This study examines community-forest relationships and shared stewardship opportunities between the Pasto Seco community in Las Piedras, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Forest Service at El Yunque National Forest. Conducted shortly after the 2019 Forest Management Plan revision that established the Community Interface Resource Management Area (CIRMA) to facilitate collaborative governance, this research represents the first formal investigation of forest-community dynamics in Pasto Seco, a community adjacent to El Yunque National Forest. Using a mixed-methods approach combining semi-structured interviews (n=20) and surveys (n=59), I assessed residents' sense of place attachments, identified community values, challenges, opportunities and evaluated knowledge regarding Forest Service roles and shared stewardship concepts.Results revealed strong place attachment to both Pasto Seco and El Yunque National Forest, with over 70% of residents expressing positive emotional connections to both locations. Correlation analyses showed unexpected findings that challenge conventional place attachment theory: length of residency showed no relationship with attachment to El Yunque (r = 0.043, p = .771), while self-reported forest knowledge demonstrated only weak positive association with attachment (r = 0.198, p = .239). Most significantly, place attachment showed no relationship with stewardship awareness (r = .012, p = .937), and despite 64.4% of residents reporting being "very likely" to participate in shared stewardship projects, place attachment did not predict participation likelihood (r = 0.121, p = .430). These findings indicate that emotional connection exists independently of both knowledge about collaborative management opportunities and stated willingness to participate. However, residents aware of shared stewardship concepts reported moderately higher forest knowledge (M = 6.33, SD = 2.58) compared to those unaware (M = 5.31, SD = 2.96), suggesting that knowledge and stewardship awareness may reinforce each other when institutional pathways exist. The río (river) emerged as a multidimensional focal point encompassing recreational, spiritual, and functional significance, providing pathways to place attachment that integrate personal, community, and natural environment dimensions. Despite high educational attainment (42% holding post-secondary degrees), residents face significant economic constraints, with 51% earning less than $20,000 annually. Critical challenges include damaged infrastructure (100% identifying as "very worrying"), river illegal dumping (96%), and perceived municipal abandonment (96%). Knowledge gaps present substantial barriers to collaboration: only 16% of residents clearly understood the Forest Service's role, and 76% had never heard of "shared stewardship." The findings reveal that strong place attachments, community interest in collaboration, and high stated participation likelihood coexist with institutional barriers and communication failures that prevent meaningful engagement. This disconnect suggests that attachment alone is insufficient for stewardship—institutional scaffolding including targeted communication strategies, trust-building, and economic accessibility is essential to convert emotional investment into collaborative action. The river's multidimensional significance offers a natural entry point for watershed-based shared stewardship that could bridge institutional and community priorities. This case study advances community-based natural resource management theory by demonstrating that attachment forms through meaningful landscape features and shared experiences rather than time accumulation, and that strong emotional connections require institutional structures to convert into collaborative action. Recommendations include: (1) river-centered restoration projects addressing immediate community concerns (illegal dumping, water quality monitoring) to build trust while respecting tranquility values; (2) economic accessibility in program design; (3) watershed-scale management frameworks recognizing the río as connective tissue between community and forest; (4) Spanish-language outreach clarifying Forest Service roles and reframing "shared stewardship" in culturally resonant terms; and (5) digital participatory mapping to document ecosystem service values and land use perceptions, creating project feasibility tools that align Forest Service priorities with community needs across El Yunque's boundary communities. This research provides foundational social data for CIRMA implementation in Puerto Rico's unique colonial and socio-ecological context.