Evaluating a collaborative adaptive management model through the lens of participatory democracy: A case study from the work plan 'Learning How to Apply Adaptive Management in the U.S. Forest Service Sierra Nevada Forest Plan Amendment'

In this dissertation, a new framework and structural support processes for implementing collaborative adaptive management are proposed and evaluated through the lens of participatory democracy theory. The case study evaluated is an adaptive management (AM) project in the Sierra Nevada of California, designed to reduce fire hazard on U.S. Forest Service (USFS) lands through fuels management treatments. The AM project includes the role of a multi-disciplinary group of University of California science and extension professionals, participating as "neutral third party" within an adaptive management process developed to implement U.S. Forest Service (USFS) fuels treatments in the Sierra Nevada of California as defined and outlined in the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) guiding the AM project.;My dissertation data is derived from the public meeting evaluations and ongoing feedback from participants that I collected as part of my work as a University of California Cooperative Extension Advisor during the development of the workplan and the initial implementation of the study. I developed and facilitated a series of meetings from the time of the signing of the MOU in 2005 to the initial implementation of the case study in 2008. The adaptive management process, in this case study, proposed to improve the public participation process used in USFS planning in the Sierra. I evaluate the success of this collaborative AM project, thus far, by applying the five criteria for evaluating the achievement of participatory democracy as defined, organized and utilized by Moote and McClaran (1997). These five criteria are: efficacy; representation and access; information exchange and learning; continuity of participation; and decision-making authority.;This study indicates new opportunities for mutual learning in all five criteria areas. A key outcome of this evaluation indicates the need for expertise in collaborative leadership and basic facilitation skills for the agencies and the scientists to successfully implement collaborative AM. The results also provide an organizational structure and associated conceptual models that may build this capacity in scientists, agencies and public members participating in collaborative efforts. These tools will be further developed and evaluated as the project proceeds.