With PQDT Open, you can read the full text of open access dissertations and theses free of charge.
About PQDT Open
Search
The conflict in the Pacific Northwest between competing visions of how federal forests should be managed resulted in a political stalemate in the early 1990s. The Northwest Forest Plan (NWFP) was initiated to resolve the demands for maintaining ecosystem processes and biological diversity with the social and economic needs for timber harvest. The foundation for the plan rested with the development of ecosystem
management. The intent of this research is to explore the events which led up to the adoption of the NWFP, how it was implemented by the US Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management and the subsequent reactions to and consequences of the plan.
The primary research consisted of thirty-eight semi-structured interviews with individuals responsible for the development of the initial plan, those tasked with implementing the plan and current federal agency personnel from the land management agencies and regulatory agencies. With the use of thematic analysis, key meanings were captured as expressed by the interviewees. The data was analyzed using institutional theory, capturing the organizational relations within the organizational field of the land management agencies.
Research findings suggest that the NWFP was unsuccessful in meeting the goal of addressing the social and economic issues as well as the goals for ecosystem management. This dissertation explores the organizational practices and cultural meanings that led to the final instantiation of the plan. It seeks to shed light on the reasons why these goals were not met and how future forest plans can move beyond the
current stalemate between conservation and preservation.
Advisor: | |
Commitee: | |
School: | Portland State University |
School Location: | United States -- Oregon |
Source: | DAI-B 81/1(E), Dissertation Abstracts International |
Source Type: | DISSERTATION |
Subjects: | Environmental Studies, Environmental management |
Keywords: | Northwest forest plan, Pacific Northwest , United States, US Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management |
Publication Number: | 13807499 |
ISBN: | 978-1-392-02451-5 |