Mark T. Imperial

Using Collaboration as a Governance Strategy: Lessons From Six Watershed Management Programs

This article utilizes a comparative cross-case analysis of six watershed programs to examine how collaboration is used to enhance governance of networks where problem-solving capacity is widely dispersed and few organizations accomplish their missions by acting alone. A conceptual framework that illustrates how collaboration occurs at the operational, policy-making, and institutional levels is presented. Understanding these structural relationships is important and can help public managers design effective collaborative processes. The article concludes with a discussion of the implications for future research and advice for public managers using collaboration as a strategy for enhancing network governance.

Taking Institutions Seriously: Using the IAD Framework to Analyze Fisheries Policy

ABSTRACT We argue that the fisheries management literature often does a poor job of analyzing issues related to institutional design and performance. The article begins by examining four competing institutional arrangements used to manage fisheries: bureaucracy, markets, community, and comanagement. The differences are used to highlight the importance of understanding critical issues related to institutional analysis. The article then examines some of the common problems or pitfalls that analysts fall victim to when examining institutional design and performance. We conclude by summarizing the Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) framework, one approach to institutional analysis that avoids these common pitfalls.

A Decade of Service-Related Research: A Map of the Field:

The 1990s ushered in a new era for service as a problem-solving strategy, with a concomitant expansion in the service-related literature. The authors report the results of a bibliographic survey of the literature that assessed the contents of more than 2,500 abstracts. Service-related research has diffused to a wide array of disciplines and policy fields. However, the common interest across disciplines has not translated into a more coherent understanding of service. The most recent research is fragmented across disciplines and outcomes. In addition, much of the most recent research diverges from traditional definitions of volunteerism. Few attempts have been made to synthesize the latest wave of research results and integrate them with previous research and theory. Recommendations are offered to increase convergence among investigators and improve the quality of service-related research.

An ecosystem‐based approach to managing estuaries: An assessment of the National Estuary program

Traditional coastal resource management programs tend to be fragmented and focused on a limited subset of problems. Many scholars, government practitioners, and academics have argued that an ecosystem‐based approach is more appropriate. A promising ecosystem‐based approach to managing estuaries in the United States is the National Estuary Program (NEP). The goal of this article is to examine the extent to which the NEPs management conference process represents an ecosystem‐based approach to managing estuarine systems. The article begins with a discussion of the challenges associated with utilizing an ecosystem‐based approach to environmental management. The strategy, structure, and process of the NEP are then examined using evaluative criteria drawn from a previous study of historical attempts to manage coastal areas in the United States. Based on the results of this assessment, some of the strengths and weaknesses of the NEPs management conference process are identified. The article concludes with a di...

The evolution of adaptive management for estuarine ecosystems: the National Estuary Program and its precursors

Abstract The Great Lakes Program and The Chesapeake Bay Program represent the two primary precursors to the development of adaptive estuary management in the United States. Many of the lessons and experiences of these two programs have been incorporated within the design of the National Estuary Program. This paper assesses the suitability of the National Estuary Programs Management Conference process for managing estuarine ecosystems. Based upon the characteristics of marine ecosystems, it appears that there are several requirements for the design of governance institutions for estuarine ecosystems; namely flexibility, adaptation, and ultimately a capacity to learn. On the basis of this analysis, it appears that the Management Conference process is flexible enough to stimulate the selection of the diverse issues and remedial actions that are required to address the environmental concerns appropriate for each estuary. Because of the lack of sufficient experience, it remains to be determined if a states ‘ecological capacity’ will limit the implementation of the Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plans (CCMPs) that are produced by each estuary program. However, these limitations should be recognized both during the plans preparation and implementation. This paper also suggests that adaptive implementation approaches be adopted instead of viewing the CCMP as a static blueprint for an estuarys protection.

Incorporating Service Learning into Public Affairs Programs: Lessons from the Literature

Abstract This article reviews the growing literature on citizen service since 1990 to identify design principles to guide the incorporation of a service learning pedagogy into public affairs programs. The article begins with an analysis of a bibliographic database of service-related research published between 1990 and 1999. Although little of the research focuses specifically on public affairs programs, it is a rich literature that proposes best practices, examines program outcomes, and identifies factors thought to influence the successful implementation of service learning. We build on this analysis by reviewing studies of service learning in public affairs published after 1999 to craft seven design principles: explicit connections between the service activity and learning objectives; reflection; appropriate time commitment; student input; faculty commitment; perceptible impacts; and feedback loops. Our hope is that the design principles provide guidance to those wishing to employ a service learning pedagogy and that subsequent research will test, refine, and expand them in ways that improve the likelihood that these experiences will produce desired learning objectives.

An evolutionary perspective on the development and assessment of the national estuary program

Abstract This article addresses the U.S. approach to managing environmental quality in estuarine regions. It reviews the progress that has been achieved in managing coastal environmental quality and looks at the factors that have affected the design of coastal and estuarine management programs by examining five experiences in environmental management that have been important influences on the development of the National Estuary Program (NEP): the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC); the federal river basin commissions; the Section 208 area‐wide waste treatment planning; the federal coastal zone management program; and the Chesapeake Bay Program. These programs offer important strengths and weaknesses as models for managing estuarine environmental quality. The authors propose evaluation criteria based on the strategy, structure, and process of coastal environmental programs, which can be used to evaluate the structure and management process of contemporary coastal environmental programs such as the Nati...

Development of coastal vegetated buffer programs

This article describes a multiple benefit/multiple use approach to implementing vegetated buffers, using as an example a program adopted by the Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Program. The multiple benefit/multiple use approach capitalizes on the inherent ability of vegetated buffers to perform multiple functions, such as pollutant removal, habitat protection, scenic improvement, erosion control, and historic/archaeological site preservation. These benefits provide a more robust means for justifying vegetated buffer implementation, and should help develop a broader constituency for the adoption of vegetated buffer policies. Application of vegetated buffers for residential and other developing lands has not been adequately addressed in existing vegetated buffer implementation efforts. We present one solution to implementing vegetated buffers on residential and developing lands. The approach and background information should prove useful for the application of vegetated buffers outside of coastal ...

Collaborative watershed governance in lake tahoe: an institutional analysis

This paper examines the emergence of collaborative watershed management in Lake Tahoe by focusing on how institutions managing coordination and conflict have changed over time. It begins by describing the evolution of watershed governance and examines the extent to which the institutional arrangement demonstrates the eight design principles proposed by Elinor Ostrom for successful common pool resource (CPR) management. The paper then develops the concept of a complex environmental commons (CEC) to differentiate the situation of Lake Tahoe from the simpler CPR dilemmas frequently discussed in the CPR literature. We then propose five additional principles that contribute to collaborative management of a CEC.

ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE AND WATER POLLUTION CONTROL. THE CLEAN WATER ACT CONSTRUCTION GRANTS PROGRAM

This study examines the third goal of the Environmental Protection Agency Office of Water’s Environmental Justice Strategy that focuses on providing equal access to environmental infrastructure for all citizens, including those located in disadvantaged communities. One way to ensure equal access is through the equitable distribution of funding pursuant to the Clean Water Act. This article examines whether disadvantaged communities received a disproportionately low share of the funding or had a lower probability of obtaining construction grants. The article also examines 9,854 grant awards in the 48 contiguous states at the county level during the period 1983 to 1992. The results indicate that counties with relatively small populations had more difficulty obtaining construction grants. The effect of income and minority composition was more pronounced in small communities. High-income communities did better than poor communities in terms of both the share of awards and the probability of receiving grants. The results also indicate that a county’sminority composition was inversely related to the probability of obtaining a grant but positively related to the share of grant awards.