Abstract There has been a rise in environmental collaboratives as a form of watershed governance. These collaboratives depend on a diversity of organizations acting collectively by pooling their resources, yet little information exists as to why organizations decide to become involved in these initiatives. This study attempts to identify why organizations involved in watershed partnerships decide to participate by assessing external and internal motivations. We used Q method to survey 38 representatives from 32 organizations currently participating by investing time or resources in these partnerships in the Intermountain Western United States. Factor analysis revealed six distinct perspectives organizations hold that influence their decision to participate. Our findings differ from the broader environmental management literature in that internal motivations played a much larger role in organizations’ motivations for participation. Specific categories of internal motivations that were important included: 1) Environmental Mission, 2) Environmental Leadership, and 3) Wildfire Information. Results suggest that diverse strategies are needed to engage potential partner organizations in watershed collaboratives.

中文翻译：

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检查影响美国西部山间地区流域伙伴关系参与的动机

摘要 作为流域治理的一种形式，环境合作正在兴起。这些合作依赖于通过汇集资源而集体行动的各种组织，但关于组织为何决定参与这些举措的信息很少。本研究试图通过评估外部和内部动机来确定参与流域伙伴关系的组织为何决定参与。我们使用 Q 方法调查了目前参与的 32 个组织的 38 名代表，这些组织通过在美国西部山区的这些伙伴关系中投入时间或资源来参与。因素分析揭示了组织持有的影响他们参与决策的六种不同观点。我们的发现不同于更广泛的环境管理文献，因为内部动机在组织的参与动机中发挥了更大的作用。重要的内部动机的具体类别包括：1) 环境使命，2) 环境领导力，和 3) 野火信息。结果表明，需要采取多种策略来吸引潜在的合作伙伴组织参与流域合作。