Adaptive Management on Public Lands in the United States: Commitment or Rhetoric?

Adaptive management (AM) is the process of implementing land management activities in incremental steps and evaluating whether desired outcomes are being achieved at each step. If conditions deviate substantially from predictions, management activities are adjusted to achieve the desired outcomes. Thus, AM is a kind of monitoring, an activity that land management agencies have done poorly for the most part, at least with respect to ground-based monitoring. Will they do better in the future? We doubt it unless costs, personnel, and future commitment are seriously addressed. Because ecosystem responses to management impacts can ripple into the distant future, monitoring programs that address only the near future (e.g., 10–20 years), are probably unreliable for making statements about resource conditions in the distant future. We give examples of this. Feedback loops between ecosystem response and adjustment of management actions are often broken, and therefore AM again fails. Successful ground-based monitoring must address these and other points that agencies commonly ignore. As part of the solution, publics distrustful of agency activities should be included in any monitoring program.     

An Event-Based Approach for Examining the Effects of Wildland Fire Decisions on Communities

Public concern over the consequences of forest fire to wildland interface communities has led to increased resources devoted to fire suppression, fuel treatment, and management of fire events. The social consequences of the decisions involved in these and other fire-related actions are largely unknown, except in an anecdotal sense, but do occur at a variety of temporal and social organizational scales. These consequences are not limited to the fire event itself. Preparation for the possibility of a fire, actions that suppression agencies take during a fire, and postfire decisions all have consequences, if unknown currently. This article presents an "event-based" approach that can be useful for constructing and systematic discussion about the consequences of wildland fire to human communities. For each of the three major periods within this approach, agencies, communities, and individuals make decisions and take actions that have consequences. The article presents an integrated, temporally based process for examining these consequences, which is similar to others developed in the natural hazards and disaster management literature.     

Improving the Integration of Recreation Management with Management of Other Natural Resources by Applying Concepts of Scale from Ecology

In this article, we examine how issues of scale affect the integration of recreation management with the management of other natural resources on public lands. We present two theories used to address scale issues in ecology and explore how they can improve the two most widely applied recreation-planning frameworks. The theory of patch dynamics and hierarchy theory are applied to the recreation opportunity spectrum (ROS) and the limits of acceptable change (LAC) recreation-planning frameworks. These frameworks have been widely adopted internationally, and improving their ability to integrate with other aspects of natural resource management has significant social and conservation implications. We propose that incorporating ecologic criteria and scale concepts into these recreation-planning frameworks will improve the foundation for integrated land management by resolving issues of incongruent boundaries, mismatched scales, and multiple-scale analysis. Specifically, we argue that whereas the spatially explicit process of the ROS facilitates integrated decision making, its lack of ecologic criteria, broad extent, and large patch size decrease its usefulness for integration at finer scales. The LAC provides explicit considerations for weighing competing values, but measurement of recreation disturbances within an LAC analysis is often done at too fine a grain and at too narrow an extent for integration with other recreation and resource concerns. We suggest that planners should perform analysis at multiple scales when making management decisions that involve trade-offs among competing values. The United States Forest Service is used as an example to discuss how resource-management agencies can improve this integration.     

Strategies of environmental organizations in the Netherlands with regard to the acidification problem

Summary It is usually assumed that a strategy should be considered to be a quality of an environmental organization. The organization would either employ a characteristic strategy with respect to a problem over time or at least it would use the same strategy regarding different problems at a certain point in time.The purpose of this study was to investigate whether strategies of environmental organizations concerning acidification change over time; and are the same as those in respect of ozone depletion. The results show that strategies regarding acidification changed over time and that they were different from those concerning ozone depletion (obtained from an earlier case study). In the ozone depletion case only environmentally-oriented organizations were actively involved with the problem. The definition in society of acidification as a dying forest issue attracted, however, attention from nature-oriented organizations as well. The resulting broad spectrum of organizations mutually influenced each other's strategies. These findings indicate that the definition of a problem in society is very important for determining the strategies pursued by environmental organizations. This conclusion has not merely academic value, but it can also serve as a boundary condition when defining future strategies of environmental organizations.Ruud Pleune is a Research Associate in the Department of Science, Technology and Society at Utrecht University.     

