Environmental Scientists Hail New Forest Service Chief

Environmental Scientists Hail New Forest Service Chief Author: Karen Young Kreeger Date: January 10, 1994 For the first time in its 88-year history, the United States Forest Service has a research scientist at its helm instead of an engineer, a forester, or a public administrator. Environmental researchers are applauding the appointment of Jack Ward Thomas, a wildlife biologist from Oregon, as a breath of fresh air for an agency in the midst of transition from the primarily timber commodity-based outlook of the past decade to an ecosystem-based approach. As the new chief, "Jack will be a strong advocate for the [Forest Service] to do a better job of integrating science into decisions and policy at the Washington level as well as activities on the ground," says Charles Philpot, a plant chemist and station director of the Pacific Northwest Research Station, the Forest Service (FS) research branch for Oregon, Washington, and Alaska. "I think we'll see a shift back to more technical capability on the management side and more opportunities on the research side to strengthen our science programs." Philpot says that this strengthening will primarily manifest itself in enabling FS researchers to conduct more basic science, rather than applied studies related to forest management. However, he adds, "We may be in a position to hire more scientists, but that's unlikely because of other constraints on the federal government. What we'll be doing a lot more of, I suspect, is hiring scientists through contracts, postdocs, and those kinds of opportunities." Forest Research, the independent scientific arm of FS and one of its four divisions, is composed of roughly 700 scientists who conduct research within eight regional stations and one forest products laboratory; it draws on a broad spectrum of disciplines, from economics to ecology. Its roster of scientists does not include researchers who conduct resource management and technology transfer work. The agency's research budget is roughly 12 percent of FS's 1994 total appropriated budget. Many of Thomas's research colleagues outside FS also view his appointment as a positive move for the agency. Gene Likens, an ecologist and director of the Institute of Ecosystem Studies in Millbrook, N.Y., remarks that this "is a wonderful opportunity for FS to take a new leadership role," especially by incorporating the concerns of environmental scientists into consideration of forest management issues. Bernard Bormann, a plant physiologist with the Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station laboratory in Corvallis, Ore., adds that Thomas "can bring a new vision and develop a new mandate for FS in general, and his call for developing a new definition of conservation that will head us into the 21st century is an excellent approach." Researchers also feel that Thomas's appointment will have positive implications for scientists outside FS. "I think we'll see his influence on Congress, for example, in influencing how politicians might look at political support for scientific programs.... I think he will be used as a resource for documenting why it's important for agencies in the federal government to have independent research arms," says Philpot. In his new position for just over a month, Thomas explains his approach to the future of FS: "As a scientist, I will try to ensure that the best science available is brought to bear on our land-management decisions; but, on the other hand, I want to make it clear that, at least in my mind, science is not the overriding factor. Science merely provides guidance to decision-makers.... Ultimately some warm human being has to make the decision. These decisions encompass social values, economic demand, and budgeting and funding." Appointment Controversy Although much of the research community has welcomed his appointment, Thomas has been directly involved in controversial plans for managing national forests. These planning documents advocate a compromise for protecting the threatened northern spotted owl and its old-growth forest ecosystems in the Pacific Northwest while reallocating and decreasing areas of the forests for timber harvest, which in turn directly affect timber-dependent communities. Last April, President Bill Clinton selected Thomas as leader of a team of scientists who would produce a plan for managing forest ecosystems. Reactions from the timber community to his appointment as FS chief run from guarded to negative, concentrating on his involvement in forestry management issues and the method of his appointment. At the same time, conservation advocates are cheering the selection. Mark Shaffer, vice president for resource planning and economics with the research division of the Wilderness Society, a national environmental advocacy group based in Washington, D.C., asserts that although "we may not fully agree on the dimensions of the proposed solution to the ancient forest issue in the Pacific Northwest, Jack Ward Thomas certainly provided credible leadership in both the scientific and policy fields ... the kind of leadership the FS really needs." On the other hand, Chad Oliver, a silviculturist at the University of Washington's College of Forest Resources, who has reviewed forest plans that Thomas proposed, states that he "is worried that [Thomas] represents a rather extreme preservationist position, such as those that came out in the options that he gave" in the ancient forest plan. William McKillop, a resource economist with the University of California, Berkeley, College of Natural Resources, who has also reviewed the Thomas plan, attributes his discontent with the appointment to the current administration, not Thomas the scientist, saying, "The issue doesn't concern Jack Ward Thomas's qualifications ... but rather the choice of the Clinton administration to require someone who does not have a timber connection." Chris West, vice president of the Northwest Forestry Association, based in Portland, Ore., a timber trade association that includes biological scientists in its constituency, says, "The biggest issue to us is for the first time the chief has become a political appointee," referring to another criticism that has been voiced--that Thomas did not come up through the senior executive service, a group of high-level administrators from which the Office of Personnel Management can choose senior government executives. West adds, "We respect Jack for his expertise as a wildlife biologist and we'll just have to see, in terms of [being] an administrator, how he does." Ecosystem Management Thomas sees one of his roles as FS head as that of a synthesizer of the interests of the many groups the Forest Service of the future must deal with. "We'll take a broader view of things than we have in the past ... we will consider conditions over a much longer period ... forests and lands will be cared for in a way so that they'll be productive generation after generation," he says. This philosophy of thinking on a larger scale is called ecosystem management, a new direction for FS, and, according to Thomas, also "includes economics and the welfare of people who are part of that ecosystem." But Jackie Lang, state coordinator for the Oregon Lands Coalition, a grass-roots organization representing the interests of communities based on timber, grazing, mining, and recreation economies, says, "We're not taking issue with the fact that science is a critical component in the decision-making process; however, we reject the idea that science alone is the decision-maker .... We don't need a scientist in charge of the FS; we need a public policymaker who understands the big picture." Thomas's supporters assert, however, that he indeed has a solid grasp of the big picture. "One of the things we'll see from Jack is that he's not going to say that science is an end-all--he recognizes quite clearly that there are a lot of things besides science that influence policy and management, [and] that we have to account for all of them.... I think Jack Thomas will take the position that both healthy ecosystems and healthy economies are important ... and he'll give strong treatment to both," says Tom Hamilton, an economist and associate deputy chief for research at FS in Washington, D.C. Thomas began his career with the Forest Service in 1966 in Morgantown, W.Va., where he studied forest-wildlife relationships. From there he worked in Amherst, Mass., in urban forestry and wildlife biology. Since 1974, he has been the chief research wildlife biologist and project leader of the Forestry and Range Sciences Laboratory, a part of the FS Pacific Northwest Research Station, in La Grande, Ore. He received his Ph.D. in forestry from the University of Massachusetts and currently holds adjunct professorships at four universities. Thomas is author of about 275 publications, primarily in the areas of large-game biology, wildlife habitat, northern spotted owl management, and land- use planning. Karen Young Kreeger is a freelance science writer based in Broomall, Pa.

Environmental Scientists Hail New Forest Service Chief

Environmental Scientists Hail New Forest Service Chief

Interested in reading more?

Become a Member of