Judging adaptive management practices of U.S. agencies

Area of Science:

• Environmental Law
• Conservation Biology
• Administrative Law

Background:

• Adaptive management (AM) is widely adopted by U.S. federal agencies for environmental law.
• Implementation of AM in practice remains poorly understood, particularly concerning its effectiveness.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze judicial decisions to identify deficiencies in agency adaptive management practices.
• To characterize a common, deficient form of AM termed "AM-lite".

Main Methods:

• Systematic analysis of U.S. federal court opinions concerning agency adaptive management plans up to January 1, 2015.
• Identification of recurring shortcomings in judicial reviews.

Main Results:

• Courts frequently identified deficiencies in AM plans, including lack of clear objectives, undefined thresholds, and absent triggered actions.
• A pattern of "AM-lite" was observed, characterized by the omission of critical iterative learning steps.
• Judicial review revealed a gap between theoretical AM and its practical application, with courts sometimes overturning inadequate plans.

Conclusions:

• Agency practices often fall short of robust adaptive management, termed "AM-lite," hindering structured learning.
• Judicial oversight plays a role in pushing agencies toward more rigorous adaptive management, despite limitations of agency discretion.
• A fundamental tension exists between the flexibility required for adaptive management and legal principles of transparency, participation, and finality.