Adaptive management and law

Abstract

Although adaptive management has been widely discussed in the fields of ecology and conservation biology for decades, its incorporation into natural resource management in the United States is relatively recent. It is increasingly recognized as a valuable approach to natural resource and environmental management challenges that involve high degrees of uncertainty. The legal rules and requirements that drive environmental protection efforts in the United States, however, are often considered barriers to successful implementation of adaptive management. This chapter explores the challenges and opportunities associated with the integration of adaptive management into current legal and regulatory frameworks in the United States. It summarizes current literature on adaptive management and law, with particular emphasis on scholarship that highlights the challenges associated with incorporating adaptive management into current institutional arrangements. It then provides some basic background regarding the overall structure of government in the United States and explains the critical role of the executive and judicial branches in implementation and enforcement of adaptive management plans. A summary of current federal court decisions regarding how agencies are using adaptive management is provided to highlight the challenges associated with balancing the need for administrative flexibility with the competing need for legal enforceability. Finally, we conclude with some suggestions for more successful incorporation of adaptive management by federal agencies in the United States.