Newsroom - Discussion Papers

Leadership Perspectives

A lot has changed in the Nation’s forests and grasslands in recent decades. Fires have grown larger, invasive species more rampant, insects and diseases resurgent—and the climate more prone to extremes, making everything worse. Population growth, urban/suburban expansion, and increased demand for water and outdoor recreation have put additional pressures on forests and rangelands, both public and private. Globalization brings further pressures to bear, and urbanization is changing Americans’ relationship to nature, especially for kids.

How will the Forest Service meet these and other challenges? Forest Service leaders, assisted by researchers and policy analysts, have given some of their thoughts on the future in a series of published papers posted here. You have an opportunity to read what they have written and perhaps discuss it with colleagues and friends.

Conservation is a never-ending journey. Perhaps the dialogue stimulated here will help us on our way.

• Ecological Restoration Calls for a New Kind of Language (PDF)
  (September 2008)
  
  
• Climate Change and the Nation’s Forests: Challenges and Opportunities (PDF)
  (June 2008)
  
  
• Global Markets and the Health of America’s Forests: A Forest Service Perspective
  (January/February 2008)
  
  
• The Growing Challenge of Managing Outdoor Recreation
  (October/November 2007)
  
  
• Caring for Our Natural Assets: An Ecosystem Services Perspective (PDF)
  (October 2007)
  
  
• After the Timber Wars: Collaborative Community-Based Stewardship
  (July/August 2007)
  
  
• Investing in the Future: Ecological Restoration and the U.S. Forest Service
  (June 2007)