248 



The Southern Appalachian Assessment will be released to the 

 public in June, and the Sierra Nevada Ecosystem Project will be 

 delivered, to Congress in June. 



When these assessments are released, Forest Ser^'ice personnel 

 will be available to brief Congress concerning the findings of 

 these scientific studies. 



Conclusion 



In FY 1997, the Forest Service will be completing three more 

 ecoregional assessments: the Great Lakes Assessment, the Ozark 

 and Ouachita Highlands Assessment, and the Northezn Great Plains 

 Assessment. These assessments are separate, coordinated analyses 

 and are anticipated to be less costly than the three I have just 

 described. Our ecosystem assessment process is evolving and we 

 are learning how we can be more efficient in gathering 

 information we need for forest and project planning area. We are 

 keeping assessment objectives to the minimum needed to address 

 resource issues and planning demands, thus reducing costs. 



Ecosystems are incredibly complex, and although we will never 

 understand them completely, to promote sustainability we must 

 understand them as much as possible. 



Large scale ecosystem analyses like the Interior Columbia Basin 



