Collaborative Management in Natural Resources and Environmental Administration

In 2006, Tomas Koontz and Craig Thomas wrote, "If the 20th century was the year of the administration state then the 21st century may be the year of the collaborative state" (Koontz and Thomas, 2006). Koontz and Thomas were correct in one respect-collaborative management has come to be a part of environmental and natural resources decision making at almost every level of government and in almost every subset issue area. The question this essay addresses is: Is this necessarily a good thing? More specifically, are there situations in which collaborative management works well and others in which it should be avoided entirely?