Social and Institutional Aspects of Natural Resource Decision Making Team (FRESC)
Active
By Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center
February 15, 2024
Our work uses a range of social science methods including interviews, surveys, listening sessions, workshops, and document analysis, to understand how Department of the Interior land managers and others make natural resource decisions.
Environmental decision makers require quality science for their management decisions. But even the best science is implemented within specific social and institutional contexts, which may create barriers or opportunities to meeting desired goals.
We ask the following kinds of questions:
- How do interactions among scientists, decision makers, and stakeholders influence the effective translation of science into decision making?
- How does the design and implementation of decision support tools influence group learning, negotiation, and decision making?
- How do institutional and regulatory structures shape the process and outcome of decision making?
Visit the web pages below to learn more about our work.
If you are unable to access or download a product, email fresc_outreach@usgs.gov a request, including the full citation, or call (541) 750-1030.
Murky waters: Divergent ways scientists, practitioners, and landowners evaluate beaver mimicry Murky waters: Divergent ways scientists, practitioners, and landowners evaluate beaver mimicry
Beaver mimicry is a fast-growing conservation technique to restore streams and manage water that is gaining popularity within the natural resource management community because of a wide variety of claimed socio-environmental benefits. Despite a growing number of projects, many questions and concerns about beaver mimicry remain. This study draws on qualitative data from 49 interviews with
Authors
Tori Pfaeffle, Megan A. Moore, Amanda E. Cravens, Jamie McEvoy, Aparna Bamzai-Dodson
Responding to ecological transformation: Mental models, external constraints, and manager decision-making Responding to ecological transformation: Mental models, external constraints, and manager decision-making
Ecological transformation creates many challenges for public natural resource management and requires managers to grapple with new relationships to change and new ways to manage it. In the context of unfamiliar trajectories of ecological change, a manager can resist, accept, or direct change, choices that make up the resist-accept-direct (RAD) framework. In this article, we provide a...
Authors
Katherine R. Clifford, Amanda E. Cravens, Corrine N. Knapp
A typology of drought decision making: Synthesizing across cases to understand drought preparedness and response actions A typology of drought decision making: Synthesizing across cases to understand drought preparedness and response actions
Drought is an inescapable reality in many regions, including much of the western United States. With climate change, droughts are predicted to intensify and occur more frequently, making the imperative for drought management even greater. Many diverse actors – including private landowners, business owners, scientists, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and managers and policymakers...
Authors
Amanda E. Cravens, Jennifer Henderson, Jack Friedman, Nina Burkardt, Ashley E. Cooper, Tonya Haigh, Michael Hayes, Jamie McEvoy, Stephanie Paladino, Adam Wilke, Hailey Wilmer
Assessing the feasibility of managed aquifer recharge in California Assessing the feasibility of managed aquifer recharge in California
With aquifers around the world stressed by over-extraction, water managers are increasingly turning to managed aquifer recharge (MAR), directly replenishing groundwater resources through injection wells, recharge basins, or other approaches. While there has been progress in understanding the geological and infrastructure-related considerations to make MAR more effective, critical...
Authors
Nicola Ulibarri, Nataly Escobedo Garcia, Rebecca L Nelson, Amanda E. Cravens, Ryan J McCarty
Rivers are social–ecological systems: Time to integrate human dimensions into riverscape ecology and management Rivers are social–ecological systems: Time to integrate human dimensions into riverscape ecology and management
Incorporation of concepts from landscape ecology into understanding and managing riverine ecosystems has become widely known as riverscape ecology. Riverscape ecology emphasizes interactions among processes at different scales and their consequences for valued ecosystem components, such as riverine fishes. Past studies have focused strongly on understanding the ecological processes in...
Authors
Jason B. Dunham, Paul L. Angermeier, Shelley D. Crausbay, Amanda E. Cravens, Hannah Gosnell, Jamie McEvoy, Max A. Moritz, Nejem Raheem, Todd Sanford
Visit the web pages below to learn more about our partners.
