Collaborative Implementation for Ecological Restoration on US Public Lands: Implications for Legal Context,Accountability, and Adaptive Management

The Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program (CFLRP), established in 2009, encourages collaborative landscape scale ecosystem restoration efforts on United States Forest Service (USFS) lands. Although the USFS employees have experience engaging in collaborative planning, CFLRP requires collaboration in implementation, a domain where little prior experience can be drawn on for guidance. The purpose of this research is to identify the ways in which CFLRP’s collaborative participants and agency personnel conceptualize how stakeholders can contribute to implementation on landscape scale restoration projects, and to build theory on dynamics of collaborative implementation in environmental management. This research uses a grounded theory methodology to explore collaborative implementation from the perspectives and experiences of participants in landscapes selected as part of the CFLRP in 2010. Interviewees characterized collaborative implementation as encompassing three different types of activities: prioritization, enhancing treatments, and multiparty monitoring. The paper describes examples of activities in each of these categories and then identifies ways in which collaborative implementation in the context of CFLRP (1) is both hindered and enabled by overlapping legal mandates about agency collaboration, (2) creates opportunities for expanded accountability through informal and relational means, and, (3) creates feedback loops at multiple temporal and spatial scales through which monitoring information, prioritization, and implementation actions shape restoration work both within and across projects throughout the landscape creating more robust opportunities for adaptive management.     

Restoration of a Canadian Prairie Wetland with Agricultural and Municipal Wastewater

3 /day (800,000 US gallons) of municipal wastewater and beef processing wastewater. A large nongovernmental organization hastened restoration with a development process that outlined restoration goals and management objectives to satisfy a dual mandate of wastewater treatment and wildlife habitat creation. In 1995, after five years of wastewater additions, the basins had been refilled and the surrounding uplands had been acquired and restored. The Frank Lake Conservation Area currently provides high-quality habitat for a variety of wildlife in a region where many of the native plants and animals species have been lost due to habitat loss and fragmentation. The success of upland and water management strategies is reflected in the increase of target species' abundance and richness: 50 shorebird species, 44 waterfowl species, 15 raptor species, and 28 other new bird species have returned to the marsh since restoration. As well, significant N and P reduction occurs as waters flow through the first basin of the marsh. The management strategies of this project that satisfied a dual mandate serve as a model to guide managers of other large-scale wetland restoration projects.     

Social learning in a policy-mandated collaboration: community wildfire protection planning in the eastern United States

Policies such as the US Healthy Forests Restoration Act (HFRA) mandate collaboration in planning to create benefits such as social learning and shared understanding among partners. However, some question the ability of top-down policy to foster successful local collaboration. Through in-depth interviews and document analysis, this paper investigates social learning and transformative learning in three case studies of Community Wildfire Protection Planning (CWPP), a policy-mandated collaboration under HFRA. Not all CWPP groups engaged in social learning. Those that did learned most about organisational priorities and values through communicative learning. Few participants gained new skills or knowledge through instrumental learning. CWPP groups had to commit to learning, but the design of the collaborative-mandate influenced the type of learning that was most likely to occur. This research suggests a potential role for top-down policy in setting the structural context for learning at the local level, but also confirms the importance of collaborative context and process in fostering social learning.     

面向管理的海洋修复工程生态绩效考核指标体系构建研究

目前国内关于海洋修复工程的考核研究多为修复工程的生态效果考核,极少包含成本效益考核,以致无法比较和分析不同类型、不同规模的海洋修复工程的生态绩效,不利于海洋修复工程的考核和验收管理。根据当前自然资源部实施“蓝色海湾”等整治修复工程的检查验收管理的新需求,本文构建了基于海洋生态系统健康恢复、生态系统服务价值增长和单位成本生态效益等理论的海洋修复工程生态绩效考核指标体系。此外,本文以温州海域2014—2016年海洋修复的生态绩效的考核为例,结合考核结果以及直接相关性、独立性、可测量性和业务化等指标选取原则,对指标体系进行了改进。结果表明本指标体系可以在海洋修复工程的检查验收中被用于生态绩效考核,管理部门可根据海洋修复工程的类型和管理需求,有选择性地采纳部分或全部指标进行考核。     

