Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Organizational Change in the US Forest Service: Negotiating Organizational Boundaries in the Collaborative Process

  • Published:
Environmental Management Aims and scope Submit manuscript

A Correction to this article was published on 09 May 2019

This article has been updated

Abstract

In the United States and across the globe, forest governance officials are seeing a rise in the demand from local community members to participate in forest management decision-making. Despite this demand, there have been few studies that seek to describe the impact of community collaborative efforts on the organizational structures and processes of governmental forest management agencies. We empirically examined the boundary negotiations occurring at the field office level of the United States Forest Service in order to understand organizational change with respect to the collaborative process. We employed a qualitative case study approach encompassing the examination of three community collaborative groups. By examining the defining characteristics of organizational boundaries, we found that boundary negotiations are facilitating organizational change through individual-level learning and behavior changes. We present data suggestive of negotiations for boundaries of knowledge, responsibility, and capacity. Understanding the organizational outcomes of community collaboration will help forest managers respond and adapt to changing forest management strategies.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Change history

  • 09 May 2019

    The article “Organizational Change in the US Forest Service: Negotiating Organizational Boundaries in the Collaborative Process” written by Patricia B. Orth and Antony S. Cheng, was originally published electronically on the publisher’s internet portal (currently Springer Link) on February 2019 with open access.

References

  • Agrawal A, Chhatre A, Hardin R (2008) Changing governance of the world’s forests. Science 320:1460–1462

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Aldrich H, Herker O (1977) Boundary spanning roles and organization structure. Acad Manag Rev 2:217–230

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Apple DD (1996) Changing social and legal forces affecting the management of national forests. Sci J 4–10

  • Atkinson R, Flint J (2001) Accessing hidden and hard-to-reach populations: Snowball research strategies. Social Res Update 33:1–4

    Google Scholar 

  • Bengston DN (1994) Change forest values and ecosystem management. Soc Nat Resour 7:515–533

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Biber E (2009) Too many things to do: How to deal with the dysfunctions of multiple-goal agencies. Harv Envtl L Rev 33:1

    Google Scholar 

  • Bingham LB, O’Leary R (2006) Conclusion: parallel play, not collaboration: missing questions, missing connections. Public Adm Rev 66:161–167.

  • Boyle BJ (1994) Policies and mythologies of the US Forest Service: a conversation with employees. Seattle, WA, The Institute for resources in society

  • Brown G, Harris CC (1993) The implications of work force diversification in the US Forest Service. Adm Soc 25:85–113

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brown G, Harris CC (2000) The US Forest Service: whither the new resource management paradigm? J Environ Manag 58:1–19

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brown G, Squirrell TG, Harris CC (2010) Growing organizational challenges for the US Forest Service: results of a longitudinal study in a period of major environmental change. J For 108:77–85

    Google Scholar 

  • Bryson JM, Crosby BC, Stone MM (2006) The Design and Implementation of Cross-Sector Collaborations: Propositions from the Literature. Public Adm Rev 66:44–55

  • Burns S, Cheng AS (2005) The Utilization of Collabortive Processes in Forest Planning. Colorado State University, Fort Lewis College, US Forest Service

  • Butler KF, Koontz TM (2005) Theory into practice: implementing ecosystem management objectives in the USDA Forest Service. Environ Manag 35:138–150

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • CEQ (2007) A Citizen’s Guide to the NEPA: Having Your Voice Heard. Council on Environmental Quality, Washington, DC

  • Cheng AS (2006) Build it and they will come? mandating collaboration in public lands planning and management. Nat Resour J 46:1–13

    Google Scholar 

  • Cheng AS, Gerlak AK, Dale L, Mattor KM (2015) Examining adaptability of collaborative governance in public ecosystem management: insights from the Front Range Roundtable, Colorado, USA. Ecol Soc 20:35

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chojnacky CC (2012) Leadership impact on Forest Service operations: Intriguing ideas from public administration theories. J For 110:457

    Google Scholar 

  • Clarke JN, McCool D (1996) Staking out the terrain: Power and performance among natural resource agencies vol, Second Edition. State University of New York Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Conley A, Moote MA (2003) Evaluating collaborative natural resource management. Soc Nat Resour 16:371–386. https://doi.org/10.1080/08941920390190032

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cortner HJ, Moote MA (1999) The Politics of Ecosystem Management. Island Press, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  • Cramer LA, Kennedy JJ, Krannich RS, Quigley TM (1993) Changing forest service values and their implications for land management decisions affecting resource‐dependent communities. Rural Sociol 58:475–491

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davenport MA, Anderson DH, Leahy JE, Jakes PJ (2007) Reflections from USDA Forest Service employees on institutional constraints to engaging and serving thier local communities. J For 105:43–48

    Google Scholar 

  • DeCuir-Gunby JT, Marshall PL, McCulloch AW (2011) Developing and using a codebook for the analysis of interview data: an example from a Professional Development Reserach Project. Field Methods 23:136–155

