FOREST SERVICE

D E P ARTMENT OF AGRICULTUR E

STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK

ROCKY MOUNTAIN RESEARCH STATION

STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK

ROCKY MOUNTAIN RESEARCH STATION
A strategic plan is a tool for charting a path into the future. This

Strategic Framework will help guide the USDA Forest Service

Rocky Mountain Research Station over the next decade during

inevitable socioeconomic and environmental change. It is the product

of a dialog with our stakeholders and employees to examine the

Station’s capabilities, anticipate research issues, and describe our

future role in providing scientific information to sustain the world’s

natural resources. This Strategic Framework describes how the

Rocky Mountain Research Station will help accomplish the goals of

the national USDA Forest Service Strategic Plan.

We have collaborated with our partners, land managers, other

researchers, and employees to shape a document that will guide us

through the maze of decisions we make about our programs and how

we accomplish our mission. Employees assessed the Station’s

strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. We asked our

stakeholders: “What natural resource issues, problems, or

opportunities are you likely to face within the next two decades that

the Rocky Mountain Research Station can help resolve?” We

gathered input throughout the Station’s territory and Washington,

D.C., through workshops, written comments, discussions, and other

means.

Future implementation plans will describe the workforce,

facilities, and support staff needed to successfully translate the

Framework into action. We welcome your continued dialog with us

during our implementation.

Preface

Marcia Patton-Mallory

Station Director
WHO ARE WE AND WHAT DO WE DO? 2

Mission 4

Vision 4

Values 4

WHO ARE OUR STAKEHOLDERS? 6

MOUNTING PRESSURES IN THE INTERIOR WEST 8

Demands of a Growing Population 8

Complex Social Interactions 9

Water Supply, Quality, and Demand 10

Wildfire and Fire Suppression 11

Sustaining Healthy and Productive Ecosystems 12

Demand for Science and Technology Assistance 14

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT FOCUS AREAS 16

Changing Ecosystems 18

Conflicting Values 19

Wildland Fire 20

Healthy Environments 21

Wildlife and Fish Habitats 22

Communicating With Our Stakeholders 23

STRATEGIC GUIDELINES 26

Integrated Research 26

Long-Term Research at Various Spatial Scales 27

Balancing Outside Funding and Appropriated Base Funding 28

Collaboration 28

Our Workforce 31

Research Infrastructure and Operations 32

The Next Step, Acknowledgments, and a Brief History 33-35

Contents
2 Rocky Mountain Research Station Strategic Framework

WHO ARE WE AND WHAT DO WE DO?

As one of seven research stations within

USDA Forest Service Research and Development,

the Rocky Mountain Research Station (RMRS) is

responsible for a large, diverse territory that covers

13 states. Our area stretches across the Rocky

Mountains, the Plains States, and the Desert

Southwest. Canada borders the north and Mexico

borders the south.

Missoula, MT

Bozeman, MT

Reno, NV

Flagstaff, AZ

Logan, UT Laramie, WY

Rapid City, SD

Lincoln, NE Ogden, UT

Boise, ID

Moscow, ID

Provo, UT

Fort Collins, CO

(Headquarters)

Albuquerque, NM

RMRS Territory
Strategic Framework Rocky Mountain Research Station 3

Scientists at our 14 field laboratories conduct

research that spans an area containing 52% of the

nation’s National Forest System lands (54 National

Forests and Grasslands). In the lower 48 states, our

territory also includes 55% of the nation’s BLM

lands; 48% of the designated wildernesses; 37% of

National Park Service lands; numerous other public

and tribal lands; and 41% of the non-urban/rural

private lands.

Several of our Research Work Units have

responsibility for leading national missions that

focus on science needs throughout the country. Our

national programs are in the following areas:

• National Agroforestry Center

• Fire Sciences

• Wilderness Research Institute

• Forest Planning and Conflict Resolution

Technology

• Natural Resources Inventory Techniques

• Cultural Heritage

• Human Values

• Natural Resource Assessments
4 Rocky Mountain Research Station Strategic Framework

Fire, water, land use, biological diversity, and

other major natural resource issues reside in our

territory. As recreational use of public lands

steadily increases, the area has become the nation’s

mountain, forest, grassland, and desert playground.

At the same time, the land’s health and productivity

must be sustained. The social and environmental

pressures and the strategies needed to address them

are complex. RMRS has the expertise and facilities

to conduct large-scale, long-term, interdisciplinary

research to help resolve issues. The Station’s strong

support organization includes operations, statistical,

editorial, publishing, library, and administrative

functions.

