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Chapter 9: Understanding our changing public values, resource uses, and engagement processes and practices

Formally Refereed

Abstract

The Northwest Forest Plan (NWFP, or Plan) signified a movement away from intensive focus on timber management that was common through the 1980s and toward an ecosystem management approach, which aims to conserve ecological conditions and restore natural resources while meeting the social, cultural, and economic needs of present and future generations (Brussard et al. 1998). The NWFP emerged in response to expanded scientific knowledge about forests and shifting public values about resources and their management. An important goal of the NWFP was to protect forest values of late-successional, old-growth, and aquatic ecosystems. These may include amenity values (scenery, quality of life), environmental quality (clean air, soil, and water), ecological values (biodiversity), public-use values (outdoor recreation, education, subsistence use), and spiritual values (cultural ties, tribal histories) (Donoghue and Sutton 2006). This synthesis looks at the latest research on many of these forest values and adds to our thinking about how the NWFP has contributed to their protection.

Parent Publication

Keywords

Northwest Forest Plan, science, management, restoration, northern spotted owl, marbled murrelet, climate change, socioeconomic, environmental justice.

Citation

Cerveny, Lee K.; Davis, Emily Jane; McLain,Rebecca; Ryan, Clare M.; Whitall, Debra R.; White, Eric M. 2018. Chapter 9: Understanding our changing public values, resource uses, and engagement processes and practices. In: Spies, T.A.; Stine, P.A.; Gravenmier, R.; Long, J.W.; Reilly, M.J., tech. coords. 2018. Synthesis of science to inform land management within the Northwest Forest Plan area. Gen. Tech. Rep. PNW-GTR-966. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station: 717-807.
https://www.fs.usda.gov/research/treesearch/56337