Place assessment: how people define ecosystems.

Abstract

Understanding the concepts of place in ecosystem management may allow land managers to more actively inventory and understand the meanings that people attach to the lands and resources under the care of the land manager. Because place assessment has not been used operationally in past large-scale evaluations and analyses, it was necessary in the assessment of the interior Columbia basin (hereafter referred to as the basin) to apply theories based on available literature. These theories were used within two large test areas inside the assessment area boundaries. From the test area experiences, it was apparent that the most appropriate scale for place assessment was at the community level. Ecological subsections, however, can serve as acceptable surrogates for place identification when time constraints do not permit adequate place inventories at the community level. Subsections provide a method for establishing the identity and themes of relatively large places. The identities and themes of these large places are useful in public land and resource planning for encouraging public participation early in the planning process, for measuring the importance of a place relative to its neighboring places, and for predicting possible environmental changes resulting from management alternatives. Place assessment in the basin demonstrated the importance of place to humanity, illustrated how inventory concepts of place can be operationalized for ecosystem assessments, and suggested how place assessments may be used in subsequent levels of analysis, planning, and decisionmaking.

Citation

Galliano, Steven J.; Loeffler, Gary M. 1999. Place assessment: how people define ecosystems. Gen. Tech. Rep. PNW-GTR-462. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. 31p. (Quigley, Thomas M., ed.; Interior Columbia Basin Ecosystem Management Project: scientific assessment)