Evaluating a conservation investment designed to reduce human-wildlife conflict

Outreach programs are interventions that have the potential to influence the unique context of human-wildlife conflict as well as the political, economic, and social systems within which human-wildlife conflict occurs. However, evaluation of these programs is limited. The purpose of this research was to determine a human-wildlife conflict outreach intervention's effect on environmentally responsible behavior using the case of human-black bear conflict in New York, The New York NeighBEARhood Watch Program, and the Elaboration Likelihood Model. We found no short-term evidence of environmentally responsible behavior change after the program was implemented. We discuss inhibitors of desired program impact and the utility of our evaluation framework to measure program effect. Given the staying power of outreach interventions and their unknown effects on mitigating human-wildlife conflict, it is imperative that evaluation of programs be a required part of their implementation. Results presented herein can advance discussion about the role of outreach interventions by highlighting assumptions, realistic expectations, and outcome measures.