Details for Social Assessment Kootenai National Forest

A social assessment prepared for the Supervisors Office, Kootenai National Forest in Libby, Montana. The report was prepared as part of the process of revising the existing Forest Plan for the Kootenai National Forest. A major objective of the report is to describe public perceptions regarding forest management issues and the social, cultural, and economic factors that influence these perceptions. The study for this report used multiple data collection methods, including archival and ethnographic techniques. The report describes the socioeconomic characteristics of communities surrounding the Kootenai National Forest, past studies relevant to the assessment of current conditions, public assessments of natural resources in the region, and concerns about specific forest management issues, including ecosystems management. The report concludes that stakeholders in the region share many values about natural resources, but they also have important differences in their perceptions about the use of these resource. These shared and common values in combination with changed socioeconomic conditions from the recent past result in diverse views about forest management practices.