257 



L. Question: How did the presence and participation of the public at team meetings 

 affect team discussion and accomplishments? 



Answer; We think it improved the discussion and accomplishments of the SAA 

 The Forest Service is more accustomed to working with the public than most of the other 

 agencies We hope that the experience of working with the public in the SAA will 

 convince other agencies of the merits of public participation. 



PURPOSES OF ASSESSMENTS 



M Question: Does the link between Forest Service needs for forest planning and 

 integrated assessments work? Should they be somewhat distinct process and not 

 connected to the same time frames, etc /J* 



Answers: It is premature to judge whether or not the link works. The SAA is 

 being scanned by planners to see that is relevant to the revision process We believe the 

 link works— barely. It could have been improved by incorporating more planners into the 

 SAA process, particiilarly in framing the questions to be asked and the type of products to 

 be developed to answer them 



The second question is irrelevant to the SAA The SAA was conceived as a way to 

 generate information which should be useflil to plan revision Without this link the Forest 

 Service would never have committed to the Assessment Whether other assessments 

 should be linked to planning should be determined on a case-by-case basis. 



N. Question: In what ways do integrated assessments work as vehicles to facilitate 

 collaboration between agencies and the public? 



Answer: BINGO! Collaboration among agencies and between agencies and the 

 public is a crucial outcome of the SAA In what ways is this fostered"^ By treating the 

 members of the public as full partners in the work of the assessment In general, 

 cooperation is easier when the task is to gather information rather than make decisions 

 about how land should be managed. Trust built during the assessment may be a basis for 

 cooperation in other matters. 



O. Question: What are your ideas about integrated assessments in general ~ when and 

 where will they serve us best and for what purposes? 



Answer: We think assessments are most usefijl when they are focused on giving 

 a "set of snapshots" about resource conditions They should be fairly short in duration, 

 although a mechanism for updating would be important. Multi-agency cooperation is 

 important, as is involvement of the public. They should focus on an identifiable region 



