This forum will emphasize the value and difficulty of establishing dialogue among broad-based constituencies to ensure natural resource management strategies that address multiple perspectives. Over the past several decades, members of the forestry profession have become acutely aware that an informed citizenry is crucial to their success in natural resource management. Thus, current professional practice for many foresters, particularly those managing public resources, includes an emphasis on public education. Often the goal of public education is simply to provide information, although sometimes it may have the additional aim of persuading an audience to adopt a certain point of view or endorse a certain type of management plan or activity.

A more recent approach is to try to establish effective means for two-way communication involving diverse constituent groups (e.g. composed of traditional and non-traditional participants, for example, youth, or ethnic populations). The lead-off presentation for this forum will focus on (1) the necessity for broadening the constituency that forestry professionals interact with (establishing relevance); (2) the importance of giving all members of that constituency a voice (giving access); (3) the necessity of conflict resolution/collaboration development to enhance the outcome of dialogue (working together); and (4) brief presentations outlining three specific models that have been used in forest policy-making, planning, and research that address these issues (providing methodologies). After the lead-off presentation, audience discussion will include the invitation for participants to provide other examples of successful dialogue (and failures) and to examine the opportunities and challenges presented by this approach.