Human Ecology Mapping on the Upper Rogue River

Human Ecology Mapping on the Upper Rogue River: Lessons learned from a community engagement process was a talk presented at the Conference for Advancing Participatory Sciences in Portland, Oregon on May 27, 2025.

ABSTRACT

Human ecology mapping (HEM) is a public participation geographic information system that uses maps and surveys to collect and connect information about people’s experiences, values, and desires with where they live, work, and play. Recently, public controversy about use and management of a section of southern Oregon’s Upper Rogue River motivated four Oregon state agencies – the Department of State Lands, the Oregon State Marine Board, Oregon Parks and Recreation Department, and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife – to seek more information about what people think, feel, use, and want.

At the request of the agencies’ community engagement partner, Oregon’s Kitchen Table, our team of geographers and collaborative governance researchers adapted the HEM process for residents and visitors to share their experiences, values, and desires for the Upper Rogue River. Typically, we offer HEM as a standalone process; for the first time, we offered HEM as part of a larger suite of outreach and engagement activities. In addition to an online survey that included a reference map, our team put together a paper mapping exercise for in-person community conversations and cultural and community events. In just under three months, more than 2,600 people had participated across all platforms. 

In this presentation, we share successes, lessons, and reflections from this process, from working with different groups to working with the agencies. We learned what we map matters: the nature of the river limited how some people interacted with the map, sometimes beneficially. Digitizing and analyzing the collected data revealed opportunities to improve the implementation process. Importantly, we learned how to adapt and align research goals with on-the-ground practice. We share these lessons and reflections to begin a conversation about how to make HEM more understandable, accessible, and powerful as a data collection and community engagement tool for place-based participatory projects.

Presentation