Social science research at experimental forests and ranges

Abstract

For a century, US Department of Agriculture Forest Service experimental forests and ranges (EFRs) have served as a resource for scientists conducting long-term research relating to forestry and range management and ecosystem science. Social science research has not comprised a significant portion of the research endeavor at EFRs to date, despite their past history of occupation and their current human uses. The EFR network presents a rich, though largely untapped opportunity for social scientists to engage in long-term, comparative, and interdisciplinary research related to human-natural resources interactions. This chapter explores the potential for social science research at EFRs. We synthesize the human dimensions research that has been pursued there to date by social scientists and others. This research falls into six areas: human uses, prehistorical and historical studies, economics, human dynamics at the wildland-urban interface, human values relating to forests, rangelands, and their management, and interdisciplinary studies of socio-ecological systems. Discussions with EFR scientists and site administrators revealed the potential for several types of future social science research. However, lack of awareness, limited budgets and networking, and the historic predominance of biophysical scientists who administer and conduct research at EFRs appear to have inhibited the development of social science research there. Nevertheless, we see signs that it is on the rise, and expect it to increase in the future. We suggest ways of encouraging social science research at EFRs, and describe its potential contributions.