Chapter IV 

 ANALYTICAL CONCEPTS AND PROCEDURES 



DECISION 



This chapter is a discussion of the system 

 of analysis utilized to answer questions rele- 

 vant to policy decision-making. The discussion 

 explains the analytical concepts and analytical 

 tools and the process used in the Forest-Range 

 Environmental Study to relate anticipated de- 

 mands or changes in technology and the live- 

 stock industry to the future use of the forest- 

 range environment. Policy alternatives and con- 

 cepts are discussed as used to associate infor- 

 mation on supply and demand to national or 

 other goals within specified political, social or 

 economic constraints. 



The analytical system permits the simulation 

 of different political, social, and economic con- 

 straints so as to show the effect of changes in 

 these constraints on the use that should be 

 made of different range resource units. Proper 

 use is made of these "policy solutions" when 

 they are considered as "advice" to local mana- 



gers by showing the local manager his opera- 

 tion in the context of national or regional situ- 

 ations. Misuse is made of these "policy solu- 

 tions" when they act as narrow restrictions on 

 what the local manager can or cannot do. They 

 should point the direction, not mark the route. 

 The basic assumption is that national range 

 policy should be dynamic in which all relevant 

 information is brought together for initial 

 examination and periodic review. The study 

 developed the necessary analytical tools to give 

 the decisionmaker this planning option. 



ANALYTICAL CONCEPTS 



This study is based on the premise that effi- 

 ciency is required in the allocation of resources. 

 This premise originated from the recognition 

 that the forest-range environment, which has 

 long produced its share of national needs for 

 livestock grazing, is in itself finite, and must be 

 managed differently in the future in order to 

 meet the higher levels of a greater variety of 

 demands which society will place upon it. Man- 

 agement technologies will be needed for using 

 the forest-range more efficiently for livestock 

 grazing while allowing for the requirements of 

 other resources and their uses. Efficiency in al- 

 location of resources, as herein used, means 

 that to the land is assigned the level of man- 

 agement or development, at a cost, that can 

 reasonably be expected to bring about the total 

 highest environmental, social, and economic 

 benefit. 



That efficiency in resource allocation is to be 

 considered a reasonable, perhaps, urgent na- 

 tional goal is being brought to the fore in the 

 decade of the 1970's. That maintenance or 

 enhancement of environmental quality is a 

 national goal already has been spelled out. The 

 National Environmental Policy Act (P.L. 

 91-190) and Executive Order 11514 (35 PR. 

 4247) of March 4, 1970, require that all Fed- 

 eral agencies, to the fullest extent possible, 

 direct their policies, plans, and programs so as 

 to meet national environmental goals. 



The Council on Environmental Quality 

 associates "efficiency" with attainment of en- 



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