Our strategic framework supports the goals

and objectives of the national USDA Forest Service

Strategic Plan. The goals stated therein are as

follows:

Goal 1: Ecosystem Health

Goal 2: Multiple Benefits to People

Goal 3: Scientific and Technical Assistance

Goal 4: Effective Public Service

Our niche will be guided by the behaviors

prescribed in the following mission, vision, and

values statements. They are the basis of our

operating environment.

Mission

Our mission is to develop and deliver

scientific knowledge and technology that will help

people sustain our forests, rangelands, and grasslands.

Vision

Our science and technology provides society

with options on the sustainable use and appreciation of forests and rangelands.

Values

• Quality Science: objective, unbiased,

credible, independent.

Quality science is the foundation of the Rocky

Mountain Research Station’s credibility, integrity,

and reputation. We are a productive, effective, and

interdisciplinary research organization, committed

to staying at the forefront of science and safeguarding its integrity and objectivity. New

knowledge is provided through a balance of basic

and applied research and short- and long-term

studies at a variety of scales. Scientists focus on

conducting relevant research. To assure public

confidence, the Station utilizes statistical, technical,

editorial, peer, and relevancy reviews of our

programs, study plans, and publications. We are

dedicated to professional integrity and ethics. Our

scientists and their colleagues adhere to a Forest

Research and Development Code of Scientific Ethics.
Strategic Framework Rocky Mountain Research Station 5

• Quality Service: responsive, timely,

relevant, customer-focused.

We focus our research and development

activities on questions and issues that are relevant

and of concern to our stakeholders. We provide

integrated, scientific, cost-effective, and legally

defensible information for making wise decisions

on sustaining ecosystems. We continually look for

better ways to share state-of-the-art knowledge that

stakeholders can understand and apply. We seek

high levels of effectiveness and accountability and

ensure that our administrative processes enable us

to efficiently accomplish our mission.

Research is helping understand how riparian and upland tree buffers can protect water quality, enhance aquatic

and terrestrial environments, and sequester carbon.

• Quality Relationships: with partners

and among employees.

We recognize that listening to our customers

produces quality relationships that help us meet the

expectations of our stakeholders and the public atlarge. The best way to be successful as individuals

and as an organization is to build strong, trusting,

collaborative relationships. We focus on providing

a broad-based science and professional infrastructure through a high-quality, diverse workforce

that builds strong working relationships and

partnerships with people inside and outside our

organization. User feedback assures that our work

remains relevant and appropriately evolves for the

future.
6 Rocky Mountain Research Station Strategic Framework

WHO ARE OUR STAKEHOLDERS?

Anyone who has a role or interest in

developing and/or using our research products is a

stakeholder. The Station serves the following

groups.

• Natural resource scientists, managers, and

policymakers in:

- National Forest System

- State and Private Forestry

- Bureau of Land Management

- National Park Service

- U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

- Agricultural Research Service

- Natural Resources Conservation Service

- NASA

- Environmental Protection Agency

- U.S. Geological Survey

- Department of Energy

- National Laboratories

- National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration

Scientists int

Great Basin 
Strategic Framework Rocky Mountain Research Station 7

• The national and international scientific

community

• The Administration and Congress of the United

States

• State, county, local, and tribal governments

• The general public

• Private landowners in forest, rangeland,

agriculture, and urban settings

• Industry such as timber, mining, ranching,

recreation, tourism, and farming

• Colleges and universities, community colleges,

and high schools

• Environmental and commodity non-government

organizations

• Professional societies

• The media

teract with stakeholders at the

Experimental Range.

Assessment of forage growth under tree cover

was one of the field exercises from the 1890

University Faculty Agroforestry Workshop.

Our conservation education programs are for all people.
8 Rocky Mountain Research Station Strategic Framework

MOUNTING PRESSURES IN THE

INTERIOR WEST

The rapid influx of people living and

recreating in the Interior West challenges scientists

to answer more complex questions and provide

information that will help sustain healthy and

productive ecosystems. Numerous pressures

compel us to form strategies for our research

programs.

Demands of a Growing

Population

People are dramatically increasing their use of

western landscapes. As communities sprawl, many

forests, deserts, grasslands, shrublands, and riparian

areas are threatened and fragmented. Pollutants and

invasive species are dispersing throughout formerly

undisturbed areas. Less habitat is available for

wildlife, fish, and plants. People want public lands

for preserving old growth, trees, rare plants and

animals, and healthy ecosystems—but they also

want abundant clean air and water, heat for their

homes, wood products, grazing lands, scenic vistas,

recreation, and electricity. Intensified land use and

climate change are threatening to push ecosystems

beyond the range of sustainability.

