Alternative dispute resolution and organizational incentives in the U.S. forest service

In 1989, the U.S. Forest Service revised its administrative appeal regulation, placing explicit emphasis on negotiations between Forest Service officers and appellants. This article examines why it would be in the interests of a large federal bureaucracy to formally endorse negotiation, a type of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) process, through codified regulation. The article begins to fill a gap in the dispute resolution literature by analyzing the role of organizational interests in ADR processes. Examining the U.S. Forest Service's use of ADR to resolve forest plan appeals in the middle to late 1980s shows that the agency was able to protect timber harvesting—a central organizational interest referred to as core technology—through a variety of strategies. The article concludes by addressing the possible evolution in the Forest Service's core technology and the implications of this evolution for the future of ADR in the Forest Service.

Keywords:

• alternative dispute resolution
• core technology
• environmental conflict
• forest plan appeals
• forest planning
• organizational interests
• public lands
• timber harvesting
• U.S. Forest Service