From the Forest to the Sea: Lessons in Managing Public Space Morgan Gopnik, Ph.D. Open Channels/EBM Tools Network Webinar March 18, 2015
Jan 11, 2016
From the Forest to the Sea:Lessons in Managing Public Space
Morgan Gopnik, Ph.D.
Open Channels/EBM Tools NetworkWebinarMarch 18, 2015
“Congress, working with the National Ocean Council, … should establish a balanced, ecosystem-based, offshore management regime that sets forth guiding principles for the coordination of offshore activities …”
USCOP 2004
“ecosystem-based” “efficient” “coordinated” “integrated” “consistent” “comprehensive”
Sunnyside, WANorth Sea
Belgian Marine Spatial Plan
Belgium
U.S. EEZ (4 million sq. mi.)U.S. Public Lands (1 million sq.mi.)
Can ocean managers
learn from
public landmanagers?
Forest-ocean timeline
1900 1950 2000
Fore
st R
eser
ve A
ctFo
rest
Ser
vice
Mul
tiple
Use
Act
Wild
erne
ss A
ctFo
rest
Pla
nnin
g A
ct
Trum
an P
rocl
amat
ion
Exec
. Ord
er fo
r MSP
200-
mile
EEZ
Mar
ine
Sanc
tuar
ies
Act
NO
AA
Forest
Ocean
“[The] demand for use of resources is becoming intense and there is little doubt that demands will continue to grow… forest resources are not adequate to fully satisfy these individual desires for space.”
Forest Service, 1963
Echoes of ocean policy?
“[Ecosystem management] would impose constraints upon single purpose approaches to the [land], and would arouse hostility among individuals whose single purpose pursuits would thereby be constrained.”
Caldwell, 1970
Echoes of ocean policy?
Question #1
Is the EEZ like a national forest, in a meaningful, policy-relevant sense?
Question #2Has over a hundred years of forest management produced any “lessons for success,” particularly with respect to multiple-use planning and management?
Question #3How might forest-based lessons be used to improve MSP implementation?
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= ?≠
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Understanding policy elements
Source: Sabatier and Weible 2005
Source: Ostrom 2005
Similarities between national forests and the EEZ
• Transition from laissez-faire to state management• Stressed, but intact and diverse ecosystems that transcend
political boundaries
• Similar bundles of goods and services
• Public-trust responsibilities
• Overlapping laws and agencies
• Multiple-use mandates and resulting conflicts
• Divergent local and national interests
• Evolving ecological and social understanding
Research methods
Document review• government records, reports, and regulations• academic, legal, and popular writings
Confidential interviews• 82 forest & ocean users, scholars, and managers• Thematic analysis of transcripts
Case studies• site visits to National Forests• met with agency staff, loggers, ENGOs, and community members
Willamette NF, OR
Siuslaw NF, OR
Croatan NF, NC
Balancing competing goals
Scale of solutions
National Local
• Public trust duty• Broad representation• Large ecosystem scale
• Local knowledge• Community engagement• Better monitoring and
enforcement
Balancing competing goals
Degree of uniformity
Standardized Flexible
• Certainty• Consistency• Sets a “floor”
• Context specific• Adaptive• Innovative
Balancing competing goals
Style of decisionmaking
• Can adapt• Objective
• Science-based
Collaborative
Technocratic
Political
Judicial
• Representative• Legitimate• Stable
• Seeks compromise• Builds trust• Less adversarial
• Independent• Respected• Weight of law
What this all means for MSP in the U.S.
Lessons for:Congress
The NOC and federal agencies
The RPBs and states
The Courts
Stakeholders
The research community
“… planning has been controversial. Some … have argued that the process is too technical and expensive … [But] it creates valuable inventories, offers the potential of engaging the public, … and holds out the promise of creating ordered and principled decisionmaking.”
Wilkinson, 1987, on Forest Service planning
Then or now?
Questions?
For further info: [email protected]/in/morgangopnikwww.researchgate.net/profile/Morgan_Gopnik