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2 The Impediments to Successful Government Linkages
Pages 26-38

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From page 26...
... The examples provide a basis for our recommendations for improving the efficiency and effectiveness of governance linkages discussed in Chapter 5. AUTHORIZATIONS -- FRAGMENTED AND DIFFUSE One of the most significant challenges to governance linkages is that the basic framework of government, established by law, is one of separated and dispersed authority, and an essential part of that framework is that government agencies at all levels -- federal, state, local, tribal and even international -- can only do what they have been authorized to do by their governing authorities -- namely, Congress, state legislatures, etc.
From page 27...
... . The presence of multiple agencies means multiple and sometimes conflicting goals, as well as multiple leaders who have to sort out their respective roles and responsibilities while remaining faithful to their agencies' mandates.
From page 28...
... 5 Among other things, while the Act provides greater transparency, it often operates to restrict the number and role of involved stakeholders and may impose significant costs and time delays on the sponsoring agency. 6 See Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR)
From page 29...
... Yet landuse decision authority is typically widely distributed among many federal agencies on public lands, is shared with state land authorities, and is highly distributed among local and private interests. Drawing again on the Mojave Desert example, there were, in addition to the interests of the federal agencies listed above, 10 state parks, eight county jurisdictions, and 37 federally recognized Native American Indian tribes on the land.9 It is also important to recognize that governmental entities do not and cannot operate in a vacuum.
From page 30...
... in the Mojave Desert -- a situation that ultimately prompted California to create a legal entity, the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Group, complete with regulatory authority. FUNDING CHALLENGES Government entities can undertake activities only if funds are appropriated for those activities.
From page 31...
... 14 The Land and Water Conservation Fund limits acquisition spending to within park boundaries; operating funds for the park system have generally been interpreted in annual appropriations to be allowable only within the park system. Supporting this interpretation, parks seeking to invest outside of park boundaries on projects that benefit adjacent national parks have sought special authorizing legislation for those purposes.
From page 32...
... This approach to budget allocation leads to inefficient use of capital and can further complicate the ability to address sustainability over the long-term. In any event, the current fiscal environment is obviously putting enormous pressure on existing agency funding, and new money is very hard to come by, especially for discretionary programs that may not enjoy significant bipartisan support.
From page 33...
... Cloud computing20 has 18 Examples include the Landscape Conservation Cooperative (which establishes 22 ecosystem regions through which federal agencies are working with states, tribes, local governments, NGOs, and the academic community to coordinate data, identify information gaps, and develop shared strategies for generating and using scientific information) , with information available at: http://www.doi.gov/lcc/index.cfm; and LANDFIRE (which has attempted to provide seamless multi-layer-data set maps and information relevant to fire management and fuels treatment decisions.)
From page 34...
... . The starting point is typically an acknowledgement that the underlying principles of good government -- what is expected of government employees -- are themselves in tension: specialization versus integration; certainty versus adaptive management; and uniformity versus flexibility (see Box 2-1)
From page 35...
... Recognition, promotion, and other rewards are all based on advancing the agency's agenda in a competent but orthodox fashion.23 Risk aversion is the norm, for if something goes wrong when taking initiative or doing something unusual, there are likely to be adverse consequences from senior administration officials, congressional oversight, regulated entities, and/or the press; the notion that failure can be beneficial in that people can learn from mistakes is not something that has salience in the world of government. Not surprisingly, therefore, training is traditionally focused on existing agency practices and processes rather than adaptive management, collaboration, or other efforts to innovate and integrate actions across agencies.
From page 36...
... The structural fragmentation, funding constraints, lack of coordination of information and research, and the culture of government are simply not conducive to partnerships or to extensive collaboration with other affected or invested entities. Because many sustainability issues cross agency boundaries and require long-term investment, these situations create challenges to effective government response.
From page 37...
... 1978. Implementation of the Federal Grant and Cooperative Agreement Act of 1977.
From page 38...
... Federal Grant and Cooperative Agreement Act of 1977 (31 U.S.C.


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