Economic viability of packaging waste recycling systems: A comparison between Belgium and Portugal

The Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive has had an undeniable impact on waste management throughout the European Union. Whereas recycling and recovery targets are the same, member states still enjoy a considerable degree of freedom with respect to the practical organization and management strategies adopted. Nevertheless, in all cases, the industry (which brings packaging material onto the market) should be responsible for the costs associated with packaging waste recycling/recovery (following the extended producer responsibility principle). The current paper compares and contrasts the institutional frameworks and financial costs and benefits of waste management operators for Belgium and Portugal. The unit costs of selective collection and sorting of packaging waste are provided for both countries. In Belgium, the costs of recycling seem to be fully supported by the industry (through Fost Plus, the national Green Dot agency). In Portugal the fairness of the recycling system depends on the perspective adopted (economic or strictly financial). Adopting a strictly financial perspective, it seems that Sociedade Ponto Verde (SPV, the Portuguese Green Dot agency) should increase the transfers to local authorities. However, the conclusions differ for this country if the avoided costs with refuse collection and other treatment are taken into account.     

Communicating About Smoke from Wildland Fire: Challenges and Opportunities for Managers

Wildland fire and associated management efforts are dominant topics in natural resource fields. Smoke from fires can be a nuisance and pose serious health risks and aggravate pre-existing health conditions. When it results in reduced visibility near roadways, smoke can also pose hazardous driving conditions and reduce the scenic value of vistas. Communicating about smoke, whether in the preparation phases before a planned burn or during a wildfire event, can enable those at risk to make informed decisions to minimize their exposure to smoke or choose alternate activities that mitigate smoke completely. To date, very little research has been completed on the social aspects of smoke, such as communication or public perceptions. Here, we present findings from an exploratory study that examined challenges and opportunities related to communication (within agencies or to the public) for management of smoke from wildland fires. Interviews were conducted in California, Oregon, Montana, and South Carolina among a purposive sample of individuals, who are involved in fire or smoke management. Findings indicate that smoke poses several challenges to management agencies. Findings also provide insight into potential strategies to address such challenges by improving communication in both inter- and intra-agency situations as well as with members of the public. In particular, prioritizing fire and smoke-related communication within agencies, allocating agency resources specifically for training in communication and outreach endeavors, taking advantage of existing resources including informal social networks among the public, and building long-term relationships both between agencies and with the public were viewed as effective.     

The Relative Importance of Sources of Greenhouse-Gas Emissions: Comparison of Global Through Subnational Perspectives

Increasing atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases are widely expected to cause global warming and other climatic changes. It is important to establish priorities for reducing greenhouse-gas emissions, so that resources can be allocated efficiently and effectively. This is a global problem, and it is possible, on a global scale, to identify those activities whose emissions have the greatest potential for enhancing the greenhouse effect. However, perspectives from smaller scales must be appreciated, because it is on scales down to the local level that response measures will be implemented. This paper analyzes the relative importance of emissions from the many individual sources, on scales ranging from global to national to subnational. Individual country perspectives and proposed policy measures and those of subnational political entities exhibit some commonalities but differ among themselves and from a global-scale perspective in detail.     

Global sustainability: Toward definition

Sustainability is increasingly viewed as a desired goal of development and environmental management. This term has been used in numerous disciplines and in a variety of contexts, ranging from the concept of maximum sustainable yield in forestry and fisheries management to the vision of a sustainable society with a steady-state economy. The meaning of the term is strongly dependent on the context in which it is applied and on whether its use is based on a social, economic, or ecological perspective, Sustainability may be defined broadly or narrowly, but a useful definition must specify explicitly the context as well as the temporal and spatial scales being considered. Although societies differ in their conceptualizations of sustainability, indefinite human survival on a global scale requires certain basic support systems, which can be maintained only with a healthy environment and a stable human population. A clearer understanding of global sustainability and the development of appropriate indicators of the status of basic support systems would provide a useful framework for policy making.     

