Using Newspaper Coverage Analysis to Evaluate Public Perception of Management in River-Floodplain Systems Brack W. Hale Received: 6 August 2009 / Accepted: 11 February 2010 / Published online: 13 March 2010 Ó Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2010 Abstract Traditional natural resource management approaches often focus on a specific natural resource and ignore social components other than economic value. In contrast, new approaches to resource management, such as those employing ecosystem management strategies, rec- ognize and strive to incorporate other social components of the managed system. This study uses a content analysis of regional newspaper coverage of two relatively new reserves in river-floodplain systems, the Lower Wisconsin State Riverway and the Middle Elbe Biosphere Reserve, to analyze each reserve’s success in managing the social components of its resources during each reserve’s first ten years. The results suggest that positive coverage of both reserves has increased, as has the perceived authority of the reserve staff, as measured by trends in the quantity of direct quotes. The Middle Elbe Biosphere Reserve received approximately three times more coverage than its Wis- consin counterpart, suggesting that the more extensive public outreach program of the former is an important tool in dealing with social issues within a conservation reserve. Keywords Ecosystem management Á Lower Wisconsin State Riverway Á Middle Elbe Biosphere Reserve Á Content analysis Á Protected areas management Introduction In the past several decades, interest in conservation reserves in remnant river-floodplain systems has increased (Palmer 1986; Benke 1990; Bra ¨uer and Loza ´n 1996). Human use and settlement in these areas are not generally amenable to traditional protected areas management, such as a national park; and thus new styles of management are needed for these systems (Batisse 1997; Shafer 1999). Ecosystem management, which has gained recognition as an effective way to manage protected areas in today’s complex mixture of natural and social systems, emphasizes the importance of the human component of these systems and the proper consideration and incorporation of human needs into management policies (Grumbine 1994; Meffe and others 2002). Accordingly, new conservation reserves seek to establish legitimacy with local residents and other stakeholders, as well as educate them about the importance of conservation in the reserve. Analyzing media coverage of a conservation reserve provides one possible means to evaluate a reserve’s perceived legitimacy by its constitu- ents. This study analyzes newspaper coverage to under- stand better how two relatively new river-floodplain reserves are managing selected social components of the respective system. In the developed countries of North America and Wes- tern Europe, human uses have significantly altered river- floodplain systems (Tockner and Stanford 2002). Dams and other channel training structures, which have improved boat transportation on rivers and often generate hydro- power, have disrupted the natural hydrology of the rivers. Levees, which provide local flood protection, have dis- connected floodplains from their river. Many of these floodplain areas have also been drained for agriculture and settlement, further altering natural hydrologic conditions. B. W. Hale (&) Department of Math and Natural Science, Franklin College- Switzerland, Via Ponte Tresa 29, Sorengo 6924, Switzerland e-mail: bhale@fc.edu 123 Environmental Management (2010) 45:1155–1163 DOI 10.1007/s00267-010-9456-8