Fraser Experimental Forest research project on watershed cutting practic
Strategic Framework Rocky Mountain Research Station 9

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

MT ND ID WY SD NE NV UT CO KS AZ NM

Population Increases

1990-2000

Percent

Participation in outdoor activities such as

skiing, hiking, camping, sightseeing, and offhighway vehicle use is growing exponentially on

our National Forests. People value a place to retreat

for solitude, reflection, and personal renewal, often

on public lands. Over the next 50 years the U.S.

population will shift toward being more urban,

older, and more racially and ethnically diverse.

Recreational demand from urban users, individuals

with disabilities, and people over the age of 55 will

increase.

Complex Social

Interactions

Public desires are often changing and

conflicting. The need to resolve gridlock among

various publics and natural resource agencies is

growing. As society struggles with ways to

integrate ecological, social, and economic values in

ces, Colorado.

Inset: Development in

Las Vegas, Nevada.
10 Rocky Mountain Research Station Strategic Framework

Our territory contains the

headwaters of nine of the

nation’s major river systems:

 Missouri, Yellowstone,

Platte, and Arkansas, which

flow into the Mississipppi

 Salmon, Snake, Columbia,

and Colorado, which flow into

the Pacific Ocean

 Rio Grande, which empties

into the Gulf of Mexico.

managing natural resources, several forces

complicate resolution of issues. These forces are:

• Shifts in demographics of society.

• Rapid growth of development in the wildlandurban interface.

• Society’s changing values toward natural

resources.

• Distrust of government, people of authority, and

expertise.

• More public involvement in resource

management decision-making.

• An increasingly complex legal environment.

• Complex, trans-boundary problems among

public institutions.

Water Supply, Quality,

and Demand

The rapidly advancing gap between water

supply and demand creates management

challenges. National Forests and Grasslands are the

largest single source of clean water in the United

States and provide 33% of the West’s water. Water

shortages and sedimentation continue to plague

these watersheds. Less water above and below the

ground and stresses of periodic drought are creating

problems for agriculture, cities, people, riparian

areas, and the environment. Water diversions and

reduced water flow are fragmenting and altering

important aquatic habitats.

Rio Grande

Grande

New Mexico

Arizona

North

Dakota

Montana

Wyoming

Idaho

Nevada

Utah

Colorado

South

Dakota

Nebraska

Kansas

Missouri

Missouri

Yellowstone

Snake

Snake

Salmon

Columbia

River

R.

R.

River

River

N. Platte

Platte

S. Platte

Colorado

Arkansas

River

River

River

River

River River

River

Continental

Divide

Rio

River

River
Strategic Framework Rocky Mountain Research Station 11

Recent Gallup Polls found that the #1

environmental issue Americans worry about is

water pollution. Clean water is paramount to

sustainability. Water quality, important for drinking

water and aquatic habitat, can be negatively

affected by logging, mining, catastrophic fire,

agriculture, grazing, accelerated erosion, and

poorly maintained roads. Understanding watershed

systems and the effects of use and management is

fundamental to sustaining clean water.

Wildfire and Fire

Suppression

Although fire is a natural process in most

ecosystems, exclusion of wildfire through

suppression and other activities has dramatically

altered certain forest types and contributed to

unusually dense forests that create a threat of

catastrophic fires, especially in the wildland-urban

interface. An average of 3.6 million acres of

wildlands burned annually throughout the 1990s. In

2000 alone, fire burned 8.4 million acres. In 2002,

three western states experienced their largest

wildfire on record. Firefighting costs to the federal

government soared from $523 million in 1999 to

$1.3 billion in 2000 and exceeded $1.2 billion in

2002.

A national policy of promoting fire

suppression has contributed to increased forest

densities, insects, diseases, dead and dying trees,

and high fuel loads in many forests. A smaller

forest products industry infrastructure in much of

the Interior West makes it difficult to costeffectively reduce fuels through thinning. Effective

ways to harvest and use small-diameter trees are

needed. Invasive weeds are changing the fire

regimes in rangelands for the worse. We are now

faced with an extreme fire risk to natural resources

and the safety of communities, especially those at

the wildland-urban interface. Firefighters are at

ever-increasing risk and we need more efficient and

effective ways of fighting fires to

protect communities.
12 Rocky Mountain Research Station Strategic Framework

The impacts of catastrophic wildfire on other

resources such as watersheds can be devastating.

