Chapter 11: A systems thinking approach for thinking and reflecting on sustainable recreation on public lands in an era of complexity, uncertainty, and change

Abstract

The socioeconomic and biophysical contexts in which natural resource management takes place have been rapidly changing in recent decades. These changing contexts are bringing new complexity to the management of natural resources generally, and the question of how best to manage outdoor recreation specifically. We propose that this greater complexity is best addressed by research using a systems thinking approach able to account for the combined influence and interactions among relevant social, political, economic, and biophysical factors that influence recreation uses and values associated with public lands. We feel that this shift in research framing would offer greater opportunities for discovering new insights regarding people-landscape relationships that are central to outdoor recreation. This in turn would lead to greater potential for developing outdoor recreation policy and management approaches best suited to changing socioeconomic and biophysical contexts.

Parent Publication

• Igniting research for outdoor recreation: linking science, policy, and action

Citation

McCool, Stephen F.; Kline, Jeffrey D. 2020. Chapter 11: A systems thinking approach for thinking and reflecting on sustainable recreation on public lands in an era of complexity, uncertainty, and change. In: Selin, Steven; Cerveny, Lee K.; Blahna, Dale J.; Miller, Anna B., eds. 2020. Igniting research for outdoor recreation: linking science, policy, and action. Gen. Tech. Rep. PNW-GTR-987. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station: 161-172.