ABSTRACT
Abstract ....................................................................................................................50 Introduction ..............................................................................................................50 Laws and Regulations Establishing the Role of Research in the Management of National Forest Service Lands ............................................................................. 51
Forest Service Organic Administration Act (1897) ............................................. 51 McSweeney-McNary Forest Research Act (1928) ............................................. 52 National Environmental Policy Act (1970) ......................................................... 52 Endangered Species Act (1973) .......................................................................... 52 National Forest Management Act (1976) or NFMA ........................................... 52 Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Research Act (1978) .................... 52 Forest Service Manual (FSM 1999)—National Forest Resource Management (last modišed 1999) ...................................................................... 53
Forest Service Research (FSR) ................................................................................ 53 National Forest Systems (NFS) ...............................................................................54 The Intersection of Science and Management .........................................................54
The U.S. Forest Service includes three main branches: National Forest Systems, Research and Development, and State and Private Forestry. Herein, we focus on National Forest Systems and Research and Development. National Forest Systems is the management branch of the agency, and its charge is to administer national forests and grasslands throughout the United States. A number of laws, statutes, and policies guide and direct how forests should be managed, including provisions for considering and applying the best available science when planning and executing management actions. The Research and Development branch of the Forest Service is separate from the Management branch and this separation is purposeful. Its charge is to design and conduct research to provide the scientišc basis for natural resource management on Forest Service lands. Even though these two branches of the Forest Service are separate, they are linked by virtue of being within the same agency. This linkage re¦ects the intent for management of Forest Service lands to be guided by the best available science, a concept deeply embedded within the National Forest Management Act (NFMA) and the enabling regulatory language. Despite the intent of Congress, application of science to management has been variable and has changed with each revision of the implementing language (i.e., planning rule) for NFMA. Our objectives here are to review the historical and current roles of science in guiding management of wildlife on national Forest Service lands. We will draw on case studies (Mexican spotted owl [Strix occidentalis lucida] and sensitive northwestern woodpeckers) to illustrate situations where science was heeded and where it was not for managing these species, and discuss the ramišcations of doing so.
