Cultural entrenchment: Explaining gaps between ecosystem-based management policy and practice in the forests of Newfoundland

a r t i c l e i n f o Keywords: Ecosystem-based management Cultural capital Forest policy Silviculture Bureaucracy Forests in North America have been managed, or unmanaged, under a number of different policy regimes, most recently ecosystem-based management (EBM), which has emerged in response to perceived widespread ecological degradation. But as policy regimes shift, links between stated objectives and the tools or mechanisms to achieve those objectives need to be forged. This case study of forestry on the island of Newfoundland provides an illustration of the gaps between EBM policy and practice, and insights into why EBM can be difficult to implement. Though the case of Newfoundland is unusual because of its isolation, narrow set of economic options, and weak ENGO sector, its adherence to a traditional timber regime offers lessons for the ways that policies move from agenda setting to implementation. In this case, the role of cultural entrenchment—a commitment to timber-based management and to a provincial model of economic support for large-scale industry—created a negative feedback loop that undermined new policy objectives. But a window of opportunity has emerged as a result of pulp and paper industry decline, and so overcoming cultural entrenchment and building a new forest management regime centered on EBM is possible through clearly articulated policy mechanisms and the integration of new forms of expertise. Forests in North America have been managed, or unmanaged, under a number of different policy regimes, from unbridled exploitation to fastidious regulation (Howlett and Rayner, 2001). Ecosystem-based management (EBM), or management intended to maintain ecological integrity (Grumbine, 1994), has emerged as a management regime in a number of natural resource sectors in response to perceived widespread ecological degradation (Berghofer et al., 2008; Murawski, 2007; Olsson et al., 2008). But numerous studies point to incomplete or inadequate implementation of EBM (Arkema et al., 2006; Berghofer et al., 2008). This case study of forestry on the island of Newfoundland 1 provides an illustration of the gaps between EBM policy and practice, and insights into why EBM can be difficult to implement. Newfoundland is an unusual case because of its isolation and narrow set of economic options, which have made the island vulnerable to the decisions of a few large-scale producers. But the experiences of Newfoundland in resisting policy regime change toward EBM offers lessons regarding the role of cultural entrenchment in policy dynamics. In Newfoundland, EBM has been slow to …