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Resource Use and Management
The goal of federal R&D on resource use and management is to promote
the management, conservation, and use of natural resources in ways that sustain and enhance terrestrial
and marine ecosystems and the quality of life. This broad goal has three subcomponents: (1) link
research to resource management at various temporal and spatial scales; (2) develop the science base
and the technologies for determining the mix of resources that will promote sustainability; and (3)
determine how best to sustain and use a given resource across landscapes and the seascape.
Many of the goods and services that are essential for society's well-being are provided by forests and
rangelands; fisheries; and ore coal, oil, and gas resources. Specific policy questions include: What are
the amounts, distribution, and status of various renewable and nonrenewable resources? What are the
noncommodity, off-site, or unintended impacts and tradeoffs of resource use and management
options? What new or improved management systems or technologies can be developed to further sustainable
resource use? What are appropriate roles for local, regional, and national resource management policies, and how
can they be integrated?
Relevant Policies, Issues, and Legislation
Clean Water Act
National Environmental Policy Act
National Forest Management Act
Renewable Natural Resources Act
Renewable National Resources Research Act
Endangered Species Act
U.S. Climate Change Action Plan
North American Free Trade Agreement
National Geologic Mapping Act
Magnuson Fisheries Conservation and Management Act
Current State of Understanding
Research has generated the scientific information base needed to assist the nation in managing its land, water, and mineral resources
and in formulating wise environmental policies. Although there is a tremendous array of inventories to assess physical and biological
resources, most were initiated to provide resource-specific information. Currently, there is little coordination among these efforts in
terms of spatial or temporal scales, and few attempts have been made to harness these data bases to each other. In many cases, it is
not new information that is needed but rather the integration of existing data bases.
Research directed at helping resource managers modify management strategies to respond to new scientific information or complex
societal demands is insufficient. Research to devise management practices for renewable resources has generally led to the development
of systems that maximize one or a few objectives rather than optimizing for many end points simultaneously. For both renewable and
nonrenewable resource extraction, the existing methodologies tend to address site-specific impacts reasonably well, with less
understanding being developed of off-site impacts, cumulative effects over time, and the consequences of management actions at a
specific location on social, economic, and environmental issues at the landscape level.
Research Program
Research on which comprehensive resource use and management decisions depend includes geological
and mineral and energy resource assessments and studies of the ecological, economic, and social
factors involved in the development and management of offshore oil, gas, and mineral resources.
Programs also include the development of new mineral methods of recovery that safeguard workers
and prevent environmental harm. Other programs support the efficient and environmentally benign use
and management of domestic energy resources; renewable marine and coastal resource and ecosystem
health assessments and management; monitoring activities, modeling, and information management;
and vessel and aircraft support operations. Research also develops new resource management and
restoration practices and assesses the long-term effects of agriculture, forestry, fishing, recreation and
environmental changes on the quality and productivity of natural resources.
Areas of Enhanced Emphasis
Assessment of resources and their uses. Renewable and nonrenewable resources will be inventoried and monitored
to assess their potential for sustainable use on local and global scales. This information is critical for natural resource development
and management decisions.
Research to understand integrated systems. New research will focus on the interrelated functions
and dynamics of ecological, technological, economic, social, and political factors associated with natural resource systems, including
use by humans and societal benefits. Development of an information base on these interrelationships is essential to evaluate
tradeoffs between resources, resource mix, and alternative uses and to predict the direct and indirect effects of human activity
and natural variability on the environment. This research should include monetary and nonmonetary valuation of benefits for
alternative uses of natural resources.
Development of options and methods for resource use and management. Better ways are needed
to use resources in order to increase the potential level of sustainable production, increase the value of natural resource products, and reduce the costs of
resource use, while developing innovative methods to use, restore, and enhance ecosystems.
Application of scientific information to resource use policy and management. New methodologies and practices are
needed to integrate science into natural resource and management policy decisions at all levels of government, nationally and internationally.
Methods include the development development of predictive models, decision support systems, risk assessments, and other tools
to integrate and convey natural, social, and economic sciences information to policymakers.
Selected Milestones, 1995 - 1998
Define the protocols and techniques needed for integrated resource assessments. These techniques include
indicators and measures of resource abundance, condition, availability, and use for both renewable and
nonrenewable natural resources. This information is essential to improve the scientific basis for informed
long- and short-range resource-use policies that balance socioeconomic and ecological priorities.
