Citizen Participation, NEPA, and Land-Use Planning in Northern New York, USA

Citizen participation and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) both have long and storied histories in environmental practice. Arnstein's ladder for citizen participation depicts a continuum of possibilities for public involvement in land-use planning, with nonparticipation at one extreme and full control at the other. This typology was published in 1969, but examples across the full spectrum can still be found in land-use and environmental planning today. The National Environmental Policy Act, enacted one year after publication of Arnstein's article, requires public involvement for environmental assessments of all federal actions significantly affecting the quality of the human environment. We employArnstein's typology to evaluate citizen participation in decisions about habitat protection in northern New York. This area has been identified as a critical location in the eastern North American flyway for migratory waterfowl. Initiatives to protect habitat reflected little public involvement before the implementation of NEPA, but substantial involvement afterwards. Before NEPA, residents were simply informed of agency actions. After NEPA, citizen participation caused a land acquisition plan to be withdrawn and replaced by a voluntary partnership program. Recently, a second acquisition proposal also was suspended, in part as a consequence of citizen input. These case studies demonstrate how citizens have utilized NEPAto participate in environmental decision making.