Who would have thought that the notion of adaptive management could be controversial? But it is, for good reason, and my colleagues J.B.Ruhl and Bruce Pardy ably present two poles of the debate. In Ruhl's view, the problem is that ecosystems are complex and expecting approaches to manage them to spring full-blown and flawless is unrealistic. Better to let scientists and managers maneuver forward, finding their way. Existing legal requirements are a handicap. Flexibility is the answer.

Pardy, on the other hand, sees adaptive management as a license to kill, an exercise that, once freed from the constraints of law, becomes anything one wants it to be. A return to Multiple Use Sustained Yield, which became notable for protecting development and letting the environment go. He asks, in effect, "where's the beef?"