Establish an integrated data base that links socioeconomic factors to measures of natural resource conditions
and trends. These data will be geo-referenced and linked to predictive models that evaluate tradeoffs
between various resource-use mixes and alternatives. These models will provide the capability to evaluate
and compare alternative management, use, and policy options at local, regional, and national scales that
balance socioeconomic and environmental factors.
Define and implement site-specific and regional natural resource condition indicators that reflect the local
and regional impacts of management activities. These indicators will help identify pilot locations and issues
where adaptive management principles can be tested. This approach will provide the ability to monitor and
minimize significant negative impacts to the environment and society through adaptive management.
Provide new or modified methods and management systems, for both renewable and nonrenewable
resources, that are cost effective and that minimize environmental damage associated with consumptive and
non-consumptive uses. This will increase the efficiency of resource use and minimize the cost associated
with loss of environmental benefits or site remediation.
Determine ways to extend the service life of materials, or improve recycling technologies to reduce
consumptive use of renewable and nonrenewable resources. These technologies will increase the efficiency
of resource use and effectively increase the supply of natural resources.
The goal of federal toxic substances and hazardous and solid waste research is to prevent or reduce
human and ecological exposure to toxic materials, such as pesticide residues, polychlorinated biphenyls
(PCBs), and lead, and their adverse consequences by providing the scientific and technical information
needed for informed decision and policy-making and effective problem solving.
Toxic substances and solid and hazardous wastes have potential adverse impacts to human health and
ecological systems. The nation spends over $100 billion per year on environmental controls, much of
which are to address toxic substances and wastes. Control strategies are based on our best
understanding of the potential risks and the most effective ways of reducing them. Gaps in our
scientific knowledge result in incomplete or inefficient risk identification and management. Filling
these gaps reduces the uncertainties in risk assessments and ensures availability of more cost-
effective risk management approaches, both of which can improve our levels of protection and
the cost effectiveness of management approaches, potentially saving billions of dollars in
management costs.
Research on toxic materials focuses on improving the characterization and communication of risks;
developing cost-effective policies for managing exposures to toxic materials; and developing
cost-effective, innovative solutions for pollution avoidance, control, and remediation.
Relevant Policies, Issues, and Legislation
Toxic Substances Control Act
Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (Superfund)
Occupational Safety and Health Act
Clean Air Act
Clean Water Act
Safe Drinking Water Act
Atomic Energy Act
Current State of Understanding
Research in the area of toxic substances and
wastes can be segmented into two categories: risk assessment and risk management (pollution
prevention, controls, remediation, and monitoring).
Until recently, most risk assessment efforts for toxic substances focused primarily on potential causes
of cancer. The risks of other human health effects (e.g., neurological, developmental, and reproductive)
and ecological impacts have received far less attention. Generally speaking, the information available
for human health or ecological risk assessments for the more than 70,000 chemicals in commerce is
either incomplete or inadequate to estimate risks precisely. Comprehensive data bases on cancer and
noncancer end points are available on very few toxic substances. In addition, the data often are
inadequate to extrapolate from animals to humans and from high levels of exposure where animal
observations are made to much lower levels more characteristic of ambient concentrations of
contamination. Differing individual genetic susceptibilities to the toxic effects from environmental
chemicals may produce a wide range of responses. The absence of critical data in these areas may lead
to large uncertainties in risk estimates. Uncertainties also arise from the unknowns associated with the
biological and environmental fate of toxic chemicals.
Past research on risk management has focused heavily on control and remediation technologies and on
characterization and monitoring. Emphasis has been placed on field evaluation for remediation
technologies. Although many effective technologies have been developed or evaluated, more cost-
effective approaches are needed, especially for certain toxics or types of contamination. More recently,
research has begun to emphasize pollution prevention. Significant efforts have focused on developing
and disseminating crosscutting tools and methods for evaluating pollution prevention alternatives.
Some generic process research, as well as joint research with certain industry sectors, has also been
done, but much greater emphasis is needed in these latter areas.
Research Program
Important ongoing research is being conducted on risk assessment, including research to assess and
reduce the impacts associated with exposure to toxic materials, methods and predictive models, fate
and transport processes to assess exposure, and data integration to characterize risks. In the area of risk
management, research activities are focusing on developing and demonstrating technologies for
reducing and preventing the generation of toxic materials, controlling their release into the
environment, and remediating hazardous waste sites. The intent is to cost-share risk management
activities through dollar leveraging to stretch federal R&D funding for improved cost and program
effectiveness.
