I feel the issues in “Unnatural Preservation” were
presented in a very dichotomous way, that is, scientists versus
managers, now versus never, all versus nothing (HCN,
2/04/08). Yet there are plenty of examples where we are
addressing the gray area by trying different things at different
scales, creating multidisciplinary collaborations, and envisioning
alternative future landscapes.
The next generation of
science leaders has made such efforts a priority. As a graduate
student in Environmental Science, Policy, and Management at the
University of California, Berkeley, I am part of a forest ecology
seminar on “novel ecosystems.” My classmates and I struggle with
the same suite of questions as the authors of the article: What is
natural? What defines a novel ecosystem? What are we willing to pay
or risk in ecosystem management? How can we make and achieve
realistic management goals?
I am concerned that
“Unnatural Preservation” did not give due attention to the fact
that managing natural resources in the face of uncertainty is not
black-and-white. We don’t have to blindly choose A or B, because,
in fact, there are any number of management options on the gradient
between Yes and No. Scientists believe in accurately describing the
variation in nature that cannot, fundamentally, be boxed or
pinpointed. Scientists also recognize the need to conduct more
directed experiments in the area of climate change, as suggested in
the article.
Time scales also factor into the application
of scientific information. Natural resource managers, as the
article explained, are expected to act rapidly and decisively;
however, scientific results often cannot be translated into
prescriptions for guaranteed ecological success in the short term.
The difference in how scientists and managers approach what to do
with data is not necessarily a bad thing – by scientists giving a
window of possible outcomes and implications, managers have room to
implement adaptive practices. Precisely because we “don’t know what
we’re doing,” as David Graber of the National Park Service
confessed, being able to tweak management strategies over time or
space may very well help us stay one step ahead of undesirable
ecosystem changes.
Amy Whitcomb
Albany,
California
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Managing complexity.
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