Organizational change and operationalizing sustainable recreation—lessons learned from two natural resource governance cases

PurposeThis chapter synthesizes the organizational change literature germane to adaptive change in public-sector organizations. Specifically, we analyze the organizational changes needed to integrate sustainability into government-sponsored science, analytic planning tools, and management best practices. Next, a common set of organizational change factors are posited that contribute to successful change in public-sector organizations. These organizational change factors are elaborated by examining two descriptive organizational change cases from the natural resource governance field—first, the case of organizational change within the US Fish and Wildlife Service after the agency adopted an “ecosystem management” approach and, second, the case of the Forest Service’s agency mandate to adopt a “sustainable recreation” approach to managing recreation throughout the National Forest System (NFS). We conclude with implications for interagency resource managers and change agents as well as for future research in this area.