US Forest Service Experimental Forests and Ranges: An Untapped Resource for Social Science

Abstract

For a century, US Forest Service experimental forests and ranges (EFRs) have been a resource for scientists conducting long-term research relating to forestry and range management. Social science research has been limited, despite the history of occupation and current use of these sites for activities ranging from resource extraction and recreation to public education. This article encourages researchers to take advantage of the rich, though largely untapped, potential EFRs offer for social science by describing their many human dimensions and providing an overview of potential research topics. These topics include human uses, economics, historical studies, population and land-use change, human values, and interdisciplinary social-ecological studies. Lack of awareness among social scientists, limited budgets and networking, and the predominance of biophysical scientists who administer and conduct research at EFRs appear to be inhibiting the development of social science research there. We suggest ways of overcoming these barriers.