J. Douglas Wellman

Confronting the challenge of greenline parks: Limits of the traditional administrative approach

The National Park Service, like other natural resource management agencies, has adopted the traditional model of public administration, which emphasizes efficiency, effectiveness, economy, and dichotomy between politics and administration. This approach is particularly ineffective in greenline parks and increasingly inappropriate in traditional areas. In an era of ecological interdependence, relationships with other agencies and jurisdictions and with adjacent as well as noncontiguous landowners are as important as controlling visitors. Recreation managers need to develop more skill in negotiation, cooperation, coordination, and interpersonal communication if they are to preserve and protect park resources.