A video narrated by National CASC Fish Biologist Abby Lynch explaining the Resist-Accept-Direct Framework, a decision-making tool that helps resource managers make informed strategies for responding to ecological changes resulting from climate change_._ The video is a narrated slide show with animations and photos guiding the viewer through the framework.
The Resist-Accept-Direct (RAD) Framework
Active
By Climate Adaptation Science Centers
January 14, 2025
Applying the Resist-Accept-Direct (RAD) Framework to Large Rivers
RAD in the News
The New York Times sat down with representatives from the National Park Service to discuss how they are re-thinking their management strategies using RAD.
The New York Times sat down with representatives from the National Park Service to discuss how they are re-thinking their management strategies using RAD.
Special Journal Issue on Use of RAD for Aquatic Systems
RAD Across the USGS
Scientists with the USGS Cooperative Research Units are applying RAD to applied fisheries and wildlife management research across the country.
Scientists with the USGS Cooperative Research Units are applying RAD to applied fisheries and wildlife management research across the country.
The Resist-Accept-Direct (RAD) framework is a tool that helps resource managers make informed strategies for responding to socio-ecological changes, including climate change.
Responding to Changing Ecosystems
Media
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
Ecosystems are transforming under climate change, with substantial shifts in ecological processes and important ecosystem services occurring at unprecedented rates. As systems approach socio-economic and ecological thresholds, our current management toolbox has proved to be incomplete for conservation and the sustainable provision of ecosystem services, including fisheries production and the wildlife habitat. Multiple approaches are therefore needed to address the varying uncertainties we face in this increasingly non-stationary world. Managers navigating ecosystem transformation can benefit from considering broader objectives beyond a traditional focus on resisting ecosystem change, by also considering whether accepting change or directing it along a preferred pathway might be more appropriate (RAD framework).
The RAD framework lays out three approaches for making management decisions for systems undergoing ecosystem transformation: 1) Resist, where managers work to maintain or restore ecosystem composition, structure, processes, or function on the basis of historical or acceptable current conditions, 2) Accept, where managers allow ecosystem composition, structure, process, or function to change autonomously, and 3) Direct, where managers actively shape change in ecosystem composition, structure, processes, or function toward preferred new conditions.
Taking Action in the Face of Change
“The RAD framework is about helping people really come to terms with the extent and pace of climate change and the discomfort that uncertainty brings. After people face the reality of climate change, they tend to come up with a much wider range of potential management actions. I think of a RAD brainstorming session like throwing a pot of freshly cooked spaghetti at the wall; if you don’t throw out some wild ideas, you’ll never find the one that sticks.” - Nicole Ward, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
In supporting natural resource management that seeks to make strategic, forward-looking decisions in an era of change, adapting to ecosystem transformation benefits all people. Still, there is great uncertainty in the changes to come and the path forward is unclear. The scientific community can help decision-makers by increasing its understanding of how ecosystems will transform. After identifying both the desirable and unacceptable potential outcomes, managers can develop appropriate actions, all the while remaining flexible in their approach as they learn more. Today’s leadership and decision making can improve our ability to respond to ecosystem transformation by supporting efforts to understand the trajectories of change, the efficacy of current management approaches, and the best design practices for resisting and directing transformation in order to achieve desired ecosystem goals.
RAD Case Study: The Kenai Peninsula
Media
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
Additional Resources
Webinars & Workshops:
- RADical ecosystem change: Applying the RAD (Resist-Accept-Direct) framework Stewardship Network webinar (2023)
- The RAD (Resist-Accept-Direct) Climate Adaptation Framework National CASC webinar (2022)
- Resist-Accept-Direct Webinar Series USFWS National Conservation Training Center (2022)
- How the Resist-Accept-Direct (RAD) framework clarifies modern environmental stewardship challenges and fosters strategic responses Northwest Regional Invasive Species and Climate Change (NW RISCC) Network Virtual Symposium (2021)
- Managing for RADical ecosystem change: Applying the Resist, Accept, or Direct (RAD) Framework IUCN Climate Change Specialist Group webinar (2021)
- Thinking about Adaptation: Exploring the Resist-Accept-Direct Framework USFWS National Conservation Training Center training (2021)
- How the Resist-Accept-Direct (RAD) framework clarifies the challenge of modern natural resource management and supports strategic, forward-looking action. NC CASC webinar (2021)
- Are federal land managers ready and SET for stewarding ecological transformation? FedNET workshop (2019)
- Resist, Accept, or Direct? A decision framework for navigating climate change-driven ecological transformations NOAA National Marine Protected Area Center webinar (2019)
RAD has been incorporated into various USGS research projects, including many funded by the USGS Climate Adaptation Science Centers. Learn more about these projects below.
Using the Resist-Accept-Direct Framework to Manage Wildfires, Carbon Storage, and Ecological Transformations in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem
The Greater Yellowstone Area (GYA) is an iconic landscape with national parks, iconic species like grizzly bears and elk, and over 11,500 square miles of forest. While fires are a natural part of the GYA, climate change and land management legacies are increasing the frequency and size of severe fires. Climate change interacts with these fires to shift conifer forests to non-forested...
Crafting Ecological Scenarios to Implement the Resist-Accept-Direct (RAD) Framework
As climate change progresses, profound environmental changes are becoming a widespread concern. A new management paradigm is developing to address this concern with a framework that encourages strategic decisions to resist, accept, or direct ecological trajectories. Effective use of the Resist-Accept-Direct (RAD) framework requires the scientific community to describe the range of...
Cross-Park RAD Project (CPRP): A Case Study in Four National Parks Investigating How Institutional Context and Emotions Shape Manager Decisions to Resist, Accept, or Direct Change in Transforming Ecosystems
Natural & cultural resource managers are facing a slew of new challenges for managing public lands stemming from climate change and human-driven stressors like invasive species, fragmentation, and new resource uses. In some cases, the very landscapes and species they are managing are changing in significant ways, transforming from one set of conditions to another. As a result, previously...
Informing Decisions to Resist, Accept, or Direct Post-fire Vegetation Transitions
As wildfire activity surges in the western U.S., managers are increasingly challenged by decisions surrounding managing post-fire environments.Changing fire regimes and warmer,drier post-fire conditions are increasing the likelihood of post-fire vegetation transitions, for example,from forest to grassland. Given the economic and ecological importance of these ecosystems, transformation...
Public Land Manager Decision-Making Under Ecological Transformation
As pressures from climate change and other anthropogenic stressors, like invasive species, increase, new challenges arise for natural resource managers who are responsible for the health of public lands. One of the greatest challenges these managers face is that the traditional way of managing resources might not be as effective, or in some cases might be ineffective, in light of...
Adaptation Strategies in the Face of Climate-Driven Ecological Transformation: Case Studies from Arctic Alaska and the U.S. Great Plains
Climate change is already affecting ecosystems, and will likely trigger significant and permanent changes in both ecological and human communities. Such transformations are already occurring in the Arctic region of Alaska, where temperatures are warming at twice the global average and causing some ecosystems to transition to new states. Arctic warming has led to coastal erosion that has...
Mapping the Risk of Ecological Transformation Across Pinyon Woodlands and the U.S. West
Pinyon pine woodlands are among the most widespread and iconic vegetation types in the western United States and support recreation, resource extraction, grazing, and cultural enrichment. However, severe drought conditions have recently caused dramatic mortality of pinyon pines, creating concern about the long-term impact of increasing aridity on the viability of pinyon woodlands...
State of the Science on Ecosystem Transformation
Recent changes in climate are having profound effects on many fish and wildlife species, and projections suggest that those trends are likely to continue. Changing climate conditions have the potential to transform ecosystems, which impacts not only fish and wildlife but also human communities, which rely on ecosystems for important goods and services such as food and water filtration...
Explore how RAD is applied through these introductory videos.
The RAD Framework
A video narrated by National CASC Fish Biologist Abby Lynch explaining the Resist-Accept-Direct Framework, a decision-making tool that helps resource managers make informed strategies for responding to ecological changes resulting from climate change_._ The video is a narrated slide show with animations and photos guiding the viewer through the framework.
RAD Framework for Ecosystem Management amid Climate Breakdown
The Resist-Accept-Direct (RAD) framework is a decision-making tool that helps resource managers make informed strategies for responding to ecological changes resulting from climate change.
The Resist-Accept-Direct (RAD) framework is a decision-making tool that helps resource managers make informed strategies for responding to ecological changes resulting from climate change.
Academic articles in a variety of journals have developed and discussed the RAD framework. Read these publications below.
RAD Special Issue
RAD Special Issue
The journal Fisheries Management and Ecology produced a special issue on RAD featuring RAD thematic articles and case studies focused on fish and fisheries.
RAD Special Section
RAD Special Section
A Special Section in the journal Bioscience provides an in-depth exploration of the RAD framework. Articles examine practical applications, compatibility with existing tools, social barriers and opportunities, and more.
Interested in being a part of a growing community of practice on RAD? Consider joining our "RADish" community email list that invites members to share RAD-relevant communications, such as articles, upcoming events, and discussion topics with other members of the group.
RADish Community Distribution List
RADish Community Distribution List
The “RADish” distribution list serves the community of practice around the RAD (Resist-Accept-Direct) framework. We strive to maintain an inclusive and professional community engaged in RAD-relevant discussions only. Please review our Community Guidelines before subscribing to the list.
RAD Community of Practice
RAD Community of Practice
A growing community of practice, including the Federal Navigating Ecological Transformation (FedNET) and the American Fisheries Society and the Wildlife Society's ecosystem transformation working groups, is helping incorporate the RAD framework into ecosystem management decisions.
The Resist-Accept-Direct (RAD) framework is a tool that helps resource managers make informed strategies for responding to socio-ecological changes, including climate change.
Responding to Changing Ecosystems
Media
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
Ecosystems are transforming under climate change, with substantial shifts in ecological processes and important ecosystem services occurring at unprecedented rates. As systems approach socio-economic and ecological thresholds, our current management toolbox has proved to be incomplete for conservation and the sustainable provision of ecosystem services, including fisheries production and the wildlife habitat. Multiple approaches are therefore needed to address the varying uncertainties we face in this increasingly non-stationary world. Managers navigating ecosystem transformation can benefit from considering broader objectives beyond a traditional focus on resisting ecosystem change, by also considering whether accepting change or directing it along a preferred pathway might be more appropriate (RAD framework).
The RAD framework lays out three approaches for making management decisions for systems undergoing ecosystem transformation: 1) Resist, where managers work to maintain or restore ecosystem composition, structure, processes, or function on the basis of historical or acceptable current conditions, 2) Accept, where managers allow ecosystem composition, structure, process, or function to change autonomously, and 3) Direct, where managers actively shape change in ecosystem composition, structure, processes, or function toward preferred new conditions.
Taking Action in the Face of Change
“The RAD framework is about helping people really come to terms with the extent and pace of climate change and the discomfort that uncertainty brings. After people face the reality of climate change, they tend to come up with a much wider range of potential management actions. I think of a RAD brainstorming session like throwing a pot of freshly cooked spaghetti at the wall; if you don’t throw out some wild ideas, you’ll never find the one that sticks.” - Nicole Ward, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
In supporting natural resource management that seeks to make strategic, forward-looking decisions in an era of change, adapting to ecosystem transformation benefits all people. Still, there is great uncertainty in the changes to come and the path forward is unclear. The scientific community can help decision-makers by increasing its understanding of how ecosystems will transform. After identifying both the desirable and unacceptable potential outcomes, managers can develop appropriate actions, all the while remaining flexible in their approach as they learn more. Today’s leadership and decision making can improve our ability to respond to ecosystem transformation by supporting efforts to understand the trajectories of change, the efficacy of current management approaches, and the best design practices for resisting and directing transformation in order to achieve desired ecosystem goals.
RAD Case Study: The Kenai Peninsula
Media
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
Additional Resources
Webinars & Workshops:
- RADical ecosystem change: Applying the RAD (Resist-Accept-Direct) framework Stewardship Network webinar (2023)
- The RAD (Resist-Accept-Direct) Climate Adaptation Framework National CASC webinar (2022)
- Resist-Accept-Direct Webinar Series USFWS National Conservation Training Center (2022)
- How the Resist-Accept-Direct (RAD) framework clarifies modern environmental stewardship challenges and fosters strategic responses Northwest Regional Invasive Species and Climate Change (NW RISCC) Network Virtual Symposium (2021)
- Managing for RADical ecosystem change: Applying the Resist, Accept, or Direct (RAD) Framework IUCN Climate Change Specialist Group webinar (2021)
- Thinking about Adaptation: Exploring the Resist-Accept-Direct Framework USFWS National Conservation Training Center training (2021)
- How the Resist-Accept-Direct (RAD) framework clarifies the challenge of modern natural resource management and supports strategic, forward-looking action. NC CASC webinar (2021)
- Are federal land managers ready and SET for stewarding ecological transformation? FedNET workshop (2019)
- Resist, Accept, or Direct? A decision framework for navigating climate change-driven ecological transformations NOAA National Marine Protected Area Center webinar (2019)
RAD has been incorporated into various USGS research projects, including many funded by the USGS Climate Adaptation Science Centers. Learn more about these projects below.
Using the Resist-Accept-Direct Framework to Manage Wildfires, Carbon Storage, and Ecological Transformations in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem
The Greater Yellowstone Area (GYA) is an iconic landscape with national parks, iconic species like grizzly bears and elk, and over 11,500 square miles of forest. While fires are a natural part of the GYA, climate change and land management legacies are increasing the frequency and size of severe fires. Climate change interacts with these fires to shift conifer forests to non-forested...
Crafting Ecological Scenarios to Implement the Resist-Accept-Direct (RAD) Framework
As climate change progresses, profound environmental changes are becoming a widespread concern. A new management paradigm is developing to address this concern with a framework that encourages strategic decisions to resist, accept, or direct ecological trajectories. Effective use of the Resist-Accept-Direct (RAD) framework requires the scientific community to describe the range of...
Cross-Park RAD Project (CPRP): A Case Study in Four National Parks Investigating How Institutional Context and Emotions Shape Manager Decisions to Resist, Accept, or Direct Change in Transforming Ecosystems
Natural & cultural resource managers are facing a slew of new challenges for managing public lands stemming from climate change and human-driven stressors like invasive species, fragmentation, and new resource uses. In some cases, the very landscapes and species they are managing are changing in significant ways, transforming from one set of conditions to another. As a result, previously...
Informing Decisions to Resist, Accept, or Direct Post-fire Vegetation Transitions
As wildfire activity surges in the western U.S., managers are increasingly challenged by decisions surrounding managing post-fire environments.Changing fire regimes and warmer,drier post-fire conditions are increasing the likelihood of post-fire vegetation transitions, for example,from forest to grassland. Given the economic and ecological importance of these ecosystems, transformation...
Public Land Manager Decision-Making Under Ecological Transformation
As pressures from climate change and other anthropogenic stressors, like invasive species, increase, new challenges arise for natural resource managers who are responsible for the health of public lands. One of the greatest challenges these managers face is that the traditional way of managing resources might not be as effective, or in some cases might be ineffective, in light of...
Adaptation Strategies in the Face of Climate-Driven Ecological Transformation: Case Studies from Arctic Alaska and the U.S. Great Plains
Climate change is already affecting ecosystems, and will likely trigger significant and permanent changes in both ecological and human communities. Such transformations are already occurring in the Arctic region of Alaska, where temperatures are warming at twice the global average and causing some ecosystems to transition to new states. Arctic warming has led to coastal erosion that has...
Mapping the Risk of Ecological Transformation Across Pinyon Woodlands and the U.S. West
Pinyon pine woodlands are among the most widespread and iconic vegetation types in the western United States and support recreation, resource extraction, grazing, and cultural enrichment. However, severe drought conditions have recently caused dramatic mortality of pinyon pines, creating concern about the long-term impact of increasing aridity on the viability of pinyon woodlands...
State of the Science on Ecosystem Transformation
Recent changes in climate are having profound effects on many fish and wildlife species, and projections suggest that those trends are likely to continue. Changing climate conditions have the potential to transform ecosystems, which impacts not only fish and wildlife but also human communities, which rely on ecosystems for important goods and services such as food and water filtration...
Explore how RAD is applied through these introductory videos.
The RAD Framework
A video narrated by National CASC Fish Biologist Abby Lynch explaining the Resist-Accept-Direct Framework, a decision-making tool that helps resource managers make informed strategies for responding to ecological changes resulting from climate change_._ The video is a narrated slide show with animations and photos guiding the viewer through the framework.
A video narrated by National CASC Fish Biologist Abby Lynch explaining the Resist-Accept-Direct Framework, a decision-making tool that helps resource managers make informed strategies for responding to ecological changes resulting from climate change_._ The video is a narrated slide show with animations and photos guiding the viewer through the framework.
RAD Framework for Ecosystem Management amid Climate Breakdown
The Resist-Accept-Direct (RAD) framework is a decision-making tool that helps resource managers make informed strategies for responding to ecological changes resulting from climate change.
The Resist-Accept-Direct (RAD) framework is a decision-making tool that helps resource managers make informed strategies for responding to ecological changes resulting from climate change.
Academic articles in a variety of journals have developed and discussed the RAD framework. Read these publications below.
RAD Special Issue
RAD Special Issue
The journal Fisheries Management and Ecology produced a special issue on RAD featuring RAD thematic articles and case studies focused on fish and fisheries.
RAD Special Section
RAD Special Section
A Special Section in the journal Bioscience provides an in-depth exploration of the RAD framework. Articles examine practical applications, compatibility with existing tools, social barriers and opportunities, and more.
Interested in being a part of a growing community of practice on RAD? Consider joining our "RADish" community email list that invites members to share RAD-relevant communications, such as articles, upcoming events, and discussion topics with other members of the group.
RADish Community Distribution List
RADish Community Distribution List
The “RADish” distribution list serves the community of practice around the RAD (Resist-Accept-Direct) framework. We strive to maintain an inclusive and professional community engaged in RAD-relevant discussions only. Please review our Community Guidelines before subscribing to the list.
RAD Community of Practice
RAD Community of Practice
A growing community of practice, including the Federal Navigating Ecological Transformation (FedNET) and the American Fisheries Society and the Wildlife Society's ecosystem transformation working groups, is helping incorporate the RAD framework into ecosystem management decisions.