Perceptions of Legally Mandated Public Involvement Processes in the U.S. Forest Service

Results from an agency-wide survey of U.S. Forest Service personnel indicate that respondents in our sample engage in National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) public involvement processes primarily to accomplish two goals. The most commonly supported goal was to inform and disclose as mandated by the act. The other goal reflected interests in managing agency relationships with various, often adversarial, publics. Respondents expressed variable views about how to conduct public involvement. Most favored informal meetings and/or formal agency-endorsed strategies, though some respondents favored strategies associated with avoiding or containing the public. Qualitative results suggest that variable views concerning how to go about public involvement are related to individual views of planning in general, the public, and administrative structures and processes. The study raises the question of which factors—the beliefs of those conducting public involvement, or the strategies of public involvement employed—mos...