Costs and effectiveness of multi-scale integrated management

To understand benefits of integrating management at landscape scales, we es timated cost and projected integrated outcomes for three alternatives for p ublic land management in the interior Columbia River basin over 100 years, Effectiveness was measured in terms of costs and trends of long-term (100 y ears) land and fire management, landscape health, and reduction of risks ac ross several broad aquatic, terrestrial, landscape, and socioeconomic indic ators. Lowest costs with most positive cumulative trends for these variable s occurred where alternatives "step down" assessment and planning from broa der scales, focusing restoration efforts sufficiently to overcome opposite effects of traditional reserve protection or commodity management strategie s. Integrated management implemented at interconnected scales appears to ha ve multiple positive outcomes. Landscape health, conditions for native fish and wildlife species and jobs from restoration activities can improve, whi le risks to firefighters and property decline. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B. V. All rights reserved.