Effects of Community-Based Collaborative Group Characteristics on Social Capital

Recent research suggests that community-based collaboration may build social capital—defined as trust, norms of reciprocity, and networks. Social capital may improve a group’s ability to collaborate, manage risk, innovate, and adapt to change. We used mail surveys of group participants and key informant interviews to assess whether the following collaborative group characteristics affected social capital built within 10 collaborative groups in northwest Colorado: perceived success, conflict, activeness, stakeholder diversity, previous collaboration experience, similar values and beliefs, group size, group age, and initial social capital. Perceived success and initial levels of social capital were the strongest predictors of current levels of and changes in social capital over time. Collaboration experience negatively influenced current levels of trust. Our results suggest that collaborative groups may need to consider the outcomes of collaborative interactions in order to build social capital.     

A Framework for Assessing Collaborative Capacity in Community-Based Public Forest Management

Community-based collaborative groups involved in public natural resource management are assuming greater roles in planning, project implementation, and monitoring. This entails the capacity of collaborative groups to develop and sustain new organizational structures, processes, and strategies, yet there is a lack of understanding what constitutes collaborative capacity. In this paper, we present a framework for assessing collaborative capacities associated with community-based public forest management in the US. The framework is inductively derived from case study research and observations of 30 federal forest-related collaborative efforts. Categories were cross-referenced with literature on collaboration across a variety of contexts. The framework focuses on six arenas of collaborative action: (1) organizing, (2) learning, (3) deciding, (4) acting, (5) evaluating, and (6) legitimizing. Within each arena are capacities expressed through three levels of social agency: individuals, the collaborative group itself, and participating or external organizations. The framework provides a language and set of organizing principles for understanding and assessing collaborative capacity in the context of community-based public forest management. The framework allows groups to assess what capacities they already have and what more is needed. It also provides a way for organizations supporting collaboratives to target investments in building and sustaining their collaborative capacities. The framework can be used by researchers as a set of independent variables against which to measure collaborative outcomes across a large population of collaborative efforts.     

Restoring Forest Landscapes: Important Lessons Learnt

Forest restoration at large scales, or landscapes, is an approach that is increasingly relevant to the practice of environmental conservation. However, implementation remains a challenge; poor monitoring and lesson learning lead to similar mistakes being repeated. The World Wildlife Fund (WWF), the global conservation organization, recently took stock of its 10 years of implementation of forest landscape restoration. A significant body of knowledge has emerged from the work of the WWF and its partners in the different countries, which can be of use to the wider conservation community, but for this to happen, lessons need to be systematically collected and disseminated in a coherent manner to the broader conservation and development communities and, importantly, to policy makers. We use this review of the WWF’s experiences and compare and contrast it with other relevant and recent literature to highlight 11 important lessons for future large-scale forest restoration interventions. These lessons are presented using a stepwise approach to the restoration of forested landscapes. We identify the need for long-term commitment and funding, and a concerted and collaborative effort for successful forest landscape restoration. Our review highlights that monitoring impact within landscape-scale forest restoration remains inadequate. We conclude that forest restoration within landscapes is a challenging yet important proposition that has a real but undervalued place in environmental conservation in the twenty-first century.     

Critique of present wetlands mitigation policies in the united states based on an analysis of past restoration projects in San Francisco Bay

A detailed evaluation of past wetland restoration projects in San Francisco Bay was undertaken to determine their present status and degree of success. Many of the projects never reached the level of success purported and others have been plagued by serious problems. On the basis of these findings, it is debatable whether any sites in San Francisco Bay can be described as completed, active, or successful restoration projects at present. In spite of these limited accomplishments, wetland creation and restoration have been adopted in the coastal permit process as mitigation to offset environmental damage or loss of habitat. However, because the technology is still largely experimental, there is no guarantee that man-made wetlands will persist as permanent substitutes for sacrificed natural habitats. Existing permit policies should be reanalyzed to insure that they actually succeed in safeguarding diminishing wetlands resources rather than bartering them away for questionable habitat substitutes. Coastal managers must be more specific about project requirements and goals before approval is granted. Continued research on a regional basis is needed to advance marsh establishment techniques into a proven technology. In the meantime, policies encouraging or allowing quid pro quo exchanges of natural wetlands with man-made replacements should proceed with caution. The technology and management policies used at present are many steps ahead of the needed supporting documentation.     

