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available funds, staff leads, schedules for implemen- <br />tation, monitoring, and re- evaluation of the actions. <br />Understanding the human dimensions of wild- <br />life management will also be key to evaluating and <br />prioritizing alternative actions. The study of human <br />dimensions of wildlife management is described as <br />"how and why humans value natural resources, how <br />humans want resources managed, and how humans <br />affect or are affected by natural resources manage- <br />ment decisions" (Decker et al. 2001). Human <br />dimensions research focuses on a number of inte- <br />grated social and wildlife issues such as: cultural <br />and social values, human behavior, risk perception, <br />legal and institutional frameworks of management, <br />communication and education, and decision - making <br />processes of management (Decker et al. 2001). By <br />working closely with natural resource managers, <br />human dimensions experts strive to incorporate <br />new understanding into management planning and <br />action. Social science methods and tools used to eval- <br />uate the human dimensions of wildlife and case stud- <br />ies on how human dimensions assessments have been <br />used to develop natural management actions can be <br />found at: http: / /www.hd.gov /HDdotGov /. <br />, <br />One of the most critical steps in any planning effort is <br />the creation of specific, measurable goals and objec- <br />tives that are associated with your expected impact <br />on the conservation targets given your management <br />actions. Goals generally represent your desired future <br />condition, or at least the maintenance of the current <br />condition, of your targets and should reflect the <br />values of the stakeholders, including social, econom- <br />ic or other factors. Although the terms are often <br />used interchangeably, objectives can be distinguished <br />from goals if they specify desired changes in the short <br />and medium -term that may ultimately support the <br />Figure 5 -4. Appropriate management actions can be identified using a conceptual model. Management <br />intervention points or conservation actions are identified by yellow hexagons. <br />