Exploring the Feasibility of Mediated Final Offer Arbitration As a Technique for Managing “Gridlocked” Environmental Conflict

This article presents a case study of what may be one of the first applications of mediated final offer arbitration to a Forest Service recreation user conflict. The case involved snowmobile/cross-country ski conflict on the Wasatch–Cache National Forest of northern Utah. A conflict assessment revealed that neither party had any interest in face-to-face negotiation, but the local Forest Service managers had been tasked by their superiors to engage them. A mediation phase followed by a final offer arbitration phase led to a speedy completion of the process; a decision was rendered less than 3 months after the process was initially convened. Both the theoretical case for using mediated final offer arbitration and the policy argument of more innovation in negotiated/mediated approaches to natural resource disputes are discussed.