“New Perspectives” for the Forest Service

Excerpt

HAVE you heard? The Forest Service has a New Perspective for Managing the National Forest System (“New Perspectives” for short). What is the new perspective, and why is the Forest Service embracing it? What are the implications of New Perspectives for future management of the national forests and grasslands?

New Perspectives is a fresh approach to managing the land and resources of the national forest system. It also is a strategy for responding to significant changes in the United States today, both social and scientific in nature. The social forces involve the changing values that people have for the lands and resources of the national forests and grasslands. The scientific forces are a clearer understanding of how management practices affect these ecosystems. Common to both the social and scientific views is a growing disdain for the ecological simplification that characterizes prevailing management approaches and concern for the long-term sustainability of the ecosystems on which people depend.

New Perspectives is happening on the ground, throughout the organization, as changes are made in existing Forest Service programs, functions, and modes of operation. Why has the Forest Service opted to change? Because the world around us is changing. We also …