Areas of Enhanced Emphasis
Improving risk assessment capabilities. Increased research will focus on making risk assessment
a more effective tool for decision makers by developing and improving models for estimating and
predicting exposure and environmental fate; better understanding the biological and ecological
mechanisms of action for toxic materials; improving methods for monitoring and assessing
exposure, and understanding the variability of susceptibility within populations, including the
effects on vulnerable populations. This knowledge is fundamental to prioritizing risk, selecting
risk management strategies, and setting cost-effective risk reduction goals.
Improving risk management tools. Two components of risk management will be emphasized.
First, pollution prevention will become a major thrust for research activities, focusing on
development and evaluation of cleaner products, processes, and technologies in partnership with
industry and other stakeholders. Second, recognizing that the nation has a huge existing burden of
sites contaminated with toxic materials with enormous potential cleanup costs, federal research
efforts will emphasize development and demonstration of better, faster, safer, and more
cost-effective technologies to remediate hazardous and mixed waste sites, including improved
technologies for characterizing and monitoring contaminants at sites. Federal research will also
emphasize programs to facilitate faster commercialization of innovative technologies, including
government and private sector partnerships.
Selected Milestones, 1995 - 1998
Produce a national research strategy on endocrine-disrupter chemicals. Such chemicals (e.g., DDT and some
PCBs) may cause hormone-related problems such as decreased fertility in humans and certain types of
hormone-related cancers (e.g., breast cancer) and may be associated with ecological problems such as
wildlife population loss. This research strategy will lead to a better understanding of whether or not these
chemicals cause significant public health or ecological effects and the need for policies to mitigate such
impacts.
Finalize the reassessment of the health and ecological effects from exposure to dioxin and related
compounds. This reassessment has major implications because of the ubiquitous exposure and the potential
of these compounds to cause harm at low levels of exposure. This assessment will have major impacts on
regulations to control emissions on dioxins, as well as future pollution prevention efforts.
Conduct cooperative research with industry partners to develop technological improvements to reduce
inefficiency, substitute cleaner and less toxic chemicals, reduce costs, and improve environmental
performance.
Provide improved exposure models for hazardous air pollutants (HAPs). Health effects and exposure
research will help characterize the potential risks from HAPs emitted from a wide variety of sources from
chemical plants to drycleaners. This exposure research is needed to support risk analyses for regulated
sources of HAPs, which the Clean Air Act requires to be completed by 1997 to 1998.
Improve ecological risk characterization by better defining the responses of communities and ecosystems to
toxic chemical stresses.
Implement a national program to verify performance of innovative environmental technologies. Performance
verification is needed to enable commercialization of technologies that can improve environmental
performance and reduce costs. Select a pilot program in 1995, begin operation in 1996, and expand the
program in 1997.
Water Resources and Coastal and Marine Environments
The goal of research on water resources and coastal and marine environments is to provide the
scientific basis for managing water resources and aquatic environments to ensure adequate, quality
water resources for domestic, industrial, agricultural, fishery, transportation, recreation, and other uses
to meet equitably and efficiently the needs of present and future generations and to ensure the
integrity, productivity, diversity, and vitality of lake, stream, estuary, and ocean coastal ecosystems.
Research focuses on characterizing the status and predicting trends in the quality, distribution, and use
of the nation's water resources and aquatic
ecosystems.
Relevant Policies, Issues, and Legislation
Clean Water Act provisions for assessments of water and watershed status and trends and criteria/standards development for
management and enforcement
Coastal Zone Management Act wetlands protection and nonpoint sources of pollution provisions
Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act; Oil Pollution Act; National Coastal Monitoring Act; and other environmental
statute provisions for water and aquatic ecosystem quality assessment
Current State of Understanding
Many groundwater and surface water systems are hydraulically connected, and land-use and water-use practices within those watersheds
affect water quality. However, management decisions and monitoring programs frequently are based only on surface water or groundwater
quantity and quality considerations and, therefore, are too narrowly focused. Management of and policies regarding the availability, quality,
and flow of water resources are dependent on integrated models of these resource systems, especially the dynamics of their physical,
chemical, and biological interactions. Existing models lack the complexity required to realistically simulate actual conditions and are of
limited use in projecting system response to future conditions. For important issues such as competition for limited water resources, which
results in conflicts between irrigation, industrial, and municipal water use and requirements for hydroelectric peaking power, recreation,
and endangered species habitat protection, new modeling capability is evolving that will couple climatic, meteorological, hydrological,
and river-basin management models to aid management and policy decisions. However, at present many decisions on watershed
management, land use, and water quality regulation are still being based on overly simplistic understanding of complex natural
conditions.
