Source Notes
Title:
U.S. National Forest Policies Regarding Logging.
Summary:
In June of 2004, Elizabeth Corley, an assistant professor at the Arizona State University, conducted a case study on the divergence between scientist and citizen metal models regarding logging in the Chattahoochee U.S National Forest.
Topic:
A study on the citizen, public agency, and scientist consesus of forest management.
Academic.
What is it?
Case study by Arizona State University.
Elizabeth Corley.
Location:
www.ebscohost.com/ Business Search Premier.
Accessed:
February, 19th, 2009.
Support:
S.Yearly (1999), author of “Computer models and the public’s understanding of science: a case study analysis”.
A. Irwin and B. Wynne (1996), authors of “Misunderstanding Science? The Public Reconstruction of Science and Technology.”
U.S National Forest Service
Bureau of Land Management
R. N. Andrews (1999), author of “Managing the Environment, and Managing Ourselves: A History of American Environmental Policy.”
U.S. National Forest Act of 1976.
Some scientists.
K. Criak (1943), author of “The Nature of Explanation.”
QSR N4 Classic
The case study begins with a brief introduction of various members of the science community that have studied the publics understanding of science. There have been many qualitative studies that have explored the “publics understanding of science”. Yearly asserts that three general themes arise in these case studies: First, “the public’s understanding of science often is not as much a question of whether people understand science as it is a matter of the public opinion of the institutions where that science is developed and communicated. Second, the public commonly has its own type of knowledge that may compliment or rival scientific knowledge. Third, science is a framework that is undeniably social, as well as scientific and technical.” Irwin and Wynne studied a case were citizens were living near potentially hazardous factories. They concluded that citizens formed an assessment of scientific details of the issues by taking into account their past knowledge of science, as well as how trustworthy they felt the agency that produced the science was. In the case of Chattahoochee National Forest, many citizens are against logging, but the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) wants to continue to log the forest in accordance with their forest management plans. Andrews states that “sustained- yield (or the maximum resource extraction that an ecosystems can withstand while still being able to reproduce) was incorporated into agencies such as USFS and the Bureau of Land Management.”
Despite the 1960s and 70s environmental movements, Cortner and Moote assert that the analytical tools in use were more “biased towards maximum sustained yield.” The U.S. National Forest Act of 1976 was implemented to encourage a balanced forest management system with a “goal of multiple-use sustained timber yields (Andrews).” In the early 1990s, government agencies began a holistic approach to resource management by taking into account public values in long range planning efforts. The study begins to discuss the case of the Chattahoochee. Clear cutting has been a significant concern for environmentalist and citizens—public concern reduced clear-cutting by 24 percent of the planned harvest for 1995 (USFS, 2000). In 1999, all commerical logging in Chattahoochee National Forestwas was banned. Some scientist have concern regarding this ban, citing that forest fires and pest infestation could be potentially dangerous for the surrounding communities. Thus, the USFS has focused on public involvement and participation to shape policies at the national park. Many contemporary scholars and environmentalists agree with this approach.
Mental models were first “postulated” by Criak when he wrote that the mind constructs “small-scale models” of reality to anticipate events and underlie explanation. Bostrom et. al. used environmentally hazardous process to determine “lay people’s ability to an environmentally hazardous situation.” Bostrom and her colleagues stress the first task for risk communicators—to determine what consensus the public has already on the issue. After assessing the public, scientists can compare those models with their consensus regarding the risk. Morgan et. al. provided an outline for managers and decision makers to communicate scientific information to the public, using the mental model approach.
Audience & Agenda:
Ebsco database provides electronic journals, books, and is funded by subscription and private interest groups. This site reaches over 121,000 U.S. monthly people and appeals to a slightly female slanted, more educated, fairly wealthy, more youthful crowd.
Usefulness:
Conclusion: Two methods were used in data collection: scientist and citizen in depth interviews and a written questionnaire administered to the scientist by the citizens. Corleythen explains the specifics of the interview process. Upon completion of the in-depth interviews with scientist and citizens, the interviews were transcribed. The results were processed by “QSR N4 Classic” for coding the content. The content concluded the following: The exploration of scientists’ and citizens’ mental models revealed that while bothgroups agree on long-term policy goals for the forest, they disagreed about how to achieve these policy goals because their understanding of the effects of logging were quite different. The interviews revealed that the local citizens are somewhat well-informed about the environmental effects of logging on the forest. The citizens, however, do no trust the USFS to handle the issue of logging responsibly. Furthermore, cases such as these require three-way communication between scientists’, public agency, and citizens to develop policies that are technically feasible, economically viable, and protect long-term public values.
This source provides an argument: the public’s opinion, scientific expertise, and public agencies are not coming to a general consensus on park management policies. Both scientists’ and agencies (such as the USFS) need more funding from the federal government. If increased resources are provided, both scientists and public agencies can distribute information thoroughly and efficiently to better educated the public of issues facing their local park areas and forests. This would also show proactive involvement by both agencies–improving their image with the public.
Works cited:
www.quantcast.com
www.ebscohost.com/ Business Search Premier.
March 13, 2009 at 9:12 am |
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