Using Scientific Input in Policy and Decision Making

w f a Paul W. Adams, Extension forest watershed specialist; and Anne B. Hairston, graduate student in forest hydrology; Oregon State University. olicy making usually is more art than science, creating policies from a shifting palette of social, political, legal, conomic, and environmental concerns. However, policy ecisions increasingly involve scientific or technical issues. echnology has grown more complex and pervasive, and lanning has become more widely employed and systematic. Policies and laws have come under scrutiny in the courts, nd scientific input has been sought as a basis for fair deciions. For example, legal challenges to forest management practices in the Monongahela National Forest led to creation of the National Forest Management Act. Today, national forest management and policy decisions often involve computer models and detailed analyses of alternatives—complex treatments seldom seen before this Act. The increasing use of science is seen at all levels of policy making and in many different roles. Scientists testify before state and federal legislatures, local zoning boards, planning commissions, and resource management agencies. Scientists ork on committees to define problems and develop solutions or all these policy-making bodies. Scientists prepare reports nd analyses of policy options and recommendations. Special