Pacific Southwest

Title: Confronting the implications of wicked problems: changes needed in Sierra Nevada National Forest planning and problem solving

Author: Salwasser, Hal

Date: 2004

Source: In: Murphy, Dennis D. and Stine, Peter A., editors. Proceedings of the Sierra Nevada Science Symposium. Gen. Tech. Rep. PSW-GTR-193. Albany, CA: Pacific Southwest Research Station, Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture: 7-22

Station ID: GTR-PSW-193

Description: Thirty years ago, the fate of migratory deer in the Sierra Nevada was thought to be the major forest wildlife issue. Ten years later, agencies were building the California Wildlife Habitat Relationships System to allow managers to integrate all terrestrial vertebrates with timber management in comprehensive National Forest planning. Another ten years after that, Tom Knudsen wrote his Pulitzer Prize–winning series, "Sierra in Peril," describing the complexity of environmental problems. Now, managers are trying to improve the lot of all native species in the Sierra Nevada, address fire hazards and a host of ecological processes, and deal with the complex interactions of people and nature in forest planning. The past three decades have been a turbulent ride for those who work and live with the National Forests of the Sierra Nevada. Why have we not been able to solve the Sierra Nevada's problems? I propose that it is because we have not been using the right methods for solving such complex problems.

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Citation

Salwasser, Hal  2004.  Confronting the implications of wicked problems: changes needed in Sierra Nevada National Forest planning and problem solving.   In: Murphy, Dennis D. and Stine, Peter A., editors. Proceedings of the Sierra Nevada Science Symposium. Gen. Tech. Rep. PSW-GTR-193. Albany, CA: Pacific Southwest Research Station, Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture: 7-22.