140 



tWIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT 



Box 2. (continued) 



including tropical forestry, recycling, and the ecological and social values 

 of forest land. The Forest Service's 1992 R&D budget was about $115 million. 

 Soil erosion, irrigation, and pesticides and fertilizer studies constitute the 

 bulk of the research program of the Agriculljral Research Service. Funding 

 for the ARS was $162 million in 1992. The Cooperative State Research Ser- 

 vice budget was $119 million. 



Department ol Defense. All three branches of the military In the Depart- 

 ment of Defense (DOD) have programs in environmental R&D. The largest 

 of these efforts is in the Office of Naval Research (ONR) in the Department 

 of the Navy. The U.S. Army Corps ol Engineers has an active wetlands study 

 program and coordinates the Strategic Environmental Resources and De- 

 velopment Program. Research at DoD is divided into two major categories: 

 tfie natural environment and environmental quality. The budget for environ- 

 mental R&D within DoO was $577 million In 1992. 



Smithsonian Institution. Though relatively small, with a budget in FY 

 1992 of $33 million, the Smithsonian's environmental R&D effort covers a 

 wide range of areas, including biodiversity, ecology, conservation, and the 

 history of the interaction t>etween people and nature. 



Other Agencies. Small environmental R&D programs are also found at 

 the Agency for International Development, the Tenne'^see Valley Authority, 

 and the Department of Transportation. 



* For a detailed discussion see Steven J. Kafka. « 

 1 NIOSH FY1992 Budget Justification, p. 487. 



Insufficient resources arc devoted to environmental biologii', and there 

 is a need for more interdisciplinary studies. Most ecological processes are 

 inadequately understood, and several organizations have recommended in- 

 creased federal funding in this area. Geographical studies of the interrela- 

 tion of land, water, and biota in landscapes and regions arc conspicuously 

 weak. At both regional and local scales, economic, social, and political studies 

 of envirotunental issues must be better integrated with studies in the nat- 

 ural sciences." 



TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT 



In discussing these issues, it is important to emphasize the "D" of environ- 

 mental R&D— that is, technology de\-cIopment as separate from scientific 

 inquiry. While research into the fundamental causes and processes of en- 



