Basic Questions in Issue Analysis:

1. WHAT IS THE HUMAN-ENVIRONMENT INTERACTION UNDERLYING THE ISSUE?

2. WHAT IS THE PROBLEM? WHAT HUMAN GOALS ARE THREATENED BY THE WAY THE INTERACTION IS GOING?

3. WHAT HAS BEEN DONE ABOUT THE PROBLEM?

4. WHO ARE THE PLAYERS?

5. WHAT ARE THEIR POSITIONS ON THE ISSUE? WHAT DO THEY DISAGREE ABOUT?

6. WHAT BELIEFS AND VALUES UNDERLIE THE PLAYERS' POSITIONS?

ELDORADO NATIONAL FOREST ISSUE ANALYSIS

(BASED ON THE FILM SEEN IN CLASS)

• Alteration of forest ecosystems by extensive logging

Problem:

• Loss of valued environments and species

• Possible loss of timber resource over long tem

• California & US Endangered Species Acts

• USFS studies

• USFS and timber company claim they have tried manage for wildlife, etc.

• Environmental advocates have brought court cases against USFS

PLAYERS IN THE ELDORADO NATIONAL FOREST ISSUE

Friends of Wildlife Needs

TIMBER WORKERS

U. S. FOREST SERVICE

TIMBER MANAGER FOR MICH-CAL LUMBER

LOGGING CONTRACTOR

SCIENTISTS IN USFS & ELSEWHERE

BUILDING CONTRACTOR

COUNTY SUPERVISOR

SIERRA PACIFIC INDUSTRIES

CALIFORNIA STATE LEGISLATURE

Friends of Wildlife Needs

POSITIONS (should be able to support with statements from film)

• Ecosystem is close to collapse

• Forest management must follow laws that require it to consider needs of forest species (ie, Cal. Spotted Owl)

BELIEFS (should be able to support with statements from film)

• Forest Service was not paying attention to evidence found by own scientists

• Logging destroys critical components of forest ecosystem (dead trunks, fungi, squirrels, owls).

• It is inevitable that forest jobs will disappear sooner or later; people always have to adjust

• They are not responsible for mill closing

• Logging is permissible in some circumstances

VALUES (should be able to support with statements from film)

• Other values than economic must be considered

• We have no right to "off" a section of ecosystem

• Sense of community

TIMBER WORKERS

• Logging must continue to keep jobs

• Their American freedoms are threatened

• The old ways of logging work

• Their needs are being ignored by the USFS decisions

• Value of trees is in being used well for human needs

• Security & family tradition

• Community bonds

U. S. FOREST SERVICE

• Must follow State and Federal laws

• Lawsuit forced it to stop logging contracts

• Issue must be resolved by community

• USFS is up against biological factors and laws

• Try to satisfy the different parties

TIMBER MANAGER FOR MICH-CAL LUMBER

• Logging should continue

• Takes resource view of forest, esp. timber resource

• Forest can renew itself naturally

• Catastrophic changes are natural

• It's unreasonable to require perfect knowledge before acting

• We can get wealth from this resource

• Consensus: Society should not be destroyed by this conflict

LOGGING CONTRACTOR

• USFS must be fair and honor existing logging contracts

• Industry must have continuous supply of timber

• Conservationists have created gridlock

• This "will break the country," lead to revolution

• Economic - want to stay in business

SCIENTISTS IN USFS & ELSEWHERE

• Be conservative in using forest resources (attributed)

• Knowledge of forest ecosystem is not complete

• Getting a forest ecosystem back may be difficult

• Adequate information on alternatives before making decision

COUNTY SUPERVISOR

• Unclear; wants resolution that meets needs of all

• FAWN is not to blame; the issue is broader

• Timber workers are innocent victims

• Forest management system poorly designed

• Elected on environmental platform

• Stay in office to help resolve conflict

Going further with issue analysis:

1. WHAT ADDITIONAL INFORMATION IS NEEDED TO COMPLETELY UNDERSTAND THIS ISSUE?

2. WHAT ADDITIONAL INFO SOURCES NEED TO BE FOUND AND USED?

3. TO WHAT EXTEND WERE PLAYERS' BELIEFS BASED ON EVIDENCE?

4. ARE THE PLAYERS' BELIEFS BASED ON PRECONCEIVED JUDGMENTS OR EMOTION BEFORE THE FACTS ARE KNOWN?

5. DO THERE APPEAR TO BE HIDDEN AGENDAS? (VOICE ONE BELIEF, HIDE THE REAL ONE)

6. WHO IS THE DECISION MAKER?

7. WHAT ARE THE TRADE-OFFS FOR VARIOUS SOLUTIONS?

8. WHAT IS THE TIME FRAME OF THE DIFFERENT SOLUTIONS?

9. ARE PROPOSED SOLUTIONS SCIENTIFICALLY SOUND?

10. ARE THERE ANY LIKELY UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES?

Going further with issue analysis -- EXAMPLE: Nitrate compounds from animal waste applied as fertilizer to farm fields is polluting Chesapeake Bay & leading to outbreak of Pfiestreria piscicida bacteria, harming fish.

ISSUE 1) Should farmers use animal-waste fertilizer when using it might raise nitrate levels in local watersheds and water bodies?

QUESTIONS:

•How is animal waste fertilizer related to productivity of farms?

•What factors influence farmers' decisions about this?

•To what extent do farmers have differing beliefs about the relation of fertilizing to water quality?

•To what extent do their ecological beliefs (or lack thereof) affect their decision to fertilize?

ISSUE 2) Should Congress strengthen the Clean Water Act to cover non-point sources of water pollution?

QUESTIONS:

•How should watersheds or other areas be defined?

•Which substances should be regulated and how should targets be set?

BUILD UNDERSTANDING OF PROBLEM

ESTABLISH CRITERIA FOR THE GOAL

SEARCH FOR SOLUTIONS

DECIDE AMONG SOLUTIONS

EVALUATE PROGRESS

NEW PROBLEMS MAY BE CAST AS OLD ONES

SOLVING THE WRONG PROBLEM

STATING THE PROBLEM SO IT CAN'T BE SOLVED

STATING THE PROBLEM TOO GENERALLY

TRYING AGREE ON A SOLUTION BEFORE AGREEING ON THE PROBLEM