Pacific Northwest Research Station

Publication Information

Title: Adaptive management and the Northwest Forest Plan: rhetoric and reality.

Author: Stankey, G.H.; Bormann, B.T.; Ryan, C.; Shindler, B.; Sturtevant, V.; Clark, R.N.; Philpot, C.

Date: 2003

Source: Journal of Forestry. 101(1): 40-46

Description: Adaptive management represents a process to use management policies as a source of learning, which in turn can inform subsequent actions. However, despite its appealing and apparently straightforward objectives, examples of successful implementation remain elusive, and a review of efforts to implement an adaptive approach in the Northwest Forest Plan proves the point. Barriers include an institutional and regulatory environment that stymies innovation, increasing workloads coupled with declining resources that constrain learning-based approaches, and a lack of leadership. The time is right to learn from experiences and consider alternatives.

Key Words: Endangered species; Pacific Northwest: policy; USDA Forest Service

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Citation

Stankey, G.H.; Bormann, B.T.; Ryan, C.; Shindler, B.; Sturtevant, V.; Clark, R.N.; Philpot, C.  2003.  Adaptive management and the Northwest Forest Plan: rhetoric and reality.  Journal of Forestry. 101(1): 40-46.