Enhancing Plan Quality: Evaluating the Role of State Planning Mandates for Natural Hazard Mitigation

Traditionally, responsibility for land planning in the United States lies with local governments. However, a growing number of states over the past several decades have attempted to exert more influence on how local governments plan for development. This paper uses empirical data from natural hazard elements of 139 community plans in five states to assess whether such state mandates actually result in better local plans. We find that a state mandate not only achieves plans from communities that otherwise would not make a plan, but in addition those plans are of higher quality than plans made voluntarily in communities not under a mandate to plan. W e find that a state mandate substitutes for the absence of any positive political forces for planning and overcomes local political, economic and physical obstacles to planning. Further, the form of the mandate and the state level implementation effort makes a difference, so that some states' mandates achieve local plans of higher quality than those created in other mandating states. Because the data on which these conclusions are based are limited to natural hazards elements of general plans, we feel most confident about their generalization to all elements of local plans.     

Tracking collaboration: forest planning and local participation on the San Juan National Forest,Colorado

The proliferation of community-based collaborative approaches to public land management and planning has spawned many questions regarding issues of community representation and the effects of participation for local residents. This paper presents a longitudinal assessment of local resident participation in collaborative forest planning on local community–forest relations in southwestern Colorado. Using survey data of participants involved in the San Juan National Forest's forest plan revision community study groups from 1998 to 2003, we assess participation in terms of community representation and the effects of community-based collaboration upon individuals' forest uses, forest values, and the level and form of involvement in forest management and planning activities. Results show that community representation remains slanted towards existing active stakeholders, and that while forest values, uses, and frequencies of involvement change little, participants cite positive effects in terms of the development of new knowledge, personal relationships, and greater confidence to engage in forest management affairs.     

Why Won’t They Come? Stakeholder Perspectives on Collaborative National Forest Planning by Participation Level

Collaboration has taken root in national forest planning, providing expanded opportunities for stakeholder participation in decision-making, but are these processes considered meaningful by key stakeholders? Do the processes result in increased participation by key stakeholders? We present results of a study of stakeholder perspectives of a collaborative planning process on the Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre, and Gunnison National Forests in Western Colorado, U.S.A. The stakeholders were stratified by participation levels in order to explore a possible relationship between participation and perceptions of the collaborative process. We used a Q-methodology approach to compare and contrast perspectives across participant levels in the North Fork Valley Landscape Working Group process. The results demonstrate four distinct perspectives on the collaborative process: 1) The collaborative process is valued by the Forest Service and will directly influence planning decisions; 2) The Forest Service, the collaborative process, and other stakeholders are not to be trusted; 3) The collaborative process is most effective when emphasizing place-specific dialogue that primarily involves stakeholders educating the Forest Service about issues; and 4) Forest planning involves issues requiring the application of scientific knowledge and expertise rather than collaboration. These perspectives were not strongly associated with participation levels, with time constraint being the primary mediating factor affecting participation. There are several possible actions policymakers and planners can take to enhance participation and overcome high rates of nonparticipation.     

Toward an Integrated Classification of Ecosystems: Defining Opportunities for Managing Fish and Forest Health

/ Many of the aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems of the Pacific Northwest United States have been simplified and degraded in part through past land-management activities. Recent listings of fishes under the Endangered Species Act and major new initiatives for the restoration of forest health have precipitated contentious debate among managers and conservation interests in the region. Because aggressive management activities proposed for forest restoration may directly affect watershed processes and functions, the goals of aquatic and terrestrial conservation and restoration are generally viewed as in conflict. The inextricable links in ecological processes and functions, however, suggest the two perspectives should really represent elements of the same problem; that of conserving and restoring more functional landscapes. We used recent information on the status and distribution of forest and fish communities to classify river subbasins across the region and explore the potential conflict and opportunity for a more integrated view of management. Our classification indicated that there are often common trends in terrestrial and aquatic communities that highlight areas of potential convergence in management goals. Regions where patterns diverge may emphasize the need for particular care and investment in detailed risk analyses. Our spatially explicit classification of subbasin conditions provides a mechanism for progress in three areas that we think is necessary for a more integrated approach to management: (1) communication among disciplines; (2) effective prioritization of limited conservation and restoration resources; and (3) a framework for experimentation and demonstration of commitment and untested restoration techniques.     

