Decision Making in Natural Resource Management by Michael J. Conroy & James T. Peterson - Book review

Decision Making in Natural Resource Management

A Structured, Adaptive Approach

By: Michael J. Conroy, James T. Peterson

Published: March 25, 2013
Format: Paperback, 474 pages
ISBN-10: 0470671742
ISBN-13: 978-0470671740
Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell







"This book is intended for use by natural resources managers and scientists, and students in the fields of natural resource management, ecology, and conservation biology, who are or will be confronted with complex and difficult decision-making problems", write Senior Research Scientist in the Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources at the University of Georgia,Michael J. Conroy; and Assistant Unit Leader and Associate Professor for the USGS Oregon Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit at Oregon State University, James T. Peterson, in their comprehensive and structured approach based book Decision Making in Natural Resource Management: A Structured, Adaptive Approach. The authors describe a structured method to achieve better decision making in the various areas related to natural resource management, including consideration of the holistic and integrated aspects of the overall challenge.



Michael J. Conroy (photo left) and James T. Peterson understand that governmental and private agencies will seek an insufficient technical solution to their perceived problem. The authors present a practical and common sense based model for reaching decisions that go beyond the surface to consider the deeper goals and objectives of the organization.

The authors point out that organizations have real shortcomings in relating the various elements of their decision making process to one another, and the their mission and goals. For the authors, that failure to take an integrated approach is due to a lack of structure. The authors propose a fully structured and integrated alternative to the ad hoc decisions so often reached on conservation related issues.



James T. Peterson (photo left) and Michael J. Conroy divide their book into four major parts. The authors also recommend reading in each of the four sections to develop familiarity with their structured methodology. The four major parts are as follows:

* Introduction to decision making
* Tools for decision making and analysis
* Applications
* Appendices

Within these four overarching areas, are more in depth chapters that create a richer understanding of the principles involved in a structure decision making process. The subject areas covered in the four sections are as follows:

* Why a structured approach in natural resources
* Elements of structured decision making
* Identifying and quantifying elements in natural resource management
* Working with stakeholders in natural resource management
* Statistics and decision making
* Modeling the influence of decisions
* Identifying and reducing uncertainty in decision making
* Methods for obtaining optimal decisions
* Case studies
* Summary, lessons learned, and recommendations
* Probability and distributional relationships
* Common statistical distributions
* Methods for statistical estimations
* Parsimony, prediction, and multi-model inference
* Mathematical approaches to optimization
* Guide to software
* Electronic companion to book

For me, the power of the book is how Michael J. Conroy and James T. Peterson combine a complete decision making framework, with the tools and methods for practical applications to natural resource problems. The authors take a fully integrated and holistic approach to making decisions that establishes the real problem first, and then offers viable and effective solutions through sophisticated models that are propelled by specific and well defined objectives.The authors provide in depth case studies of the structured decision making process in action in resolving natural resource problems in the real world.

The book moves well beyond the standard ad hoc process applied by many government and private organizations when faced with a conservation issue. The process also guides the client toward fully understanding the true nature of the problem, by looking past superficial issues, to seek out the real challenge needing a solution. The book contains numerous charts and graphics to enhance understanding of the structured approach, complete appendices with practical tools, as well as access to to a very helpful electronic companion to the book.

I highly recommend the very results oriented and working model based book Decision Making in Natural Resource Management: A Structured, Adaptive Approach by Michael J. Conroy and James T. Peterson, to any natural resource managers, scientists, government policy makers, business leaders, conservation groups, and students of natural resource management, ecology, and conservation biology who are seeking a complete guide to structured and effective decision making in the area of natural resource management. This book will guide leaders toward better decisions, through a more integrated examination of the real problems to find viable and effective solutions.