The future of RNAs

Publication Type:

Magazine Article

Authors:

Source:

Natural Areas Report, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station, Portland, OR, Volume 11, Issue 1, p.8 pp (1999)

Call Number:

U99GRE02IDUS

Abstract:

With this issue, we end the Natural Areas Report. For more than ten years, this publication has reported the challenges and accomplishments of natural area programs throughout the nation. By knitting together a network of state, federal, private, and university-based natural area programs, we found wisdom in numbers. We surveyed managers to learn the most effective methods to control exotic species, or develop a long-term database, or form interagency partner-ships. We examined the importance of cultural resources within natural areas, and considered the role of natural areas in larger bioregional assessments. Throughout our tenure, the Natural Areas Report found support from the Forest Service regional RNA programs, the Washington Office of the Forest Service, and the Oregon State Office of the Bureau of Land Management. Support came even when program funds were tight. Now funding for natural area programs is stretched to the breaking point, as managers across the country attempt to provide a baseline of natural conditions for research, monitoring, and teaching, at the same time holding at bay the consequences of encroaching development. The Natural Areas Report began as a publication for the Northwest, and quickly grew to cover the nation. It is appropriate that with this last issue, welcome back to the Northwest, and consider the changes we have seen. What does the future hold? In this issue, we take a hard look at the future of the Research Natural Area program in Region 6 of the Forest Service. Sarah Greene, long-time RNA coordinator in the Pacific Northwest, reflects on her twenty years in the trenches, and several natural area veterans respond with their own thoughts about the future of the federal RNA program.