We need adaptive management because the outcome of most wildlife management actions are shrouded in uncertainty and unpredictability. We can learn to be better managers by approaching these management uncertainties with a system of learning combined with management. Farming is a good example of simple adaptive management system. A farmer manages a plot of land using any of a variety of available soil preparation, planting, fertilizing, and pest removal approaches. The farmer then harvests the crops at the end of the year and monitors the results by counting how many bushels the plot produced. Each year the farmer varies these approaches based on advice from neighbors and the agricultural extension agent, information from crop bulletins, and instincts and past experiences. Based on years of trials, the farmer will have learned something about what combination of management approaches yields more bushels per acre and uses that learning to adapt to new climatic and economic conditions.

Managers of habitats, wildlife, and natural ecosystems have similar goals to those of the farmer. The goal of management is to produce a certain condition of the land (habitat), or to increase or decrease a commodity such as the number of deer or forest-dependent birds. However, compared to farming, wildlife management is surrounded by a much greater degree of uncertainty. It is much to define the goals, conditions and habitat are more complicated, and success can be difficult to define and measure. Some areas of uncertainty for the wildlife manager include:

• Presence and abundance of the target species within the study area at the start of the management.
• Information on the status of the species in the region.
• Variation in the the management action itself (e.g., proportion of the plot burned, level of achieved draw down, number of deer harvested).
• Inability to monitor the management outcome with precision and accuracy.
• Natural variation in regional or local population numbers of the target species due to factors outside of the plot of management action.
• Population disasters independent of the management action (e.g. high winter kill, high mortality due to a disease event).
• Lack of literature, professional guidance, and knowledgeable locals who have tried the technique under local conditions and can provide measured or anecdotal results of the management's effectiveness.