Serving the Common Interest in U.S. Forest Policy: A Case Study of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act |
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Authors: | Toddi A Steelman Melissa Elefante DuMond |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA |
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Abstract: | In the United States, the common interest often is conceived as a by-product of the pluralist, interest-group-driven democratic
process. Special interests dominate in many political arenas. Consequently, we have lost the language, vocabulary, and ability
to talk about the common interest. The way to reverse this trend is to develop and practice with new tools that allow us to
articulate what we mean by the common interest in specific contexts. In this article, we leveraged the literature on procedural,
substantive, and pragmatic decision making to illustrate how they work together to demonstrate whether and how the common
interest was served in three case studies of Healthy Forests Restoration Act implementation on the Apache-Sitgreaves National
Forest in Arizona. In two of the cases we found that the common interest was mostly served, while in the third case it was
not. Our results raise questions about the ability of procedural criteria or substantive criteria alone to determine effectiveness
in decision making. When evaluated together they provide a more complete understanding of how the common interest is or is
not served.
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Keywords: | Democracy Forests Common interest Procedural justice Decision making Healthy Forests Restoration Act Arizona Wildfire Forest policy National Environmental Policy Act |
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