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dudley L, Raymer M (2001) Inside organizational change: puzzling across permeable boundaries. Public Adm Rev 61:620–624

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Edmunds D, Wollenberg E (2004) Local forest management–the impacts of devolution policies. Manag Environ Qual Int J 15:336–337

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Farnham TJ, Mohai P (1995) National Forest timber management over the past decade. Policy Stud J 23:268–280

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Farnham TJ, Taylor CP, Callaway W (1995) A shift in values. Policy Stud J 23:281–295

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frentz IC, Burns S, Sperry CW (2000) Forest service-community relationship building: recommendations. Soc Nat Resour 13:549–566

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gieryn TF (1983) Boundary-work and the demarcation of science from non-science: strains and interests in professional ideologies of scientists. Am Sociol Rev 48:781–795

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Golafshani N (2003) Understanding reliability and validity in qualitative research. Qual Report 8:597–606

    Google Scholar 

  • Granovetter M (1976) Network sampling: some first steps. Am J Sociol 81:1287–1303

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gray B (1989) Collaborating: finding common ground for multiparty problems. Jossey-Bass, San Francisco

    Google Scholar 

  • Halvorsen KE (2001) Relationships between national forest system employee diversity and beliefs regarding external interest groups. For Sci 47:258–269

    Google Scholar 

  • Heracleous L (2004) Boundaries in the study of organization. Human Relat 57:95–103

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hsieh H-F, Shannon SE (2005) Three approaches to qualitative content analysis. Qual Health Res 15:1277–1288

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huber GP, Sutcliffe KM, Miller CC, Glick WH (1993) Understanding and predicting organizational change. In: Huber GP, Glick WH (eds) Understanding organziational change and redesign. Oxford University Press, New York, p 450

    Google Scholar 

  • Imperial M, Koontz T (2007) Evolution of collaborative organizations for watershed governance: structural properties, life-cycles, and factors contributing to the longevity of watershed partnerships. In: 29th Annual Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management (APPAM) Research Conference. p 28

  • Jones ES, Mohai P (1995) Is the forest service keeping up with the times? Policy Stud J 23:351–371

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kaiser K (2009) Protecting respondent confidentiality in qualitative research. Qualitative health research 19:1632–1641

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kaufman H (1960) The forest ranger: a study in administrative behavior. Johns Hopkins Press, Baltimore

    Google Scholar 

  • Kennedy JJ, Haynes RW, Zhou X (2005) Line officers’ views on stated USDA Forest Service values and the agency reward system. General Technical Report-Pacific Northwest Research Station, USDA Forest Service

  • Kennedy JJ, Quigley TM (1998) Evolution of USDA Forest Service organziational culture and adaptation issues in embracing an ecosystem management paradigm. Landsc Urban Plan 40:113–122

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kettl DF (2006) Managing Boundaries in American Administration: The Collaborative Imperative. Public Adm Rev 66:10–19

  • Koontz TM, Bodine J (2008) Implementing ecosystem management in public agencies: lessons from the US Bureau of Land Management and the Forest Service. Conserv Biol 22:60–69

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kvale S, Brinkmann S (2009) Interviews: Learning the Craft of Qualitative Reserach Interviewing. Second edn. Sage, United States of America

  • Langford BE, Hunsicker FR (1996) An integrated view of the relationship between the organization and its environment. J Appl Top Business Econ. http://www.westga.edu/~bquest/1996/model.html

  • Leach WD (2006) Collaborative Public Management and Democracy: Evidence from Western Watershed Partnerships. Public Adm Rev 66:100–110

  • MacCleery D (2008) Reinventing the United States forest service: evolution from custodial management, to production forestry, to ecosystem managment. In: Patrick Durst CB, Broadhead Jeremy, Suzuki Regan, Leslie Robin, Inoguch Akiko (ed) Re-inventing forestry agencies: Experiences of institutional restructuring in Asia and the Pacific. Asia-Pacific Forestry Commission, Bangkok

    Google Scholar 

  • Mason M (2010) Sample size and saturation in PhD studies using qualitative interviews Forum qualitative Sozialforschung/Forum: qualitative social research 11

  • McGuire M (2006) Collaborative Public Management: Assessing What We Know and How We Know It. Public Adm Rev 66:33 - 43

  • Mohai P (1995) The Forest Service since the national forest management act. Policy Stud J 23:247–252

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mohai P, Jakes P (1996) The Forest Service in the 1990’s: Is it headed in the right direction? J For 94:31–37

    Google Scholar 

  • Moseley C, Charnley S (2014) Understanding micro-processes of institutionalization: stewardship contracting and national forest management. Policy Sci 47:69–98

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • O’Flynn J, Blackman D, Halligan J (eds) (2014) Crossing boundaries in public management and policy. Routledge, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Orlikowski W (1996) Improvising organizational transformation over time: A situated change perspective. Inf Syst Res 7:63–92

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Quick KS (2011) Boundaries and Inclusive Public Management. Paper presented at the Public Management Research Association Conference, Syracuse, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Quick KS, Feldman MS (2014) Boundaries as Junctures: collaborative boundary work for building efficient resilience. Organ Sci 11:611–629

