I have struggled for the last few days to better understand management and planning systems and ask myself whether we ought to keep any parts of the "interim directives." As usual I answer, No! You may find my thoughts amusing. You may find them bemusing. There is an odd chance you may find my thoughts enlightening. Here they are:
Land Management Planning as an Embedded Process
We have many processes (or systems) to help us manage the national forests and other public lands. Problem is these systems are often fractured and fragmented, and sometimes work at cross-purposes. We have tried to run our systems as pieces of a well-oiled machine. But it can't work that way. The world is too complex for that, and sometimes politically wicked as well. A better management model is one that mimics nature, one comprised of self-organized complex adaptive systems. See Margaret Wheatley and Mryon Kellner-Rogers A Simpler Way for more.
Looking at things hierarchically, in a complex systems frame, we can see land management planning systems embedded in planning systems, embedded as part of "management systems."
Forest Service Management Systems
It proves helpful to see the map of interrelated systems that aid in adaptive management/organizational learning. Commonly recognized systems include:
- Assessment Systems
- Evaluation Systems
- Monitoring Systems
- Inventory Systems
- Planning Systems
- Monitoring Systems
Add to these supporting systems, like:
- Education and Training Systems
- Personnel Recruitment and Support Systems
- Budgeting and Finance Systems
- Information Technology Systems
- And so on
Now overlay all these with various "functions," like:
- Vegetation management (timber, range, etc.)
- Bio-physical resource management (soil and water, wildlife, plants, etc.)
- Fire management (suppression, pre-suppression, etc.)
- Facilities management systems
- Recreation management systems
- And so on
Finally overlay all with what we refer to as "Line Management," with about:
- 900 District Rangers, who report to
- 120 Forest Supervisors, who report to
- 9 Regional Foresters, who report to
- 1 Chief Forester
Now we can begin to get a glimpse of the complex nature of the management systems that we attempt organization with. The trick to all this is to make sure that the systems are not only complex, but adaptive and purposefully interrelated as well. No small order. And there are traps along the path we need to be aware of.
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