Incorporating Complex Adaptive Systems Theory into Strategic Planning: The Sierra Nevada Conservancy

Conservation organizations rely increasingly on integrated planning approaches that explicitly address social and economic goals while pursuing ecological conservation. Moreover, the spatial and temporal scale at which these organizations operate is growing. The Sierra Nevada Conservancy, established as a new state agency by California legislation in 2004 to pursue social, economic and ecological sustainability across a 25 million acre region, exemplifies this large-scale, integrated approach. Therefore, the new agency faces a complex set of policy objectives that must be pursued across a widely varying geography of social, economic and ecological conditions. Using the Conservancy's fire management program area as an example, the paper illustrates how application of an analytic framework from complex adaptive systems theory can guide the Conservancy to deploy its resources more effectively than broader-scale application of a single, agency-wide strategy relying on a more static model. Therefore, the complex adaptive systems framework offers promise in strategic planning. The paper illustrates how the model's four-stage cycle can be applied at the sub-regional and programmatic level to identify opportunities for agency intervention that address varying local conditions. This approach is likely to increase the effectiveness of programs for agencies facing similar complexities and challenges.     

Environmental cleanup: The challenge at the Hanford Site,Washington, USA

Numerous challenges face those involved with developing a coordinated and consistent approach to cleaning up the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Hanford Site in southeastern Washington. These challenges are much greater than those encountered when the site was selected and the world’s first nuclear complex was developed almost 50 years ago. This article reviews Hanford’s history, operations, waste storage/disposal activities, environmental monitoring, and today’s approach to characterize and clean up Hanford under a Federal Facility Agreement and Consent Order, signed by DOE, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Washington Sate Department of Ecology. Although cleanup of defense-related waste at Hanford holds many positive benefits, negative features include high costs to the US taxpayer, numerous uncertainties concerning the technologies to be employed and the risks involved, and the high probability that special interest groups and activists at large will never be completely satisfied. Issues concerning future use of the site, whether to protect and preserve its natural features or open it to public exploitation, remain to be resolved.     

WATER RESOURCE MANAGEMENT-PLANNING FOR ACTION1

ABSTRACT: Proper planning of water resource management programs is the essential ingredient for effective decision-making. Increasing demands on our finite water resources make it more vital that programs get off the shelf and are acted upon. There is a gap between our intentions for and OUI results from the planning process. We should examine our failures, identify causes, and learn from them. One of the primary causes is failure to identify the potentials of the implementing agencies early in the planning process. These agencies constitute a hierarchy of governmental units at national, state, regional and local levels. Each of these levels has its own interests, point of view, capabilities and constraints. A plan which is technically and functionally sound can fail as a program if these conflicting interests are not accounted for. The implementation mechanisms must be identified as an initial phase of the planning process. All levels of the governmental hierarchy must be involved throughout the planning process. The successful plan must also provide for suitable assignment of responsibilities which are accepted by the executing agency and monitored for satisfactory fulfillment. Consistency and continuity of the advocate agency are further essential elements to the success of the plan. Experience in water resource management planning has shown that these strategies will produce programs which are accepted, implemented and accomplish the goals and objectives of the planning process.     