浅谈风力发电项目生态恢复环境监理

低山丘陵区风力发电场项目建设对生态的破坏日益明显,开展风电场施工期环境监理具有重要意义。通过对低山丘陵区风电项目施工期环境监理经验的总结,阐述了铁岭市风电场生态恢复的现状及开展生态恢复环境监理的重要作用,并对施工期的合理安排、原生植被的保护与利用、监理关键技术及环境监理人员的素质要求等相关生态恢复环境监理问题进行了探讨。     

The network imaginary: coherence and creativity within a multiscalar collaborative effort to reform US fire management

In response to the ongoing crisis in fire management, the US Fire Learning Network (FLN) engages partners in collaborative, landscape-scale ecological fire restoration. The paper contends that the FLN employs technologies, planning guidelines and media to articulate an FLN imaginary that co-ordinates independent efforts to engage in ecological fire restoration work without need of either hierarchal authority or collective social capital. This imaginary may allow the FLN to draw on the creativity and adaptive innovation of collaboration to reform fire management institutions and fire-adapted ecosystems.     

Restoration of Riparian Buffer Function in Reclaimed Surface Mine Soils

Ecosystem processes such as water infiltration and denitrification largely determine how riparian buffers function to protect surface water quality. Reclaimed mine areas offer a unique opportunity to study the restoration of riparian function without the confounding influence of past land use. Between 1980 and 2000 in southern Illinois, agricultural fields with forest buffers were established along three restored stream reaches in reclaimed mine land. Our research objective was to compare common indicators of soil quality (infiltration, soil C and N, bulk density, and soil moisture) between forest and cultivated riparian zones to determine if riparian function was being restored. Soil bulk density was significantly lower in the forest buffers compared to the agricultural fields. The forest buffers had greater soil total C, total N, and moisture levels than agricultural fields likely due to greater organic matter inputs. Soil total C and N levels in forest buffers were positively related to age of restoration, indicating soil quality is gradually being restored in the buffers. Restoration success of riparian buffers should not be estimated by the return of structure alone; it also includes reestablishment of functions such as nutrient cycling and water retention that largely determine water quality benefits. Watershed planning efforts can expect a lag time on the order of decades between riparian restoration activities and surface water quality improvement.     

Typologizing Stakeholder Information Use to Better Understand the Impacts of Collaborative Climate Science

There is increasing interest among scholars in producing information that is useful and usable to land and natural resource managers in a changing climate. This interest has prompted transitions from scientist- to stakeholder-driven or collaborative approaches to climate science. A common indicator of successful collaboration is whether stakeholders use the information resulting from the projects in which they are engaged. However, detailed examples of how stakeholders use climate information are relatively scarce in the literature, leading to a challenge in understanding what researchers can and should expect and plan for in terms of stakeholder use of research findings. Drawing on theoretical, typological, and evaluation insights from the field of information use, we examine stakeholder use of climate information emerging from 13 collaborative climate science projects conducted in the western United States between 2012 and 2016. Three primary types of use emerge from our findings—conceptual, instrumental, and justification—reflecting common typologization of information use. Conceptual use was the most predominant. We suggest that researcher awareness of this typology can enable more systematic understanding of what project outputs stakeholders use and impacts of those outputs, giving way to new areas of inquiry and aiding in the conceptualization and design of climate information products for land and natural resource managers.     

