LAUSR.org creates dashboard-style pages of related content for over 1.5 million academic articles. Sign Up to like articles & get recommendations!

Local-level emergence of network governance within the U.S. Forest Service: A case study of mountain pine beetle outbreak from Colorado, USA

Photo by homajob from unsplash

Abstract In the U.S. and around the world, governmental and non-governmental actors are piloting network governance approaches to fill gaps in governance resources (management capacity, local legitimacy) that cannot be… Click to show full abstract

Abstract In the U.S. and around the world, governmental and non-governmental actors are piloting network governance approaches to fill gaps in governance resources (management capacity, local legitimacy) that cannot be met by a single entity alone. Such resources are needed to respond adaptively to changing conditions, such as those posed by severe disturbance. The purpose of this study is to provide insight into the drivers, pathways, and outcomes of network governance emergence within a federal bureaucracy, that of the U.S. Forest Service. We aim to shed light on the local variability of emergent network types (partnerships, collaboratives, combination types). We conducted case study research on responses to a severe mountain pine beetle (MPB, Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins) infestation (~1996–2012) on the Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests in northern Colorado, USA. We applied a multi-level analysis, comprised of bottom-up, top-down, and “from around” (pre-existing network) factors, to three examples of MPB outbreak-driven network emergence. The examples vary in their combination of geographic location (Western Slope vs. Front Range) and scale (local vs. regional). Our analysis revealed: (1) network type and governance outcomes varied due to interlinked, multi-level factors (predominant gaps in governance resources, bottom-up factors, and pre-existing networks); (2) USFS managers and counterparts exercised agency in navigating top-down bureaucratic constraints on network governance emergence; (3) state, local, industry, and NGO entities, along with federal counterparts, co-initiated network governance of federal lands; (4) emergent networks generally did not persist in the large bureaucracy after the aftermath subsided. This study's findings are applicable to governance networks associated with land management bureaucracies in the U.S. and around the world.

Keywords: network; network governance; study; level; governance; emergence

Journal Title: Forest Policy and Economics
Year Published: 2020

Link to full text (if available)


Share on Social Media:                               Sign Up to like & get
recommendations!

Related content

More Information              News              Social Media              Video              Recommended



                Click one of the above tabs to view related content.