Public policy outcomes can be explained as the product of that point where three things meet - ideas, interests, and institutions.   This confluence point, the "Three Is," can be understood as the decision space or context shaping what is possible.  This space will vary depending on issue and the particular characteristics will produce specific types of policy outcomes.  For example, forestry and mining policy have very different decision spaces and this has produced very different types of policy -- i.e., we manage trees differently from mineral resources.

This is a two part assignment.

Part 1 -- Select an issue in natural resource policy making.  It can be any topic that fits within the parameters of the course.  These can include endangered species protection, motorized recreation, grazing, wildfire management, to name a few.  All topics require approval.  In this part of the assignment "sketch out" the decision space.  What are the major ideas, important interest actors, and institutional arrangements that shape and determine policy outcomes in this area.  How to conceptualize this decision space will be discussed at length in weeks 3 and 4.

It must include 5 distinct sections (each labeled).  An introduction that explains the topic and current status (what is going on), a 2-3 paragraph assessment of each of the "Three I," and a conclusion (the most important section) that explains how/why the decision space has produced the current "state of things."  This analysis must be typed, double-spaced, and NO MORE than 5 pages.

Part 2 -- Answer two questions in this part of the project.  First, does the current decision space sketched out in part 1 produce good outcomes?  Why, or Why not?  Second, what are the prospects for change?  If the decision space is producing good outcomes, what needs to be done to "protect" it from change?  Or, more likely, what can be done to produce better outcomes if the current ones are suboptimal?  Are new ideas, needed, different institutional arrangements required, or other actors necessary.

Projects must be typed, double-spaced, and NO MORE than 5 pages.  Use appropriate headings and subheadings.  There will be an in-class discussion of each project and students will explain their findings and answer questions.