DJ Case and Associates has been doing conservation engagement since 1986 — and doing it digitally since 2004. We are social scientists, biologists, strategic communication planners, story tellers, video producers, and web application developers. We engage exclusively on natural resource conservation and outdoor recreation pursuits. Here are just a few of our recent endeavors:
Profound changes are occurring in the American public’s connections to nature, the outdoors, and wildlife. Participation in traditional, nature-based recreation is stagnant or declining, Americans are spending more time indoors, and they are using electronic media more than ever before. At the same time, there is growing evidence that human health and wellbeing depend on beneficial contact with nature.
The Illinois Department of Natural Resources started work with DJ Case in 1992, when support for furbearer hunting and trapping was so low that these important, highly-regulated wildlife management tools were in danger of loss.
Sea level rise due to our changing climate is leading to losses in vital coastal habitats throughout the world, presenting a complex and pressing conservation concern.
Adaptation planning is necessary if U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Coastal National Wildlife Refuges are going to maintain the goods and services provided from healthy coastal habitats.
The jack pine forest of northern Michigan is a fire-dependent ecological community and the summer home of the endangered Kirtland’s warbler.
The USA-National Phenology Network — a consortium that collects standardized observations of phenology — has millions of data points on plant and animal phenology observations (e.g. when cherry trees bloom, trees bud, robins build nests, leaves turn, etc.).
The Platte River Recovery Implementation Program had thousands of documents and zillions of data points to manage — and their legacy SharePoint and SQL database systems just weren't cutting it.
DJ Case has been on the forefront of efforts to help agencies and their partners assess and improve existing programs and design and implement new programs to increase hunter and angler participation across the country.
The U.S. Forest Service's Northern Institute of Applied Climate Science (NIACS) needed a way to extend and amplify delivery of its Adaptation Workbook to resource managers. The program's materials and workshops were tremendously successful but needed a way to reach a wider, more diverse audience with the information and tools to develop climate adaptation plans for forests, agriculture and urban forests.
Participation in hunting and fishing is declining nationally among traditional audiences, but bucking the trend are people interested in wild harvest as a way to obtain local, wholesome protein. “Locavores” (as they are called) strive to consume local, organic, sustainable food — often through gardening, foraging farm markets--and hunting and fishing.
The Alaska Department of Fish & Game issues around half a million sport fishing licenses to anglers in the U.S. alone. These translate into millions of trips across the state. Governing these trips are regulations, which the department consistently hears are difficult to understand and follow.
Coyotes have adapted well to suburban and urban landscapes. Their populations have tremendously expanded in areas where they come into contact — and sometimes conflict — with people. Unlike many other wildlife species that inhabit cities, coyotes are often considered a nuisance when they are simply seen. People are sensitive to the animals' real or perceived threat to pets or children.
DJ Case combines social science research techniques with communication theory and marketing savvy to make existing programs better — and develop new programs that hit the targets.
We have worked with state agencies across the nation. Here are just a few examples:
American forests are aging, and wildlife that depend on young forests for survival are in long-term decline. To grow populations of unique critters like golden-winged warbler, American woodcock, and the endangered Appalachian cottontail, the Pennsylvania Game Commission and the Wildlife Management Institute partnered with DJ Case and Associates to implement a marketing strategy to increase the number of private landowners who harvest trees and grow young forests.
Northeastern state wildlife agencies recognized that residents of the region were encountering similar wildlife conflicts and that they should work together to offer solutions. Through Northeast Wildlife Administrator's Association (NEWAA) leadership, the agencies sought a way to provide sound, consistent and legal advice while minimizing the time needed for individual agencies to create and manage their own content.
