ABSTRACT
I. THE IMPORTANCE OF DECISION MAKING It would be difficult to overstate the importance of the environment as a policy issue. Aside from the ecological implications of decisions in many “ nonenvironmental” policy fields, en vironmental policies have impacts on other policy fields. The recent controversy over whether protecting the spotted owl should weigh more or less heavily than protecting the jobs of timber industry workers is not going to be solved here. The important thing is to realize that envi ronmental policies, often considered to be based on scientific analysis, must include consid eration of nonscientific issues such as fiscal realities, economic growth policies, and cultural values. Even race has surfaced as an issue in this field [1].