Intrusions of wildland smoke on highways and into

communities can cause health and safety issues.

People’s passion for wildlands, along with rapid

development into the rural environment, limit the

options available for managing forests and

rangelands and for mitigating the circumstances.

Sustaining Healthy and

Productive Ecosystems

The health and productivity of the land are a

result of how we manage disturbance processes

such as fire, resource extraction, road construction,

and invasive species. Managers need sound

methods for making decisions and restoring and

maintaining ecosystems. Multiple uses such as

recreation, forest products, mining, farming,

grazing, and water consumption provide many

benefits along with responsibilities for managing risk.

Insects are attacking drought-stricken, firedeprived, dense forests while threatening forest

health and productivity at alarming rates. Exotic

weeds such as cheatgrass are invading and choking

out thousands of acres of rangelands needed by

livestock and wildlife. Native and exotic forest

diseases are spreading significantly across many

Interior West forests. Many diseases occur or their

effects are exacerbated as a result of other disturbances.

The extraction of forest products carries both benefits

and risks.

The effects of drought

intensify when cities

depend on reservoirs

like this one for their

water supply.
Strategic Framework Rocky Mountain Research Station 13

Rapidly increasing use of land for recreation is

beneficial to society but it also increases the impact

on the health and productivity of the land. Escalating

development on private lands creates more pressure

on prized public lands. Landscape fragmentation

makes it more difficult to sustain healthy plant and

animal communities. Changes in farm operations on

the Plains produce new challenges for the

sustainability of agroforestry systems.

Mountain pine beetle

infestation.

Cheatgrass infestations destroy grazing lands,

increase fire risk, and drive out native species.
14 Rocky Mountain Research Station Strategic Framework

Demand for Science and

Technology Assistance

The complexity of natural resource issues in

today’s world requires managers to understand and

have available to them credible scientific

information. National Environmental Policy Act

(NEPA) regulations and the Courts are demanding

that managers demonstrate use of relevant scientific

information in their decision-making processes.

Land managers need better methods for large-scale

inventory, monitoring, and assessment. Significant

revisions to National Forest and Grassland Plans in

the Interior West increase the demand for the best

available scientific information for developing

these revisions. Our scientists are effectively

delivering this information to users.

Researchers use

electrofishing techniques

to document and study

rare fish species.

Forecasting water supply through snow studies.
Strategic Framework Rocky Mountain Research Station 15

Much of the available scientific information is

not compiled and integrated. Thus, in addition to

producing new scientific information, our scientists

are tasked with synthesizing current knowledge and

providing state-of-knowledge reports. Scientists

and support staff are faced with balancing demands

between basic research and the transfer of

knowledge. A larger set of customers, including

under-represented groups, needs information in

ways that are relevant to them. In addition, the

public wants more electronic delivery of

information through internet and other electronic

technologies.

Land-use suitability

assessment in an

agroforestry system.

Scientists can reconstruct the history of fire in forests

by dating patterns of fire scars in cross-sections of

trees.

Specialized equipment

is used to study the

movements of radiocollared wildlife in the

backcountry.
16 Rocky Mountain Research Station Strategic Framework

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

FOCUS AREAS

The root of future societal and environmental

pressures upon the Interior West is the need for

maintaining sustainable ecosystems. Our challenge

is to better understand and provide scientific

information to sustain these ecosystems. Our fixed

land base is continuously stretched to accommodate more demands and produce more benefits.

Considering this challenge, we identified five

programmatic focus areas for research and

development. These areas provide guidance for

setting priorities during planning and budgeting

processes. While not an exclusive list, these focus

areas highlight issues that we believe will be at the

forefront over the next 5-10 years and where the

Station plans to focus at least 70% of its resources.

Stakeholders told us that our program of

research must be relevant to land management

planning and contribute significantly to using and

sustaining natural resources. Therefore, we have

included a sixth focus area that sweeps across all

R&D programs to deliver our research findings.

The array of research needs is as wide as our

stakeholders’ backgrounds. Our focus areas are not

mutually exclusive and naturally overlap as they

address diverse goals. An integrated approach
Strategic Framework Rocky Mountain Research Station 17

among programs will ensure that our research

answers questions from as many perspectives as

possible.

