First Published in 2012. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

The connections between communities and forests are complex and evolving, presenting challenges to forest managers, researchers, and communities themselves. Dependency on timber extraction and timber-related industries is no longer a universal characteristic of the forest community. Remoteness is also a less common feature, as technology, workforce mobility, tourism, and 'amenity migrants' increasingly connect rural to urban places.Forest Community Connections explores the responses of forest communities to a changing economy, changing federal policy, and concerns about forest health from both within and outside forest communities. Focusing primarily on the United States, the book examines the ways that social scientists work with communities-their role in facilitating social learning, informing policy decisions, and contributing to community well being. Bringing perspectives from sociology, anthropology, political science, and forestry, the authors review a range of management issues, including wildfire risk, forest restoration, labor force capacity, and the growing demand for a growing variety of forest goods and services. They examine the increasingly diverse aesthetic and cultural values that forest residents attribute to forests, the factors that contribute to strong and resilient connections between communities and forests, and consider a range of governance structures to positively influence the well being of forest communities and forests, including collaboration and community-based forestry.

Public debate has stimulated interest in finding greater compatibility among forest management regimes. The debate has often portrayed management choices as tradeoffs between biophysical and socioeconomic components of ecosystems. Here we focus on specific management strategies and emphasize broad goals such as biodiversity, wood production and habitat conservation while maintaining other values from forestlands desired by the public. We examine the following proposition: Commodity production (timber, nontimber forest products) and the other forest values (biodiversity, fish and wildlife habitat) can be simultaneously produced from the same area in a socially acceptable manner. Based on recent research in the Pacific Northwest, we show there are alternatives for managing forest ecosystems that avoid the divisive arena of 'either-or' choices. Much of the work discussed in this book addresses two aspects of the compatibility issue. First, how are various forest management practices related to an array of associated goods and services? Second, how do different approaches to forest management affect relatively large and complex ecosystems?

This study provides an overview of nontimber forest products (NTFP) programs on national forests in the United States. We conducted an email survey in 2003 to obtain data on NTFP management activities on national forests across the country. Program characteristics examined in the study included important NTFPs managed on national forests, presence of NTFP coordinators and law enforcement programs on ranger districts, incorporation of NTFPs into forest planning documents, presence of NTFP inventory and monitoring programs, managers views on barriers to and opportunities for including NTFP harvesters in NTFP inventory and monitoring efforts, and managers perceptions of barriers to expanding commercial NTFP harvesting. The data indicate that the agency is constructing a foundation for scientific NTFP management. The study identifies lack of funding and internal administrative capacity as key barriers to adequate incorporation of NTFPs in Forest Service planning, inventory, and monitoring.

Beargrass (Xerophyllum tenax (Pursh) Nutt.) is a source of food, habitat, and raw material for animals, pollinating insects, and people across its range in the western United States. The plant has long been used by Native Americans, who harvest the leaves for basketry and other crafts. More recently, beargrass has become an important component of international trade for the commercial floral greens industry. Changes in natural and anthropogenic disturbances are occurring within the range of beargrass, including fire frequency and severity, plant harvest intensity, and land use. This report documents how changes in disturbance patterns might affect beargrass and its associated ecosystem diversity, identifies gaps in knowledge or potential conflicts in human use, and records quantitative and qualitative information on the natural and cultural history of beargrass. We list and discuss some key sociocultural, environmental, and economic issues that relate to managing beargrass and the forested ecosystems in which it grows. These include a lack of information on the main factors affecting beargrass reproduction and persistence, including the importance of pollinators and light environment on plant fitness; differences in desired leaf properties sought by traditional and commercial harvesters; and inconsistent documentation on the volume and properties of harvested beargrass in total and by harvester group. Future research needs include advancing knowledge of the effects of human and natural disturbances on the plant and its habitat, including silvicultural practices, leaf harvest practices, and fire (both prescribed and wild).

Participatory research has emerged as an approach to producing knowledge that is sufficiently grounded in local needs and realities to support community-based natural resource management (CBNRM), and it is often touted as crucial to the sustainable management of forests and other natural resources. This book analyses the current state of the art of participatory research in CBNRM. Its chapters and case studies examine recent experiences in collaborative forest management, harvesting impacts on forest shrubs, watershed restoration in Native American communities, civic environmentalism in an urban neighborhood and other topics. Although the main geographic focus of the book is the United States, the issues raised are synthesized and discussed in the context of recent critiques of participatory research and CBNRM worldwide. The book's purpose is to provide insights and lessons for academics and practitioners involved in CBNRM in many contexts. The issues it covers will be relevant to participatory research and CBNRM practitioners and students the world over.