Can We Manage for Resilience? The Integration of Resilience Thinking into Natural Resource Management in the United States

Authors

Melinda Harm Benson
Ahjond S. Garmestani, United States Environmental Protection AgencyFollow

Date of this Version

2011

Citation

Environmental Management (2011) 48:392–399 DOI 10.1007/s00267-011-9693-5

Abstract

The concept of resilience is now frequently invoked by natural resource agencies in the US. This reflects growing trends within ecology, conservation biology, and other disciplines acknowledging that social–ecological systems require management approaches recognizing their complexity. In this paper, we examine the concept of resilience and the manner in which some legal and regulatory frameworks governing federal natural resource agencies have difficulty accommodating it. We then use the U.S. Forest Service’s employment of resilience as an illustration of the challenges ahead.