Facilitating the interaction of science and policy to manage forests for resilience

The science is clear; human behaviors have resulted in observable differences in the dynamics of change agents such as insects and fire, through landscape change, human settlement, and chemical changes in the atmosphere and associated climate change. We have a legacy of past management and what actions we take today could lead to a new future legacy. These landscape changes, climate change and the increasing urbanization of the West have stimulated research; scientists who study forests and rangelands are now carefully considering the behaviors of change agents, and how these change agents may affect and be affected by ecosystem dynamics under a changing climate. This scientific information has rapidly accumulated. Hence there is a need for a mutual sharing of information – from scientists, the scientific information about these change agents and, from resource managers, the experiential knowledge gained from working in these changing landscapes. This technical dialogue focuses on what resource management activities will be needed to manage for resilience. While science contributes to policy formulation, policy is influenced by many factors such as the desires of society for specific goods and services from forests. Goods and services produced in forests are likely to change in response to insects, fire, and climate change. Whether or how management can sustain current goods and services is the focus of the technical conversation. Policy development involves a broader conversation with society about what goods and services are to be sustained or newly managed for in forests. Science and management can analyze the implications of those societal choices on water availability, forest health, and risk of fire or flooding. Recent studies have stressed the need for more explicit recognition and understanding of the important role social learning plays in these discussions of societal choices, and in the implementation of management and development of policy