36).

Harding, J. A. (2000). Book Review: The Human Relationship with Nature: Development and Culture, by Peter J. Kahn. Leisure Sciences 22(1): 209-210.

Harding, J. A., & Borrie, W. T. (2000). Applying participant observation to rock climbing issues in the Bitterroot region of Montana. In: Schneider, I. E., Chavez, D. J., Borrie, W. T., & James, K.(Eds.), The third symposium on social aspects and recreation research: diverse challenges of our times: people, products, places; 2000 February 16-19; Tempe, AZ. (pp. 113-121).

Harding, J. A., Borrie, W.T. & Cole, D. N. (2000). Factors that limit compliance with low-impact recommendations. In: Cole, D. N., McCool, S. F., Borrie, W. T.; & O'Loughlin, J., (Compilers), Proceedings-Wilderness science in a time of change conference: Volume 4: Wilderness visitors, experiences, and visitor management; 1999 May 23-27; Missoula, MT. (pp. 198-202). Proc. RMRS-P-15-VOL-4. Ogden, UT: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station.

Chavez, D. J., J. A. Harding, and J. F. Tynon. (1999). National Recreation Trails: A Forgotten Designation. Journal of Forestry, 97(10): 40-43.

Chavez, D. J., Tynon, J. F. & Harding, J. A. (1999). America's Best Kept Secret: The National Recreation Trails. Parks and Recreation Magazine, 34(3): 36-46.

Tynon, J. F., Chavez, D. J. & Harding, J. A. (1997). National Recreation Trails: A Comprehensive Nationwide Survey, USDA Forest Service Cooperative Research Report, PSW-96-0011CA, Riverside, CA: Pacific Southwest Research Station.

Tynon, J. F., Harding, J. A. & Chavez D.J. (1997). National Recreation Trails: A Management Study. USDA Forest Service Recreation Research Update 23, Riverside, CA:, Pacific Southwest Research Station.

Harding, J. A. (1995). Identification of Criteria for a Standardized Trail Rating System and Implications for a Trail Rating System Model. Unpublished master's thesis, University of Maine.


Presentations
Environmental Ethics: Challenges and Strategies of Measurement; The 11th International Symposium on Society and Resource Management, Ostersund, Sweden: June 16, 2005

Environmental Ethics of Rock Climbers in the Adirondacks: A Quantitative Approach; Northeast Recreation Research Symposium, Bolton Landing, NY: April 10, 2005

Wilderness in Our Changing New England Forests; New England Society of American Foresters Meeting, Portland, ME: March 16, 2005

Recreational Resources in Our Changing New England Forests; New England Society of American Foresters Meeting, Portland, ME: March 16, 2005

Education and Communication in Our Changing New England Forests; New England Society of American Foresters Meeting, Portland, ME: March 16, 2005

Human Resources in Our Changing New England Forests; New England Society of American Foresters Meeting, Portland, ME: March 16, 2005

Career Possibilities and Opportunities-Becoming a Professor at the National Recreation and Parks Association, Tampa, FL: October 16-18, 2002

Stories Living on the Land: Pre-modern Environmental Ethics for a Post-Modern World at the 1st Annual Meeting of The Art of the Story, Barbourville, KY: June 21-23, 2001

Fair Chase or Fair Game? How Guides and Outfitters Market Hunting on the Internet at the 10th Annual Meeting of the Association of Practical and Professional Ethics, Cincinnati, OH: March 1-4, 2001

Our Relationship with Nature: The 'Right' vs. the 'Good' at the Southeastern Recreation Research Conference, Asheville, NC: February 21-23, 2001

Invited Paper on Collaborative Approaches in Rock Climbing Research at the Regional Training Academy for the U.S. Forest Service, Region 1, Missoula, MT: 2000

Applying Participant Observation to Rock Climbing Issues in the Bitterroot Region of Montana at the Social Aspects of Recreation Research Symposium, Tempe, AZ: February 16-19, 2000

Factors that Limit Compliance with Low-Impact Recommendations (Poster Presentation) at the Wilderness Science Conference, Missoula, MT: May 23-27, 1999

America's Best Kept Secret: National Recreation Trails at the National Trails Symposium, Tucson, AZ: November 7-10, 1998

A Comprehensive Study of National Recreation Trails: An Overview at the Northeast Recreation Research Symposium, Bolton Landing, NY, 1997

The Identification of Criteria for a Trail Rating System and the Development of a Trail Rating System Model at the Northeast Recreation Research Symposium, Saratoga Springs, NY, 1995

A Trail Information System (TIS) Using Critical Criteria of Trail Settings: A GIS-Based Case Study in Acadia National Park, Maine (Poster Presentation) at the Northeast Recreation Research Symposium, Saratoga Springs, NY, 1995

Research Interests
My research over the past few years has centered on relationships between people and natural environments. More specifically, I have looked at environmental ethics as expressed through familiarity with place, decision-making regarding low-impact recommendations, and the ethics of rock climbing and rock climbers in the Bitterroot region of Montana.

Currently my research interests rest at the intersection of a handful of different themes: aesthetics, landscape ecology, environmental ethics, public land policy, and conservation initiatives. This combination parses out into at least three different research questions: 1) What is the relationship between expressed natural beauty and ecological integrity? 2) What influence does public land designation have on environmental ethics and vice versa? and 3) How are conservation initiatives informed by aesthetics, natural science, and public land policy?

Professional Memberships
International Association for Society and Natural Resources
Society for Conservation Biology
National Recreation and Parks Association
Society of American Foresters
The International Ecotourism Society

Classes Taught at Green Mountain College
ELA 1000: Images of Nature
ELA 1045: Environmental Ethics
ENV 3401: Forestry, Natural Resources, and Public Land Mangement in the Adirondacks (Fall 2004 Block Course)
NRM 1001: Introduction to Natural Resources Management
NRM 2015: Natural Resources Camp
NRM 4025: Resource Impacts and Management
REC 1032: Leadership and Group Dynamics
REC 3175: Ecotourism
REC 4031: Leisure Systems Design and Evaluation