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People and Their Environments: Social Science Supporting Natural Resource Management and Policy

The Northeast and Midwest areas of the United States are home to 40 percent of the nation’s population, and are also its most heavily forested. Several of the country’s largest cities are here, as are expanses of working forests and vacation retreats. Decisions about where and how people build and landscape their homes, where and how they recreate, and where they vacation all influence the environment. At the same time, the natural environment changes people, too. Trees, prairies, lakes, and rivers, both within and beyond cities and towns, affect people’s health and well-being. As populations increase in size, extent, and diversity, natural resource planners and policymakers must address growing concerns about a wide range of environments. To make the best decisions—for people and for nature—they need better information about how people influence and are influenced by natural environments across the entire spectrum of urban to rural landscapes. That is the focus of the People and Their Environments research unit.

Staffed with social scientists with a wide range of relevant backgrounds, People and Their Environments is one of only a few Forest Service research work units that study the human component of natural resource management. We have expertise that ranges across the social science disciplines and methodologies: economics, psychology, sociology, and allied fields like landscape architecture, recreation, and planning.

We are leaders in partnering across disciplines to develop integrated information for managers and policymakers to use in addressing the complex questions they face. We research how people perceive, use, benefit from, and value natural environments across the landscape. We seek answers to resource management questions, and our findings help natural resource managers and policymakers make informed decisions in planning, designing, and managing places with people in mind. We contribute to each of the NRS themes: Managing with Disturbance; Urban Natural Resource Stewardship; Sustaining Forests; Providing Clean Air and Water; and Natural Resources Inventory, Monitoring and Assessment.

More Information

This site is under development as the Forest Service brings together the Northeastern and North Central Research Stations to form the Northern Research Station, serving the Northeast and Midwest. The links below will take you to pages of the old sites for the Natural Environments for Urban Populations, Social and Economic Dimensions of Ecosystem Management, and Integrating Social and Biophysical Sciences for Natural Resource Management units that combined to form the People and Their Environments research work unit. Check back often as we expand our site to reflect our combined commitment to supporting the natural resources and people of the Northeastern and Midwestern United States.

Science to support National Fire and Fuels Strategy

• People and fire
• Wildland fire - social science research for fuels management

Fragmentation and land use change

• Forest parcelization
• Landscape and demographic change
• Development and protecting open space
• Public policies and urban growth
• Protecting metropolitan open space
• Lake development

Forest values

• Determinants of Forest Land Prices
• Forest Service Issues in the News
  

Urban natural resource management

• Management and restoration of natural landscapes-Urban parks and natural areas
• Social aspects of urban greening
• Brownfield rehabilitation
• Social structures and processes

Environmental justice

• Calumet, Illinois: An ecological and economic rebirth
• Baltimore Ecosystem Study
• Social Aspects of Urban Greening
• Ethnic and Racial Perspectives on Resource Management

Forest Management

• Special forest products  (Management applications)
• Building Local Community Trust
• Understanding Landowners' Harvest Decisions
• Forest Landowner Cooperatives
• Trade-Offs in Land Management

Recreation and experience of natural places

• Environmental perception and values
• Management and restoration of natural landscapes - Recreation planning
• Recreation in the Northeast  

Additional information on our research is available at our legacy websites

• Natural Environments for Urban Populations
• Social and Economic Dimensions of Ecosystem Management
• Integrating Social and Biophysical Sciences for Natural Resource Management