Conserving the Biological Diversity of Forests: Program and Organizational Experiences of State Governments in the United States

/ Major responsibility for conserving forest biodiversity is often assigned to natural resource agencies. Often unknown is the appropriate administrative context for doing so, especially the organizational location for biodiversity programs in state government, suitable levels of financial and professional investment in biodiversity programs, processes useful for coordinating programs located in different administrative settings, and the effectiveness of biodiversity programs, especially conditions associated with programs judged to be very effective. Focusing on forests, a nationwide survey of 156 forestry agency and biodiversity program administrators in all 50 states was undertaken. Effective forest biodiversity programs were those with a long-range plan, administered as a single organizational unit, located in close organizational proximity to a state's forestry agency, actively providing management practice advice to landowners, administrators, and the public, and firm actions taken to ensure coordination with other natural resource programs.