Adaptive Management Technical Guide

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Adaptive Management Technical Guide Adaptive Management The U.S. Department of the Interior Technical Guide Adaptive Management Working Group Chair: Olivia Barton Ferriter Director, Conservation, Partnerships & Management Policy Lead Authors Byron K. Williams, Robert C. Szaro, and Carl D. Shapiro Other Contributors Robert Adamcik, Mary Boatman, Sarah Bransom, Jeremy Casterson, John Fay, Scott Florence, Douglas Growitz, Caroline Hermans, Fred A. Johnson, James Kendall, Dennis Kubly, Michael Mayer, Susan Moyer, Malka Pattison, Randall Peterson, Laura van Riper, Michael Runge, Robert Snow, Christine Turner, and Rich Whitley Book Design Vitmary Rodriguez U.S. Department of the Interior For more information on the Technical Guide, please visit: http://www.doi.gov/initiatives/AdaptiveManagement/ 2009 edition—updated (first edition—2007) Suggested citation: Williams, B. K., R. C. Szaro, and C. D. Shapiro. 2009. Adaptive Management: The U.S. Department of the Interior Technical Guide. Adaptive Management Working Group, U.S. Department of the Interior, Washington, DC. International Standard Book Number: 978-1-4133-2478-7 Any use of trade, product, or firm names in this publication is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. Preface The Department of the Interior (DOI) Adaptive Management Working Group (AMWG) sponsored the develop- ment of this technical guide to clearly and consistently define adaptive management and describe conditions for its implementation. AMWG membership includes representatives from across DOI’s bureaus and offices. A writing team of resource managers, technical experts, and other specialists worked with AMWG to address four basic questions concerning adaptive management: (1) What is adaptive management? (2) When should it be used? (3) How should it be implemented? (4) How can its success be recognized and measured? These questions were used to organize both the writing effort and the structure of the guide itself, with individual chapters addressing each of the questions. The authors sought to describe adaptive management at an appropriate level of technical detail, while remaining focused on its definition, operational components, and conditions in which it applies. A key challenge was to provide sufficient detail for clarification, while limiting the length and complexity of the document. The authors gratefully acknowledge the efforts by the many people who participated in developing this guide, including Maryanne Bach, Donna Brewer, Tara Conrad, John Dennis, Mike Ferguson, Larry Finfer, Gary Fraser, Ken Havran, Jacob Hoogland, Rick Lemon, Kim Magraw, Chris Pease, Steve Tyson, Ben Tuggle, John Vitello, Suzanne Weedman, and Tom Weimer. The authors also thank the people who provided valuable comments as reviewers, including Charles Baxter, Robert Fisher, Scott Florence, Clint Moore, Roger Sayre, and Brent Uilenberg. i ii Contents Preface............................................................................................................................................................. i Problem-Scoping Key for Adaptive Management.......................................................................................... iv Executive Summary......................................................................................................................................... v CHAPTER 1: WHAT IS ADAPTIVE MANAGEMENT?.................................................................................. 1 1.1. Decision making and natural resource management......................................................................................... 2 1.2. Operational definition of adaptive management............................................................................................... 4 CHAPTER 2: WHEN SHOULD ADAPTIVE MANAGEMENT BE USED?..................................................... 9 2.1. Conditions that warrant an adaptive management approach.............................................................................. 9 2.2. Institutional context for adaptive management................................................................................................. 13 2.3. Limitations of adaptive management.............................................................................................................. 15 2.4. Benefits and challenges in using adaptive management.................................................................................... 17 CHAPTER 3: HOW SHOULD ADAPTIVE MANAGEMENT BE IMPLEMENTED?..................................... 21 3.1. Operational sequence for adaptive management............................................................................................... 21 3.2. Legal considerations when applying adaptive management............................................................................... 38 CHAPTER 4: WHEN IS ADAPTIVE MANAGEMENT SUCCESSFUL?......................................................... 49 4.1. Recognizing success in adaptive management................................................................................................. 49 4.2. Key questions for successful implementation.................................................................................................. 53 CHAPTER 5: OTHER OPERATIONAL ISSUES............................................................................................. 59 5.1. Uses of information in natural resource management....................................................................................... 59 5.2. Accounting for uncertainty in adaptive management........................................................................................ 61 5.3. The measurement of learning......................................................................................................................... 62 5.4. Learning organizations.................................................................................................................................. 62 5.5. Realistic expectations for adaptive management.............................................................................................. 63 CONCLUDING REMARKS............................................................................................................................. 65 References........................................................................................................................................................ 66 Key Terms......................................................................................................................................................... 71 iii Problem-Scoping Key for Adaptive Management The following key can help in dissecting a particular management problem and determining whether adaptive management is an appropriate approach to decision making. If the answer to any question in the key is negative, then an approach other than adaptive management is likely to be more appropriate. 1. Is some kind of management decision to be made? (see Sections 1.1, 2.1, 2.3, 3.1, and 5.5) No – decision analysis and monitoring are unnecessary when no decision options exist. Yes – go to step 2. 2. Can stakeholders be engaged? (see Sections 1.1, 1.2, 2.1, 3.1, and 4.2) No – without active stakeholder involvement an adaptive management process is unlikely to be effective. Yes – go to step 3. 3. Can management objective(s) be stated explicitly? (see Sections 1.2, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 3.1, 4.2 and 5.1) No – adaptive management is not possible if objectives are not identified. Yes – go to step 4. 4. Is decision making confounded by uncertainty about potential management impacts? (see Sections 1.1, 1.2, 2.1, 3.1, 4.1, 4.2 and 5.2) No – in the absence of uncertainty adaptive management is not needed. Yes – go to step 5. 5. Can resource relationships and management impacts be represented in models? (see Sections 1.2, 3.1, 4.2, and 5.1) No – adaptive management cannot proceed without the predictions generated by models. Yes – go to step 6. 6. Can monitoring be designed to inform decision making? (see Sections 2.1, 2.3, 3.1, and 4.2) No – in the absence of targeted monitoring it is not possible to reduce uncertainty and improve management. Yes – go to step 7. 7. Can progress be measured in achieving management objectives? (see Sections 1.1, 3.1, 4.1, and 4.2) No – adaptive management is not feasible if progress in understanding and improving management is unrecognizable. Yes – go to step 8. 8. Can management actions be adjusted in response to what has been learned? (see Sections 1.2, 2.1, 3.1, 4.1, 4.2, 5.3, and 5.4) No – adaptive management is not possible without the flexibility to adjust management strategies. Yes – go to step 9. 9. Does the whole process fit within the appropriate legal framework? (see Sections 2.3, 2.4, 3.2, 4.1, and 4.2) No – adaptive management should not proceed absent full compliance with the relevant laws, regulations, and authorities. Yes – all of the basic conditions are met, and adaptive management is appropriate for this problem. iv Executive Summary The purpose of this technical guide is to present an operational definition of adaptive management, identify the conditions in which adaptive management should be considered, and describe the process of using adaptive manage- ment for managing natural resources. The guide is not an exhaustive discussion of adaptive management, nor does it include detailed specifications for individual projects. However, it should aid U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) managers and practitioners in determining
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