Adaptive Governance: Integrating Science, Policy, and Decision Making. Ronald D. Brunner, Toddi A. Steelman, Lindy Coe-Juell, Chistina M. Cromley, Christine M. Edwards, and Donna W. Tucker. 2005. Columbia University Press, New York. 368 pp. $79.50 cloth, $29.50 paperback.

In Adaptive Governance: Integrating Science, Policy, and Decision Making, Ronald D. Brunner et al. have outlined some illustrations of progress toward improved public policy. This is documented through five case studies of public lands management and administration. The authors define adaptive governance as a process that integrates scientific and other types of knowledge into policies through a context of open decision-making structures; the goal is to advance the common interest. The purpose of the volume is to clarify how to expedite a transition to adaptive governance for people concerned about the problems of gridlock in natural resource policy and who are in a position to make a difference.