    Google Scholar 

  • Roth D (1991) Community stability, rural development, and the Forest Service Rural Development. Perspectives 7:35–39

    Google Scholar 

  • Sabatier PA, Loomis J, McCarthy C (1995) Hierarchical controls, professional norms, local constituencies, and budget maximization: an analysis of US Forest Service planning decisions. Am J Polit Sci 39:204-242

  • Salka WM (2004) Mission evolution: the United States Forest Service’s response to crisis. Rev Policy Res 21:221–232

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Seanwright J, Gerring J (2008) Case selection techniques in case study research. Polit Res Quart 61:294–308

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Selin S, Schuett M, Carr D (1997) Has collaborative planning taken root in the national forests? J For 95:25–28

    Google Scholar 

  • Spradley JP (2016) Participant observation. Waveland Press, Long Grove, Illinois

  • Strauss A, Corbin JM (1990) Basics of qualitative research: Grounded theory procedures and techniques. Sage Publications Inc, Thousand Oaks

    Google Scholar 

  • Thomas JC, Mohai P (1995) Racial, gender, and professional diversification in the Forest Service from 1983 to 1992. Policy Stud J 23:296–309

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thomson AM, Perry JL (2006) Collaboration processes: inside the black box. Public Adm Rev 66:20–32

  • Trusty T, Cerveny LK (2012) The role of discretion in recreation decision-making by resource professionals in the USDA Forest Service. J Environ Manag 107:114–123

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tsoukas H, Chia R (2002) On orgranizational becoming: rethinking organizationa change. Organ Sci 13:567–582

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • U.S. Forest Service (2017a) Agency Organization. https://http://www.fs.fed.us/about-agency/organization. Accessed February 18 2018

  • U.S. Forest Service (2017b) Regional Offices. http://www.fs.fed.us/about-agency/contact-us/regional-offices. Accessed on 2 July 2018

  • U.S. Forest Service (2017c) The U.S. Forest Service - An Overview. http://www.fs.fed.us/documents/USFS_An_Overview_0106MJS.pdf. Accessed on 18 February 2018

  • USDA (2015a) Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program 5-Year Report. US Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Washington, DC

  • USDA (2015b) The rising cost of wildfire operations: effects on the Forest Service’s non-fire work. US Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Washington, DC

  • Vaughn J, Cortner H (2004) Using parallel strategies to promote change: Forest policymaking under George W. Bush Rev Policy Res 21:767–782

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vogt WP, Johnson RB (2011) Dictionary of statistics & methodology: a nontechnical guide for the social sciences: a nontechnical guide for the social sciences. Sage, Los Angeles, California

  • Voth DE, Fendley K, Farmer FL (1994) A diagnosis of the Forest Service’s social context. J For (USA) 92:17–20

  • Weick KE, Quinn RE (1999) Organizational change and development. Annu Rev Psychol 50:361–386

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wondolleck JM, Yaffee SL (2000) Making collaboration work: lessons from innovation in natural resrouce management. Island Press, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  • Xu Z, Bengston DN (1997) Trends in national forest values among forestry professionals, environmentalists, and the news media, 1982–1993. Soc Nat Resour 10:43–59

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We gratefully acknowledge that financial support for this research came from US Department of Agriculture’s National Institute for Food and Agriculture funds administered by the Agricultural Experiment Station at Colorado State University (Project No. COL00666) and the Center for Collaborative Conservation at Colorado State University.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Forest and Rangeland Stewardship, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA

    Patricia B. Orth & Antony S. Cheng

Authors
  1. Patricia B. Orth
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Antony S. Cheng
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Patricia B. Orth.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Publisher’s note: Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Supplementary Information

Appendix A: interview guide

Appendix A: interview guide

  1. (1)

    Background

    1. (a)

      What is your position or role within your organization?

    2. (b)

      Please describe your involvement with (group’s name)

  2. (2)

    Organizational change

    Please describe any changes or adaptations that you have observed being made at the USFS in response to (Group’s name)’s collaborative efforts. These may be changes that have made directly by the organization or an individual.

  3. (3)

    Would the changes that you have describe come about if the USFS were a member of (Group’s name)?

  4. (4)

    Barriers to change

    1. (a)

      What factors do you think allowed for the changes you described to occur?

    2. (b)

      Please describe factors that act as barriers to change.

  5. (5)

    Opportunities for change

    What steps could the USFS take to facilitate change and/or incorporate ideas, plans, and programs developed by collaborative efforts in the future?

  6. (6)

    Are there others in your organization that you think it would be useful for me to speak with?

  7. (7)

    Are there documents or other materials that would be appropriate for me to review to supplement the information gathered in this interview or that would help me understand the background of the group better?

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Orth, P.B., Cheng, A.S. Organizational Change in the US Forest Service: Negotiating Organizational Boundaries in the Collaborative Process. Environmental Management 64, 64–78 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-019-01145-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-019-01145-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation