A DIAGNOSIS OF THE FOREST-SERVICES SOCIAL-CONTEXT

Agencies responsible for the management of public lands regularly face controversy about how to carry out their obligations. The USDA Forest Service, which increasingly finds itself faced with satisfying varied constituencies, is no exception. Polarization, legal action, stalemat e, and indecision are frequent responses to Forest Service policy deci sions. Local communities that depend on the forest suffer from events over which they have little or no control, environmentalists become em bittered, and Forest Service professionals are increasingly frustrated . The most recent in a series of government efforts to improve the rel ationship between the Forest Service and the public is the Ecosystem M anagement initiative, which was launched on a pilot basis in 1989 as t he New Perspectives initiative, and has since been adopted as the fram ework for forest management (Robertson 1992). The Ouachita National Fo rest (ONF), located in Arkansas and Oklahoma, was selected for special study in the New Perspective/Ecosystem Management (NP/EM) initiative. The ONF established a broad, three-pronged program under this initiat ive, including a special research program, a series of special project s, and the organization of an NP/EM Advisory Committee.