How Institutional Layering Shapes Collaborative Governance: An Examination of Forest Collaboratives in the Pacific Northwest (PNW)

Collaborative governance arrangements have become an important means by which a wide range of complex collective action problems are solved. Despite the importance assigned by many scholars and policy makers to the role of collaboration, the matter of how these new institutions emerge and take form has not received the consideration it warrants. In the prevailing view, institutional innovations emerge when state actors are confronted with complex problems that exceed the limits of traditional administrative structures and jurisdictional boundaries. Existing rules are seemingly “displaced'' to allow for the introduction of new ones. This article explores the question of what happens when collaborative governance arrangements have been “layered” on top of preexisting institutions to convert them toward new objectives. Using forest collaboratives engaged in managing federal public lands in the Pacific Northwest as a case study, I argue that layering collaborative requirements on top of an existing institutional apparatus may not be the best way to put a bureaucracy in the service of new goals. I propose restructuring or replacing outdated frameworks to create a more integrated system that fosters genuine collaboration, aligns with current goals, and effectively addresses complex challenges.