Natural resource industry involvement in collaboration for water governance: influence on processes and outcomes in Canada

Natural resource industries are increasingly significant actors in environmental decision-making. Possessing vast institutional and technical capacity, firms have an important role to play in ‘new’ governance strategies such as collaboration. These strategies are often based upon assumptions of equitable influence. This paper investigates the nature of resource industry participation in collaborative water governance in Canada, and the potential consequences of that participation as investigated using power theory. The study used comparative cases to reveal that resource industries are able to shape collaboration, and the issues collaborated upon, at multiple analytical levels both internal and external to the collaborative process in ways not available to other actors. Analysis also revealed that resource industry participation in collaboration did not reflect a commitment to engage in shared learning and the reexamination of values and interests as presupposed by collaborative theory. Collaboration is thus challenged in producing equitable, representative outcomes when resource industries participate.     

Compliance with Wetland Mitigation Standards in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, USA

The United States has lost about half its wetland acreage since European settlement, and the effectiveness of current wetland mitigation policies is often questioned. In most states, federal wetland laws are overseen by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, but Michigan administers these laws through the state's Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ). Our research provides insight into the effectiveness of the state's implementation of these laws. We examined wetland mitigation permit files issued in Michigan's Upper Peninsula between 2003 and 2006 to assess compliance with key MDEQ policies. Forty-six percent of files were out of compliance with monitoring report requirements, and forty-nine percent lacked required conservation easement documents. We also conducted site assessments of select compensatory wetland projects to determine compliance with MDEQ invasive plant species performance standards. Fifty-five percent were out of compliance. We found no relationship between invasive species noncompliance and past site monitoring, age of mitigation site, or proximity to roads. However, we found wetland restoration projects far more likely to be compliant with performance standards than wetland creation projects. We suggest policy changes and agency actions that could increase compliance with wetland restoration and mitigation goals.     

Cultivating collaboration: Lessons from initiatives to understand and manage cumulative impacts in Australian resource regions

Australia has experienced rapid development within its resource regions, with traditional mining sectors like coal, iron-ore and natural gas expanding and new industries such as coal seam gas emerging. As a result, there is an increasing prevalence and awareness of the cumulative impacts of the extractive resource industries on the society, environment and economy of these regions. Collaborative governance is emerging as a means of addressing cumulative impacts. This article undertakes an analysis of 30 case studies of collaborative governance in the resources sector of Australia. The initiatives analysed range from those focussed on information exchange and coordination to higher degrees of collaboration that involve shared resources and shared risks. The study demonstrates that there are challenges in using collaborative approaches to tackle cumulative impacts, but that significant benefits can be realised. The study highlights the need to nurture and cultivate collaborative relationships in order to provide the foundation for long-term solutions.     

A GIS Approach to Prioritizing Habitat for Restoration Using Neotropical Migrant Songbird Criteria

Restoration efforts to increase wildlife habitat quality in agricultural landscapes have limited funding and are typically done on a first come, first serve basis. In order to increase the efficiency of these restoration efforts, a prioritized ranking system is needed to obtain the greatest increase in habitat quality possible for the fewest amount of hectares restored. This project examines the use of a GIS based multi-criteria approach to prioritize lands for reforestation along the Kaskaskia River in Illinois. Loss of forested area and corresponding increase in forest fragmentation has decreased songbird habitat quality across the Midwestern United States. We prioritized areas for reforestation based on nine landscape metrics: available agricultural land, forest cover gaps, edge density, proximity to river, 200 m corridor area, total forest core area, fringe core area, distance to primary core value, and primary core area. The multi-criteria analysis revealed that high priority areas for reforestation were most likely to be close to the riparian corridor and existing large blocks of forest. Analysis of simulated reforestation (0, 0.5, 1.0, 5.0 10.0, 25.0, and 50.0% of highest priority parcels reforested) revealed different responses for multiple landscape metrics used to quantify forest fragmentation following reforestation, but indicated that the study area would get the greatest rate of return on reforestation efforts by reforesting 10.0% of the highest priority areas. This project demonstrates how GIS and a multi-criteria analysis approach can be used to increase the efficiency of restoration projects. This approach should be considered by land managers when attempting to identify the location and quantity of area for restoration within a landscape.