From insight to action in reservoir management—lessons from Asia

The World Commission on Dams (WCD) has now presented its final report on the problems with large dams. Many dam projects were found to be underperforming, especially those built for irrigation purposes. WCD also reports that many projects fail to meet current standards of social equity. A reallocation of costs and benefits is needed, but entrenched interests make this a difficult task. This article identifies shortcomings in large Asian irrigation projects: why the problems emerged, and what could be done to improve the performance of existing projects. The article argues that Asian irrigation agencies take mainly an engineering perspective, focusing on the dam itself. In a large number of cases, it takes over 10 years for the infrastructure to be installed and for the water to be delivered to the fields of the command area. Agencies need to improve their competence in dealing with social and environmental issues. This article argues that social and economic infrastructure is often inadequate; there is a need for an integrated view of the role of agriculture in development. Furthermore, adaptive management practices and water user participation can often be critical elements. To be successful, participation needs to be gender sensitive, and stakeholders at all income levels need to be consulted. To bridge the gulf between rhetoric and action, there is also a need for independent evaluation of dam projects.     

A RATIONALE FOR THE REGIONALIZATION OF PUBLIC WATER SYSTEMS1

ABSTRACT. A rationale is set forth for requiring and/or encouraging the consolidation or regionalization of all systems beneath certain population size levels based on the small water systems’ capability to produce an adequate supply of safe drinking water at a reasonable cost to customers. Estimates for basic costs of water service including personnel, other operation and maintenance and capital are made and a range of water rates is suggested based on reasonableness and acceptability to customers. Guidelines are then drawn for a moderate rate of $10.00 per month and an upper limit rate of $15.00 per month to show the sizes at which public water systems might be expected to achieve fiscal viability. Finally, recommendations are made to State and Federal governmental agencies concerning possible legislation, plans and programs to achieve better public water service through the regionalization or consolidation of small public water systems.     

Applications of Turbidity Monitoring to Forest Management in California

Many California streams have been adversely affected by sedimentation caused by historic and current land uses, including timber harvesting. The impacts of timber harvesting and logging transportation systems on erosion and sediment delivery can be directly measured, modeled, or inferred from water quality measurements. California regulatory agencies, researchers, and land owners have adopted turbidity monitoring to determine effects of forest management practices on suspended sediment loads and water quality at watershed, project, and site scales. Watershed-scale trends in sediment discharge and responses to current forest practices may be estimated from data collected at automated sampling stations that measure turbidity, stream flow, suspended sediment concentrations, and other water quality parameters. Future results from these studies will provide a basis for assessing the effectiveness of modern forest practice regulations in protecting water quality. At the project scale, manual sampling of water column turbidity during high stream flow events within and downstream from active timber harvest plans can identify emerging sediment sources. Remedial actions can then be taken by managers to prevent or mitigate water quality impacts. At the site scale, manual turbidity sampling during storms or high stream flow events at sites located upstream and downstream from new, upgraded, or decommissioned stream crossings has proven to be a valuable way to determine whether measures taken to prevent post-construction erosion and sediment production are effective. Turbidity monitoring at the project and site scales is therefore an important tool for adaptive management. Uncertainty regarding the effects of current forest practices must be resolved through watershed-scale experiments. In the short term, this uncertainty will stimulate increased use of project and site-scale monitoring.     

The Colorado,USA, Joint Review Process: an initial evaluation of its success as a permit reform by key participants

Colorado, USA, developed the Joint Review Process (CJRP) in 1978 to coordinate the application and review of permits required for major development projects. Since then, the state has used the process on over 20 projects. This study examined whether the CJRP has achieved its primary goals—enhanced coordination of agencies, enhanced public participation, and strengthened communication between agencies and project sponsors— and several related secondary goals. The success of the process was measured through a survey of 54 key people who had been directly involved with the process. Those surveyed included federal and state agency staff, local agency managers, corporate officers, private consultants, and environmental leaders. All groups, with one exception, agreed that the process achieved its primary goals and that it should be retained. Environmental leaders were neutral about whether the process enhanced public participation and about retaining the process. The report concludes with a review of recommended improvements to and applications of the CJRP.     

