While ecological restoration may help bridge the nature-culture
gap, restoration still holds relevant meanings for naturalness, as demonstrated
in this case study of staff and volunteers in the Cook County Forest Preserves
(CCFP) in Illinois, United States. Translating naturalness as an agency policy
into restoration goals for sites, CCFP integrated historical evidence, ecological
science, and human values. Naturalness was constructed as historical
fidelity, a scientific designation to be objectively discovered, while the scales
at which people interpreted historical fidelity, namely, species, communities,
processes, and practices, were sites of value deliberation. The multiple
renderings of naturalness can be a strength that provides flexibility to restore
what is locally valued, constructing restoration projects that acknowledge,
rather than attempt to overcome, the constructed nature of naturalness.