Mission
To perform and
integrate social and biophysical research for natural resource
management, and to develop products that make research results
available and useful for policy, planning, and management.
Problem 1. Social structures and processes: Resource
managers need an improved understanding of the relationships
among social institutions and organizations, forest management,
and forest ecosystem processes to achieve their policy and
management goals.
Problem 2. Individual values and decision making:
Research on this problem is divided into two components: (1)
identifying and analyzing the key human values that affect
natural resource decisions, and (2) incorporating these values
into better tools for analyzing and evaluating alternative
policies and management actions, particularly those involving
multiple goals and diverse stakeholder objectives.
Problem 3. Management applications: Natural resource
managers need sufficient information on the array of human
values and requirements that affect resource management,
planning, and policy decisions. Managers face three problems
due to a lack of information in four areas: the effects of
social values on timber management, recreation, special forest
products, and biodiversity.
Problem 4. Tool development: There is a need for
decision support tools that integrate the best knowledge
available about biophysical and social systems and assist
managers and policy makers in using this knowledge to make
decisions.
Institutions with formal Cooperation
Staffing