Our work uses a range of social science methods including interviews, surveys, listening sessions, workshops, and document analysis, to understand how Department of the Interior land managers and others make natural resource decisions.
Environmental decision makers require quality science for their management decisions. But even the best science is implemented within specific social and institutional contexts, which may create barriers or opportunities to meeting desired goals.
We ask the following kinds of questions:
- How do interactions among scientists, decision makers, and stakeholders influence the effective translation of science into decision making?
- How does the design and implementation of decision support tools influence group learning, negotiation, and decision making?
- How do institutional and regulatory structures shape the process and outcome of decision making?
Visit the web pages below to learn more about our work.
If you are unable to access or download a product, email fresc_outreach@usgs.gov a request, including the full citation, or call (541) 750-1030.
Murky waters: Divergent ways scientists, practitioners, and landowners evaluate beaver mimicry Murky waters: Divergent ways scientists, practitioners, and landowners evaluate beaver mimicry
Beaver mimicry is a fast-growing conservation technique to restore streams and manage water that is gaining popularity within the natural resource management community because of a wide variety of claimed socio-environmental benefits. Despite a growing number of projects, many questions and concerns about beaver mimicry remain. This study draws on qualitative data from 49 interviews with
Authors
Tori Pfaeffle, Megan A. Moore, Amanda E. Cravens, Jamie McEvoy, Aparna Bamzai-Dodson
Responding to ecological transformation: Mental models, external constraints, and manager decision-making Responding to ecological transformation: Mental models, external constraints, and manager decision-making
Ecological transformation creates many challenges for public natural resource management and requires managers to grapple with new relationships to change and new ways to manage it. In the context of unfamiliar trajectories of ecological change, a manager can resist, accept, or direct change, choices that make up the resist-accept-direct (RAD) framework. In this article, we provide a...
Authors
Katherine R. Clifford, Amanda E. Cravens, Corrine N. Knapp
A typology of drought decision making: Synthesizing across cases to understand drought preparedness and response actions A typology of drought decision making: Synthesizing across cases to understand drought preparedness and response actions
Drought is an inescapable reality in many regions, including much of the western United States. With climate change, droughts are predicted to intensify and occur more frequently, making the imperative for drought management even greater. Many diverse actors – including private landowners, business owners, scientists, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and managers and policymakers...
Authors
Amanda E. Cravens, Jennifer Henderson, Jack Friedman, Nina Burkardt, Ashley E. Cooper, Tonya Haigh, Michael Hayes, Jamie McEvoy, Stephanie Paladino, Adam Wilke, Hailey Wilmer
Assessing the feasibility of managed aquifer recharge in California Assessing the feasibility of managed aquifer recharge in California
With aquifers around the world stressed by over-extraction, water managers are increasingly turning to managed aquifer recharge (MAR), directly replenishing groundwater resources through injection wells, recharge basins, or other approaches. While there has been progress in understanding the geological and infrastructure-related considerations to make MAR more effective, critical...
Authors
Nicola Ulibarri, Nataly Escobedo Garcia, Rebecca L Nelson, Amanda E. Cravens, Ryan J McCarty
Rivers are social–ecological systems: Time to integrate human dimensions into riverscape ecology and management Rivers are social–ecological systems: Time to integrate human dimensions into riverscape ecology and management
Incorporation of concepts from landscape ecology into understanding and managing riverine ecosystems has become widely known as riverscape ecology. Riverscape ecology emphasizes interactions among processes at different scales and their consequences for valued ecosystem components, such as riverine fishes. Past studies have focused strongly on understanding the ecological processes in...
Authors
Jason B. Dunham, Paul L. Angermeier, Shelley D. Crausbay, Amanda E. Cravens, Hannah Gosnell, Jamie McEvoy, Max A. Moritz, Nejem Raheem, Todd Sanford
Visit the web pages below to learn more about our partners.