Document: THO-3-12-3

The struggle to integrate science and policy at regional scales: Lessons from the Pacific Northwest.

SPIES, T.A.*

USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station, Corvallis, OR 97331 ¹

Abstract:
Ecological scientists and science have played major roles in recent regional assessments in the Pacific Northwest, some of which have lead to sweeping changes in forest policy and management. The involvement of science in policy and management controversies has been a struggle for all parties but has reduced management conflicts and risks to native biological diversity. Several lessons have been learned from these efforts. Perhaps the most important is that the primary obstacles for changing management are not scientific but social. Social opposition, institutional barriers, misperceptions, mistrust, and cultural differences among scientists, managers and the public are much greater impediments to implementation of new approaches than scientific uncertainty. However, science has an important role to play in developing and communicating information to inform the policy debates. I use a case study from the Coastal Landscape Analysis and Modeling Study (CLAMS) in the Oregon Coast Range, a multi-ownership region, to demonstrate how an 'anticipatory' assessment can inform policy and to highlight challenges faced by scientists in such efforts. These challenges include: framing the problem; identifying policy alternatives; setting the temporal and spatial context; simulating landscape change; developing ecological measures and evaluating ecological responses; integration; applying science in a public arena; and institutional support. If ecologists wish to have a greater impact on policy and management they will need to recognize how they fit in the process and as well meet many technical and social challenges.

Keywords: biological diversity, Pacific Northwest, CLAMS, forest management, policy

This abstract is being presented at: 3:50 PM in session:
Symposium # 22: Species Diversity at Broad Scales: Linking Science and Management.