External benefits of buffer stocks

In a recent paper, Turner and Grace¹ discuss a simulation of a buffer stock agency acting in the waste paper market in the UK. As with other writers on this subject, they consider that a buffer stock agency would have lost money if it had operated in the UK market over the period 1961–1974, a finding in keeping with simulations of primary commodity schemes². However, Turner and Grace legitimately ask whether there are any external benefits associated with a buffer stock scheme and credit the scheme with savings in that waste paper bought by the buffer stock agency does not enter the waste stream, and hence results in savings to the waste disposal authority. This paper examines the question of whether buffer stock agencies will have any such associated external benefits, and argues that benefits are positive, but are not of the magnitude implied in previous studies     

What drives plan implementation? Plans,planning agencies and developers

This article investigates the determinants of plan implementation by applying a recently‐developed Plan Implementation Evaluation methodology. The lack of methodology to assess the implementation of plans has so far precluded any systematic analysis of the determinants of the implementation of local environmental plans. The article focuses on the implementation of plans in New Zealand. The key factors of implementation are: the quality of the plan; the capacity and commitment of land developers to implement plans; the capacity and commitment of the staff and leadership of planning agencies to implement plans; and the interactions between developers and the agency. The analysis is based on 353 permits implementing six local environmental plans in New Zealand, and on surveys of the developers who obtained the permits and of the planning agencies that granted the permits. The analysis finds that plan implementation is mainly driven by the resources of the planning agencies and by the quality of the plans, rather than by the characteristics of developers. Investments in plan writing and agency and staff capacity building thus improve the implementation of plans in the long‐run.     

Perspectives on Disconnects Between Scientific Information and Management Decisions on Post-fire Recovery in Western US

Environmental regulations frequently mandate the use of “best available” science, but ensuring that it is used in decisions around the use and protection of natural resources is often challenging. In the Western US, this relationship between science and management is at the forefront of post-fire land management decisions. Recent fires, post-fire threats (e.g. flooding, erosion), and the role of fire in ecosystem health combine to make post-fire management highly visible and often controversial. This paper uses post-fire management to present a framework for understanding why disconnects between science and management decisions may occur. We argue that attributes of agencies, such as their political or financial incentives, can limit how effectively science is incorporated into decision-making. At the other end of the spectrum, the lack of synthesis or limited data in science can result in disconnects between science-based analysis of post-fire effects and agency policy and decisions. Disconnects also occur because of the interaction between the attributes of agencies and the attributes of science, such as their different spatial and temporal scales of interest. After offering examples of these disconnects in post-fire treatment, the paper concludes with recommendations to reduce disconnects by improving monitoring, increasing synthesis of scientific findings, and directing social-science research toward identifying and deepening understanding of these disconnects.     

Cost‐Effective Placement of Best Management Practices in a Watershed: Lessons Learned from Conservation Effects Assessment Project

This article reviews the key, cross‐cutting findings concerning watershed‐scale cost‐effective placement of best management practices (BMPs) emerging from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture Conservation Effects Assessment Project (CEAP) competitive grants watershed studies. The synthesis focuses on two fundamental aspects of the cost‐effectiveness problem: (1) how to assess the location‐ and farmer‐specific costs of BMP implementation, and (2) how to decide on which BMPs need to be implemented and where within a given watershed. Major lessons learned are that (1) data availability remains a significant limiting factor in capturing within‐watershed BMP cost variability; (2) strong watershed community connections help overcome the cost estimation challenges; (3) detailing cost components facilitates the transferability of estimates to alternative locations and/or economic conditions; and (4) implicit costs vary significantly across space and farmers. Furthermore, CEAP studies showed that (5) evolutionary algorithms provide workable ways to identify cost‐effective BMP placements; (6) tradeoffs between total conservation costs and watershed‐scale cost‐effective water quality improvements are commonly large; (7) quality baseline information is essential to solving cost‐effectiveness problem; and (8) systemic and modeling uncertainties alter cost‐effective BMP placements considerably.