Bioregional Assessments: Science At The Crossroads Of Management And Policy - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1559636580 ISBN 13: 9781559636582

Publisher: Island Press, 1999

Synopsis

In diverse regions around the country, impending crises over dwindling natural resources and conflicts over land use have given birth to a new approach to environmental management and policymaking. Known as bioregional assessment, the approach gives science and scientists a crucial role in the policymaking process, bringing together experts on a range of issues to assess existing ecological and social conditions and to provide a base of knowledge from which to develop policy options and management decisions.A number of high-profile assessments have been conducted, and while much has been written on individual projects, little has been done to compare assessments or integrate the lessons they provide. Bioregional Assessments synthesizes the knowledge from many regions by examining the assessment process and detailing a series of case studies from around the country. Each case study, written by knowledgeable leaders from the region, features a detailed description of the project followed by reviews from the perspectives of science, management, and policy.Case studies examined are the Forest Ecosystem Management Assess ment Team (FEMAT) Assessment; the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Assessments; the Everglades-South Florida Assessments; the Northern Forest Lands Assessments; Southern California Natural Community Conservation Planning (NCCP); the Interior Columbia Basin Ecosystem Management Project; and the Sierra Nevada Ecosystem Project.In addition, the book features introductory chapters that examine the challenges inherent in the assessment of complex regional systems, and the role of science in the assessment process. The concluding chapter provides a synthesis and analysis of the assessment process.Bioregional assessments are quickly becoming an essential part of ecosystem management. This book provides a unique look at the theory and practice of bioregional assessments, and is an essential volume for resource managers, scientists, policymakers, and anyone involved with formulating or implementing strategies for regional planning and ecosystem management.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

Impending crises over dwindling natural resources and conflicts over land use have given birth to a new approach to environmental management and policymaking known as bioregional assessment. This book for the first time examines the assessment process through a series of detailed case studies and synthesizes the knowledge gained.

About the Author:

Frederick J. Swanson is a research geologist with the USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station, in Corvallis, Oregon, and a Forest Service lead scientist for the ecosystem research team based at the H. J. Andrews Experimental Forest in the Oregon Cascade Range. He has been a leader of the National Science Foundation–sponsored Long-Term Ecological Research program based at the Andrews Forest since 1980.Throughout a thirty year career, Dr. Swanson’s research has focused on interactions of geophysical processes with forest and stream ecosystems in mountain landscapes under both natural conditions and influences of land management, including roads. His interest in interactions of science and policy is reflected in part by his co-editorship of the book Bioregional Assessments: Science at the Crossroads of Management and Policy (Island Press, 1999). He holds a bachelor’s degree from Pennsylvania State University and a Ph.D. from the University of Oregon, both in geology.

About this edition

• Publisher: Island Press
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 1559636580
• ISBN 13: 9781559636582
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 416
• Editor: Johnson K. Norman, Swanson Frederick, Herring Margaret, Greene Sarah