Natural resource management and leadership in public arena decision making: A prescriptive framework

Finding the proper balance between biology and public involvement and then effectively involving the public in making natural resource management decisions are among the most difficult tasks facing resource managers. The training of resource managers and the culture of their profession result in strongly held values and beliefs that biological and ecological principles, rather than the human dimension, should govern management of resources; however, constituents expect to participate in making management decisions. Adaptation of the Vroom-Yetton model of leader decisionmaking styles, a contingency model of leadership, offers a normative framework that may be useful for resource managers in making management decisions about natural resources. To use the model, managers answer ''yes'' or ''no'' to seven questions, thus identifying various types of problems and the most appropriate public involvement strategies for each. I discuss application of the model to resource management decisions commonly faced by reservoir managers, including choice of sites for reservoir access, stocking density of sport fishes, preservation of shorelines and river corridors in desirable states, and development of a reservoir management plan when one or more interest groups strongly oppose the manager. The Vroom-Yetton model is intuitively appealing because it encourages managers to recognize the different contexts in which resource management problems must be considered and to use a variety of public involvement techniques rather than only one or two techniques for all situations. Although empirical studies support the Vroom-Yetton model in organizational contexts, studies of its application to public involvement in natural resource management are needed.