This presentation explores the social factors that contribute to agency decisions about ecological transformation. Faced with global climate change and ecological transformation, natural resource managers are being forced to reconsider how they engage with stakeholders and make decisions. The resist–accept–direct (RAD) framework has emerged in response to this challenge, offering natural resource managers a simple, explicit decision framework to support action. However, RAD decisions are judgments made by people. Managers presented with the same information about future conditions often come to different decisions. In this project, we explore the factors that shape management decisions and consider implications for how we engage with stakeholders. This presentation draws on social science research on both internal factors and external factors that shape management decisions. More specifically, we explore the intersection between managers’ mental models (their understanding of a social–ecological system) and the social and institutional factors that constrain managers’ decision spaces. Exploring these factors helps managers be more self-reflective, and also highlights the importance of using public and stakeholder engagement methods that consider other forms of knowledge and the range of social, political, and economic factors that will be impacted by management decisions.

The Sicangu Lakota (Rosebud Sioux) tribe recognizes the climate crisis we are facing, and is planning to adapt and thrive. The recently adopted Climate Adaptation Plan for the Sicangu Lakota Oyate recognizes the crisis, incorporates the knowledge of elders, and identifies priority actions the community can take. Recommendations fall into: Protecting the Oyate (community) -- focused on life and property protection and severe weather;  protecting our water -- acknowledging Rosebud's relative good fortune regarding water, but identifying critical steps to ensure its protection; and protecting the land and living relatives -- which acknowledges the potential for significant change due to climate change. The plan also recommends creation of a Sicangu Climate Center to hold and manage data and information about the tribe's lands, air, water, people, and climate and to use these to reinforce tribal sovereignty.