SAC - Policy Advisory - 07-22 - Adaptive Management

Purpose

The purpose of this advisory is to present an operational definition of adaptive management in the Voluntary Stewardship Program (VSP), identify the conditions in which adaptive management should be considered, and describe the process of using adaptive management in VSP.

This advisory is not an exhaustive discussion of adaptive management, nor does it include detailed specifications for individual projects. However, it should aid VSP technical service providers, work groups, county staff, and other VSP stakeholders and practitioners in determining when and how to conduct adaptive management.

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Adaptive Management

Adaptive management is an iterative learning process producing improved understanding and improved management over time. It promotes flexible decision making that can be adjusted in the face of uncertainties as outcomes from management actions and other events become better understood.

Careful monitoring of these outcomes both advances scientific understanding and helps adjust policies or operations as part of an iterative learning process. Adaptive management also recognizes the importance of natural variability in contributing to ecological resilience and productivity. It is not a ‘trial and error’ process — instead emphasizes a ‘learning while doing’ approach.

Adaptive management does not represent an end in itself, but rather a means to more effective decisions. Its true measure is in how well it helps meet environmental, social, and economic goals, increases scientific knowledge, and promotes relationship building among stakeholders. Adaptive management involves ongoing, real-time learning and knowledge creation, both in a substantive sense and in terms of the adaptive process itself.

Framed within the context of structured decision making, adaptive management places an emphasis on the value of reducing uncertainty about resource responses to management action to improve management. It does this though learning which plays a key role in adaptive management — it is a means to an end, namely good management — and not an end in itself.

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County Work Group Requirements

Adaptive management is an integral part of the VSP. There are two situations in which adaptive management applies:

1) Anytime it is warranted.

(Adapted from Adaptive management: The U.S. Department of the Interior technical guide, 2009 Edition, U.S. Department of the Interior, 2009, ISBN 978-1-4133-2478-7, url: https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/70194537, accessed January 7, 2022.)

2) During the 5-YR report review and evaluation process.

1. Anytime it is warranted. County work groups are directed by the VSP statute2 to “Conduct periodic evaluations, institute adaptive management, and provide a written report of the status of plans and accomplishments to the county and to the commission within sixty days after the end of each biennium….”

This requirement does not have any timeframe accompanying it, which means that any time a work plan needs adaptive management, the county work group should institute it.

2. During the 5-YR report review and evaluation process. During the five-year reporting process,3 if a county asserts that it isn’t meeting its work plan goals and benchmarks, then the VSP statute,4 the Washington State Conservation Commission’s (Commission) Five Year Report Guide5 and Template User Instructions6 direct the county to submit an adaptive management plan along with the five-year report.

The duty to adaptively manage a work plan exists at all times, not just as part of the five-year report process. Anytime a work plan is adaptively managed, that adaptive management plan should be sent to the Commission. If during the preparation for the five-year report, the county identifies areas of the work plan that need adaptive management, then it should adaptively manage the work plan and submit that adaptive management plan to the Commission.

The adaptive management plan should be a document separate from the five-year report and template. It should explain the following:

1. What change(s) were made to the county VSP work plan? Please include both what was changed and the new change. Cite the location of the item to be changed in the original work plan. For example, a goal in your work plan was “to protect all steep slopes in the county,” and that goal was changed to read “to protect all geologically hazardous areas in the county,” you should include both the original and the change statements in the plan. This lets the Commission and the public easily see what was changed. Also, citing the location of the item to be changed in the original work plan lets everyone quickly find where the item was changed. In the example above, if the goal being altered was “to protect all steep slopes in the county” list what page number and section of the work plan that goal was found in the original work plan. For example, “Appendix B, page 30.”

2. Why was that change made? In the example above, the reason could be as simple as, “The change was made because the words ‘steep slopes’ in the original wasn’t as inclusive as the term ‘geologically hazardous areas.’” The explanation should clarify the purpose and goal of the change.

The format and length of the plan document are up to each county, as long as the two questions above are addressed. Short, clear, and concise statements and descriptions are encouraged.

The adaptive management plan should be dated so that it is clear when the changes were made and the plan should be approved by the county workgroup. The county workgroup is the entity required to implement the VSP county work plan per statute. The adaptive management plan is a public document and will be made publicly available by the Commission.

Adaptive management plans should be emailed to the Commission at beller@scc.wa.gov.

To keep track of the changes made to the original county VSP work plan, each county should keep a record of the changes. This record will clearly explain what changes were made and when. The record should be shared with county officials and staff, the county workgroup, and anyone else helping to implement the county VSP work plan.

An example of a method to record adaptive management actions is below:

Policy Advisory Background

The Washington State Conservation Commission (Commission) is empowered to establish policies and procedures for implementing the Voluntary Stewardship Program (VSP) (RCW 36.70A.705(2)(a)). The VSP is codified in RCW Chapter 36.70A.700 and the Commission administers the VSP. (RCW 36.70A.705(1))

Under the VSP, the Commission is charged with establishing the Statewide Advisory Committee (SAC). (RCW 36.70A.745) “The role of the statewide advisory committee is to advise the Commission and other agencies involved in the development and operation of the program.” (RCW 36.70A.745(2)) The Commission, after consultation with the VSP SAC, provides this advisory to the VSP county work groups to advise them on the roles and reporting obligations during VSP implementation. (RCW 36.70A.745(1)(a))

The SAC is intended to be comprised of a total of eight individuals, with two representatives each for counties, agricultural organizations, environmental organizations, and invited tribal governments.

The Commission has a number of other duties in the VSP that relate to the SAC including:

Provide administrative support for the program's statewide advisory committee in its work.12

• Provide administrative support for the program's statewide advisory committee in its work. (RCW 36.70A.705(2)(h))
• Maintain a website about the program that includes times, locations, and agenda information for meetings of the statewide advisory committee (RCW 36.70A.705(2)(i));
• Conduct a review of the program beginning in 2017 in conjunction with the statewide advisory committee and every five years thereafter, and report its findings to the legislature by December 1 (RCW 36.70A.705(2)(k));
• Consult with the Statewide Advisory Committee upon receipt of a report by a watershed workgroup under RCW 36.70A.720(2)(b); and
• Consult with the statewide advisory committee and other state agencies, not later than August 31, 2015, and each August 31 every two years thereafter, and report to the Washington State Legislature and each county that has elected under RCW 36.70A.710 to participate in the program on the participating watersheds that have received adequate funding to establish and implement the program. (RCW 36.70A.740(4))