Graduate Project
 

The Role of Executive Orders in Managing for Climate Change in US Forest Service Plan Revisions

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https://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/concern/graduate_projects/5m60r121s

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  • This project provides insight on the current state of forest management policy, as it relates to climate change in the United States. It analyzes the current statutory framework that governs the management of National Forests and administrative Executive Orders that can determine federal agency direction. A comparative analysis is conducted between a case study of Rio Grande National Forest land management plan revision and Executive Order #14008 to determine the extent to which the United States Forest Service incorporated federal climate change mandates into their revision. To support the conclusions of the comparative analysis, a literature review of public land manager interviews identifies common barriers that prevent the incorporation of climate change considerations into management of public lands. The literature review also provides the basis for recommendations made to facilitate incorporation of resilience and adaptation principles into US forest management policy. Rio Grande National Forest incorporated required climate change objectives that are identified in Executive Order #14008. However, these requirements were already lawfully required to be included in the plan revision under the current statutory framework. Therefore, the incorporation of EO directives does not speak to the capacity to which the US can address climate change in management of public forests. Numerous barriers contribute to this gap between policy, management, and actionable practices. The primary barriers identified by natural resource agencies include, lack of overall agency direction, limited or inconsistent knowledge of resilience or climate change, limitations of budget, resources, or agency capacity, risk aversion to litigation or controversy, and competing priorities such as performance targets. These barriers often lead to or are the result of one another, thus creating a crossroads of social, political, and ecological complexities. To combat these challenges, several social and political considerations that go beyond scientific principles must be addressed. These include an increase in resources for the United States Forest Service, establishment and maintenance of relationships with various groups that can compensate for gaps in agency capacity, clear and consistent legal policy framework, bipartisan agreement relating to the use of adaptation and resilience principles to combat climate change impacts. These recommendations will provide the consistency, resources, and knowledge that natural resource agencies need when moving towards a changing and uncertain future.
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file details KMartin_FinalCapstone.pdf 2023-10-20 Public Download