INFORMED DECISIONS AND CAM
Resource managers and decision-makers in the Great Lakes region must make many critical decisions as they implement collaborative adaptive management (CAM). These decisions are intended to help meet goals efficiently. Meeting conservation goals can involve making decisions about what policies to pursue, with what groups to partner, what scientific research projects or programs to fund, what areas of land or resources to protect, how to monitor the state of an area of concern, or how to govern and manage projects for an issue that crosses multiple political and geographical boundaries.
The CAM process relies on multiple decision-makers to make decisions such as these at any given step in the CAM process. There are many factors that affect how efficiently we can achieve our various goals. Most decisions require multiple pieces of information that allow decision-makers to assess trade-offs and understand the costs, benefits, and overall value of their investments and actions. For example, to successfully set regional goals for wetland restoration, a resource manager needs to know what is scientifically ideal, as well as what is politically and economically feasible.
For decision-makers to make the most efficient and effective choices, they need access to up-to-date, reliable, and relevant information. During the CAM process it is especially important that participants also have a way to communicate their own information with one another. This makes information central to CAM and to any process used to reach conservation goals.
USING INCOMPLETE INFORMATION TO MAKE DECISIONSIf decisions are made based on incomplete information, they can have unexpected and negative consequences. The following story exemplifiessuch a situation. Natural resource administrators in New England have a goal of maintaining sustainable groundfish populations. To meet this goal, they set a limit on the amount of groundfish that can be caught offshore. Unfortunately, administrators did not have access to the latest information, particularly the latest scientific interpretation of the survey data, when they set the annual limit at 12,000 metric tons. This limit was intended to sustain the fish population, but instead this well-intentioned decision led to dangerously low fish populations. Having relevant information readily available during the CAM process lets decision-makers locate and access the resources they need to make informed decisions. This allows them to avoid problems like those encountered by the administrators attempting to sustain groundfish populations in New England. Understanding information management and delivery begins with understanding how information is defined and how it is used to make decisions.
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