Evolving institutions of environmental governance: the collaborative implementation of stewardship contracts by the USDA Forest Service

2013 Fall.Includes bibliographical references.Collaborative forest management policies are increasingly being enacted in the U.S. Increased pressure to implement collaborative forest management processes emphasizes the need to understand the extent to which such policies are being adopted, the factors influencing their implementation, and how well these efforts are meeting policy intentions. This dissertation provides practical and theoretical insight to the adoption of collaborative forest management approaches by focusing on the implementation of stewardship-end-result contracting (stewardship contracting). A mixed-methods research design was used to systematically assess the collaborative implementation of stewardship contracts by the USDA Forest Service (USFS). The first phase of this research employed a statistical analysis of the adoption of USFS stewardship contracts from 1999 to 2011 to provide a foundational understanding of its use. This analysis identified consistent adoption of stewardship contracts across USFS regions, with a significant increase in the number of contracts and associated acres during this time period. The second phase of this research statistically analyzed the levels of collaboration associated with USFS stewardship contracts. This large-N analysis determined collaboration has a significant role in meeting stewardship contract objectives. Key process indicators identified in the collaborative governance literature - the number of interests involved, the amount of outreach used, the roles of the community, and who initiated the project - have a strong association with the levels of collaboration. This analysis identified a significant variation in the levels of collaborative stewardship contract implementation across USFS regions. The third phase of this research utilized a qualitative multiple-case study approach to build upon the previous statistical analyses and to attain an in depth understanding of the contextual factors influencing the levels of collaboration associated with stewardship contracts in the USFS Rocky Mountain Region. The results reveal a combination of institutional, community, and individual attributes are essential for the use of collaboration in USFS stewardship contracting processes. These attributes include guidance and support from the USFS, high levels of social capital within the community, and strong leadership from individuals within both the agency and community. The results indicate the collaborative forests identified and achieved a greater number of objectives than the non-collaborative forests and thereby confirm previous findings of this dissertation in which collaborative stewardship contracting processes achieved more forest management and community social and economic objectives than non-collaborative processes. Collaboration therefore has a critical role in achieving the policy intentions of stewardship contracting. This dissertation advances the existing collaborative governance literature by quantitatively analyzing collaborative process components and outcomes across a large population of similar efforts, while providing a detailed qualitative analysis of the factors influencing the adoption of collaborative processes and the associated outcomes. Additional comprehensive evaluations of the adoption of collaboration, the factors associated with its use, and its role in achieving the policy intentions are necessary to determine the first- and second-tier influences and outcomes of collaborative processes. Such comprehensive evaluations of collaboration can improve its application in policy and management and prevent it from being falsely identified as a panacea to address all social-ecological management issues

Evaluating the integrated resource restoration line item : results from a survey of National Forest System staff

32 pagesThe Integrated Resource Restoration (IRR) budgetary approach, which has been implemented on a pilot basis in the Northern, Southwestern, and Intermountain Regions since fiscal year 2012, is meant to facilitate holistic and integrated restoration work at landscape scales on national forests. It combines previously separate budget line items into a consolidated funding stream for integrated restoration planning and implementation. At the request of the U.S. Forest Service, we are conducting a third-party evaluation of the IRR pilot.This study was made possible by funding from the USDA Forest Service (13-CS-11132420-254), Colorado State University, and the University of Oregon

Evaluating the integrated resource restoration line item : results from phase 1

24 pagesAt the request of the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), we are conducting a third-party review of the Integrated Resource Restoration (IRR) budgetary approach, which has been implemented on a pilot basis for three years in USFS Regions 1, 3, and 4 since fiscal year 2012. Our objectives are three-fold: 1) To understand strategic planning approaches and whether improvements in efficiency, prioritization, flexibility, and achievement of restoration outcomes are occurring under the IRR pilot; 2) To assess internal perceptions of the pilot, current challenges, and opportunities for improvement; and 3) To determine the extent to which current performance measures and targets facilitate accomplishment and communication of outcomes under the pilot. Our evaluation will take place over two years, in three phases, and began in August 2013. This report summarizes our findings from phase 1, which involved interviews with staff from the pilot regions.This study was made possible by funding from the USDA Forest Service (13-CS-11132420-254), Colorado State University, and the University of Oregon

The effects of the Integrated Resource Restoration budget pilot on forest service restoration programs

2 pagesForest restoration is a priority for the U.S. Forest Service, but many have argued that the agency is constrained in meeting restoration objectives by its budget structure. In 2012, Congress approved on a pilot basis the Integrated Resource Restoration (IRR) budget line item to consolidate previously separated budget lines. With IRR, the Forest Service introduced new performance measures that increased flexibility to focus on priority restoration activities. The Southwestern, Intermountain, and Northern Regions of the Forest Service have been implementing the IRR since 2012. We were asked by the Forest Service to provide a third-party evaluation of the pilot.This research was supported by funding from the USDA Forest Service (13-CS-11132420-254), Colorado State University, and the University of Oregon

Examining the adaptability of collaborative governance associated with publicly managed ecosystems over time: insights from the Front Range Roundtable, Colorado, USA

We examine the adaptability of collaborative governance regimes associated with publicly managed ecosystems as they move from direction-setting to implementation phases. This is an under-researched topic and is particularly relevant given the growth of collaborative environmental governance efforts around the globe. Through an in-depth analysis of a case study spanning 10 years of the Front Range Roundtable in Colorado, USA, we examine the effect of forces internal and external to the Roundtable on three attributes associated with the adaptive capacity of environmental governance: social capital, learning, and flexibility in implementing innovative actions. We find that the Roundtable has been highly sensitive to internal and external changes, and that the absence of mechanisms through which social networks and learning can be durably linked to implementation decisions of bureaucracies with management authority compromises the Roundtable's continued adaptability. From this case study, we develop three empirically testable propositions related to social capital and learning, national policy change, and boundary objects as collaborative regimes transition to implementation, along with an analytical framework to examine collaborative governance change and adaptability over time

Socioeconomic assessment of Forest Service American Recovery and Reinvestment Act projects : eight case studies

176 pagesThe American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 aimed to create jobs and jumpstart the economy while addressing the Nation’s social and environmental needs. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, received $1.15 billion in recovery funding to support projects in wildland fire management, capital improvement and maintenance, and biomass utilization. This volume contains eight individual case-study reports that describe how Forest Service economic recovery projects from around the United States are contributing to socioeconomic well-being in rural communities and investigates how forest restoration, conservation, and rural community development goals can be linked to promote healthy forests and healthy communities. Research findings demonstrate that these projects met several goals of the act: (1) preserve and create jobs and stimulate economic recovery; (2) assist those most impacted by the recession; and (3) invest in transportation, environmental protection, and other infrastructure for long-term economic benefits. A companion synthesis report contains key findings and lessons learned by comparing the eight case studies presented here

Managing Bark Beetle Impacts on Ecosystems and Society: Priority Questions to Motivate Future Research

Recent bark beetle outbreaks in North America and Europe have impacted forested landscapes and the provisioning of critical ecosystem services. The scale and intensity of many recent outbreaks are widely believed to be unprecedented. The effects of bark beetle outbreaks on ecosystems are often measured in terms of area affected, host tree mortality rates, and alterations to forest structure and composition. Impacts to human systems focus on changes in property valuation, infrastructure damage from falling trees, landscape aesthetics, and the quality and quantity of timber and water resources. To advance our understanding of bark beetle impacts, we assembled a team of ecologists, land managers and social scientists to participate in a research prioritization workshop. Synthesis and applications. We identified 25 key questions by using an established methodology to identify priorities for research into the impacts of bark beetles. Our efforts emphasize the need to improve outbreak monitoring and detection, educate the public on the ecological role of bark beetles, and develop integrated metrics that facilitate comparison of ecosystem services across sites