Working on institutions while planning for forest resilience: a case study of public land management in the United States

How do managers reconcile new priorities for responding to ecological change with traditional decision-making processes? We address this question with a focus on the US Forest Service, which is transitioning to managing for resilience, while operating under a mix of both new and decades-old policies. We conducted qualitative case study research on the Kaibab National Forest in Arizona, USA, via interviews and document analysis. In this context, managing for resilience translated into ensuring that forests experienced frequent, low-severity fires. This endeavor required managers to work through the legacy of fire exclusion and develop institutions to accommodate frequent burning in a new land management plan. In this plan, managers also sought to increase their discretion, but not at the expense of accountability. Collaboration with external stakeholders allowed them to strike this balance between flexibility and accountability and make the intentional institutional changes needed to manage for resilience.