Real-Life Decision Making
These days, more and more people are concerned about our environment. Forests
that were once considered a nuisance to development by pioneers are now looked
upon as precious resources.
You are a forestry advisor and public liaison in a small community. It's
your job to keep the public informed about forestry management issues in the
area. You also provide advice about sound forest management to the private
landowners who own most of the forested land in the community. You work with
these landowners to ensure any logging they do meets the letter of the law.
It's your responsibility to give them the stamp of approval if they do.
Sounds pretty straightforward, right? Wrong.
You've just been thrown in the middle of an enormous conflict in the
community. One of the local landowners wants to cut down a four-acre area
of old-growth forest on his property. The landowner has already come to you
and asked you to review his plans. He's got all his legal ducks in order,
and he even asked you to do an environmental impact assessment of his plans.
You did the assessment and found his rationale to be valid: the old growth
timber is smothering all of the new growth in the area. Now, the landowner
wants you to approve his plans.
The local citizens don't see the situation this way. Understandably,
they're not happy. They're concerned about how the logging of this
old-growth area will affect the community from a scenic, historical
and environmental standpoint, and they want you to refuse the landowner's
plans.
You explain the landowner has done everything he needs to from a legal
standpoint and, in your eyes, from an environmental standpoint as well. Soon
after you say this, a community group publicly accuses you of "being bought
by the landowners" and "supporting the cutting of all old-growth forests."
Accusations like these could ruin all the positive work you've done
in the community. You can't convince people to find common ground on
forestry issues if they don't feel you're neutral. Although the
landowner has legally done all he needs to do to log his land, you begin to
wonder if you should give him your approval -- doing so may ruin your status
as a neutral advisor in the community.
You've got a tough decision on your hands. What should you do?