Development of a hybrid public–private natural area governance model in the Adirondack Park of New York State

We applied Elinor Ostrom’s design principles (DPs) for governing public goods and her associated concept of polycentricity to describe how a hybrid public-private governance network emerged in Adirondack Park. We gathered evidence of key park decisions since 1880, including who was involved and at what scale each event occurred, to characterize how Park governance became more participatory over time. While state government dominated the decision space, the number of organizations involved in key policy events increased by six-fold and included more non-governmental and private land groups by 2020, along with mechanisms for joint decision-making and the emergence of self-organization at the local scale. While shared administration of protected areas can create inefficiencies, it can also enable resilience in the face of novel events and change. We found that determining which DPs were operational in a time period helped us evaluate both the developmental trajectory and governance of the large, multi-jurisdictional Adirondack Park. Given the complexity of current global environmental and socio-economic challenges, we suggest this as a valuable method for similar complex, public/private natural areas.

我们运用埃莉诺·奥斯特罗姆的公共物品治理设计原则（Design Principles，DPs）及其配套的多中心治理（polycentricity）概念，阐释阿迪朗达克公园（Adirondack Park）中公私混合治理网络的形成过程。我们收集了1880年以来公园关键决策的相关证据，涵盖决策参与主体与各事件的发生规模，以此刻画阿迪朗达克公园治理体系随时间演进的参与式转型特征。尽管州政府长期主导公园决策场域，但截至2020年，参与关键政策事件的组织数量增长了六倍，涵盖更多非政府组织与私人土地团体，同时配套形成了联合决策机制，并在地方层面催生了自组织行为。尽管保护区的协同管理可能引发效率损耗，但也能提升系统应对新型事件与变革的韧性。我们发现，通过识别特定时期内落地的DPs，能够有效评估这个大型多辖区阿迪朗达克公园的发展路径与治理状况。鉴于当前全球环境与社会经济挑战的复杂性，我们认为该方法可为其他类似的复杂公私合营自然保护地提供极具价值的参考范式。