North Central Research Station

Welcome

When you're passionate about what you do, you're always looking to evolve to the next level.  We're making that transformation right now, changing how we work, what we work on, and the products that we produce.  We'd like to show you where we're headed and invite you to join us.  But first, a little background. 

As you know, resource conditions are in the midst of an historic change.  As 78 million new people join the planet each year, ecosystem services such as air and water purification, nutrient recycling, production of renewable goods are growing more precious and pressured.   Whose job is it to ensure that ecosystems stay healthy enough for the work ahead?  

Here in the Midwest, this awesome responsibility rests with our clients, the people who are asked to make tough calls about natural resources every day.  Consider the county commissioner who must vote on whether to replace forestland with additional housing.  Or the governor who must decide whether to invite a chip mill to the state.  Or the sanitarian who must lobby for a tax increase to protect a town watershed.  Or the landowner who must decide to plant, harvest, or subdivide.  These decision-makers are being asked to allocate precious resources, and the consequences of their decisions will reverberate for years to come.   

I believe North Central can and should help these decision-makers by informing their choices.  To do this successfully, our research must be policy-relevant by design.  A few years ago, we decided it wasn’t enough to take research we were already doing and reformulate it to meet today’s issues.   

Instead, we started over.   

We conducted a comprehensive review of issues facing our clients, then launched three new programs---Landscape Change, Forest Productivity, and Riparian Landscapes.  For the next 5 years, teams of scientists from various field locations will collaborate to study these issues through a transdisciplinary lens.  To complement these cross-cutting studies, we’ll continue to conduct policy-relevant research at individual work units.   

Our final strategy is in the realm of research delivery.  We’re working hard to develop tools that will support you in your work---interactive, customizable maps, software, and management guides--that allow you to turn science into substance.  Our goal is a single web portal that will allow you to search our databases, run our software, download our documents, and chat with our scientists.  

If these plans for the future resonate with you, please consider joining us as advisory clients and working cooperators. Evolving in close relationship with you coevolving will be an even more effective path to innovation and true service.  

At North Central, we’re committed to conducting world-class science that enhances our neighbors’ lives.  We look forward to working with you, and for you.  

--Michael Rains, Acting Director

USDA Forest Service - North Central Research Station
Last Modified: Friday, 03 October 2003