The cumulative effects of waste disposal, toxic chemical contamination, and watershed alteration have
resulted in severe but generally local degradation of the nation's water quality and accompanying
aquatic environments. Currently, no integrated understanding exists of the nonpoint sources of
contamination and the combined effects of these contaminants on water resources and ecosystems. An
ability to understand and predict cumulative effects on water resources and ecosystems is needed for
efficient and effective solutions.
Some progress has been made in understanding the effects on coastal and inland aquatic ecosystems of
nutrient and sediment loading, toxic chemicals, and water diversions. Less progress has been made in
understanding the structure and function of sensitive habitats and the cumulative effects of disturbance.
This type of information is needed to improve management decisions that must balance resource use
with a sustainable system and for the definition of criteria for determining whether restoration is
appropriate or successful. Developing a predictive understanding of the interactions among natural
forces, environmental quality, ecosystem use, and their relationship to social and economic dynamics is
essential to moving systems management from a reactive mode to a proactive one that benefits both
societal and natural systems.
Research Program
Vital ongoing research includes nationwide assessments using remote sensing techniques and in situ
observations to collect data. Advanced mapping methods of the sources and processes that affect the
movement of water, sediment, and chemical constituents are being developed. Other research activities
focus on understanding the structure, function, and dynamics of land margins and other aquatic
ecosystems, including how specific habitats function to support living marine resources and how these
linkages are affected by human and natural stresses. Models of aquatic ecosystems, indicators of
ecosystem health, and methods and protocols for restoring water resources and aquatic ecosystems are
being developed. In addition, predictive systems management techniques are being developed for
integrating multiple geographic data bases and applications into geographic information systems. These
will be used to develop appropriate strategies for regional ecosystem management.
Areas of Increased Emphasis
Integrating monitoring efforts. Coordinated monitoring will stress the need to provide accurate
information, combining remotely sensed and in situ observations, on the status and trends of the
quantity and quality of all U.S. surface, ground, and coastal waters and watersheds. Emphasis will
be on developing a national monitoring program to link and expand the various ongoing aquatic
environmental quality and other data collection programs into one coordinated national framework
as recommended by the Intergovernmental Task Force on Monitoring Water Quality.
Predicting water availability and flow. Improved modeling and prediction of water resources and
aquatic ecosystem status and trends will depend on a better understanding of the structure and
function of water flow patterns, particularly how they are affected by human activities. Focus will
be on developing improved observation systems and predictive models of water resource
distributions and dynamics that will lead to a new class of predictions and forecasts of both
site-specific and regional application.
Understanding the interactions among water quality and aquatic ecosystem functions. Research
will focus on improving our understanding of the links between water quality and aquatic
ecosystem health and our assessments and predictions of responses of water quality and aquatic
habitats to cumulative stressors resulting from human activities.
Improving ecological restoration and rehabilitation capabilities. Improving our ability to protect,
restore, or rehabilitate damaged and lost aquatic habitats is a critical element for sustainable use of
many watersheds. Research will be directed toward better understanding how natural and restored
systems operate, developing cost-effective restoration capabilities, and identifying realistic
measures against which restored systems can be evaluated.
Enabling capabilities for predictive systems management. Predictive management of ecosystems
requires an improved understanding of both natural and human-induced processes so that decision
makers can implement the appropriate mix of strategies to sustain and enhance the quality of
aquatic resources for current and future needs. Research will focus on the development of new
science and management paradigms that encourage interactive and multidisciplinary approaches to
evaluate best management practices, apply new types of ecological engineering and planning,
implement ecosystem management efforts in specific geographic regions, and integrate natural and
social sciences into the decision-making process.
Selected Milestones, 1995 - 1998
Complete mapping and change detection of coastal land cover for all major coastal areas of the United
States, including the coordinated management and dissemination of the change-detection data sets and
management applications derived from them.
Complete data collection, interpretation, and report preparation for the first 20 National Water-Quality
Assessment Program sites, and initiate detailed planning for the final 20 sites.
Provide new, regional algorithms for remotely monitoring water mass movement, algal pigments, and
productivity in coastal and estuarine water from satellites and aircraft.
Complete a peer-reviewed, comprehensive national assessment of the U.S. coastal environment that
integrates evaluations of the state of the natural environment with assessments of the effectiveness of current
governance mechanisms and structures and the social and economic effects of environmental change.
Provide improved assessment and field tools for predicting the cumulative effects of multiple stressors and
carrying capacities in U.S. coastal and estuarine systems.