We will focus on the following six areas to

guide our future research and development

programs:

1. Changing Ecosystems: Productivity, Risks, and

Uncertainties

2. Conflicting Values: Effects on Natural Resource

Use and Management

3. Wildland Fire: Responsibilities, Risks, and

Benefits

4. Healthy Environments: Water Quantity, Water

Quality, and Clean Air

5. Wildlife and Fish Habitats: Restoration and

Maintenance

6. Communicating With Our Stakeholders

Scientists installed Parshall flumes and a sediment

dam in New Mexico to test the effects of spring and

summer prescribed burns on oak savanna ecosystems.
18 Rocky Mountain Research Station Strategic Framework

1. Changing Ecosystems:

Productivity, Risks, and

Uncertainties

Natural and human-induced disturbances are

straining the health and productivity of ecosystems

in the Great Plains and Interior West. Disturbances

include: invasive plants, wildfire, prescribed fire,

insect and disease outbreaks, water management

(drought and flooding), air pollution, global

change, grazing, mining, harvesting, soil erosion,

recreation, and road-building and maintenance.

Changes in land use such as fragmentation of large

areas by ranchettes, subdivisions, and roads are

further examples of human-induced disturbances.

Our research will provide knowledge on the

productivity, risks, and uncertainties associated

with disturbances.

Some Relevant Questions

• How do natural and human disturbance

processes and their interactions impact and

shape ecosystems?

• How do invasive species affect the fire

cycle?

• What methods can be developed to monitor

and assess noxious weed impacts?

• How do microbial organisms affect the

environment?

• How can recreation impacts on ecosystems

be quantified and predicted?

• How do various disturbances affect the

availability of various natural resources?

• How do fire, insects, and disease affect

long-term productivity and carbon

dynamics of ecosystems?

• How can we restore and maintain the health

and productivity of disturbed ecosystems?

• What limits restoration in an ecosystem?

• What are the economics of sustainability

and restoration?

• How are biodiversity and sustainability

related?

• What are the effects of habitat fragmentation

on biodiversity?

• How can management capitalize on natural

disturbances such as fire or use of

prescribed fire to restore ecosystem

dynamics?

• What is the role of vegetation management

and prescribed fire in restoring ecosystems?

• What are effective indicators of forest and

rangeland sustainability?

Counting cheatgrass seedlings on a burned plot.
Strategic Framework Rocky Mountain Research Station 19

2. Conflicting Values:

Effects on Natural

Resource Use and

Management

Pressure from public land users, changing and

conflicting values, sustaining the economy, and

more social involvement in decision-making often

result in a lack of consensus on public land

management. The increasing number of visitors to

national forests, grasslands, parks, and other public

lands in the Interior West is weakening the ability

to provide quality recreation experiences without

degrading the land. The mix of private ownership

adjacent to and among public lands in the growing

wildland-urban interface creates tension where

objectives differ and actions have consequences

beyond ownership boundaries. The diversity of

society’s values, more often than not, plays out in

conflicting laws and court interpretations rather

than among professional and knowledgeable land

managers. The resulting “process gridlock” raises

administrative cost and delays management actions

on the ground. Our research will assist planners and

managers to better understand social values and

how to manage among conflicting values.

Some Relevant Questions

• How do people with different backgrounds,

cultures, values, and lifestyles become

satisfied with their place in the landscape?

• What are the trade-offs and/or tensions

among different management practices?

• What are the social and economic effects of

reductions in traditional products in rural

communities?

• How do we know when there is an effective

consensus and conflicts are addressed or

managed?

• How do social characteristics and lifestyles

influence values toward natural resources

and involvement in land-use issues?

• What stimulates willingness to change

lifestyle, values, and consumption in the

West?

• How can science help relieve conflict in the

land management planning process?

• How can adaptive management improve

decision-making?

• How can we use negotiation, conflict

management, and collaboration tools to

improve public trust?

• How will the increased influence of

urbanization on human values affect

relationships with public land resources?

• What protocols can be developed for

gathering information on values, attitudes,

and beliefs?

• What are the effects of public policy and law

on forest and grassland ecosystems?

• How can sustainable ecosystems and

economic stainability be integrated to meet

the needs of people?

Barrel cactus.
20 Rocky Mountain Research Station Strategic Framework

3. Wildland Fire:

Responsibilities, Risks,

and Benefits

Fire has always been a major disturbance

process shaping the development of ecosystems.

National organized fire suppression began

following the 1910 fires in Idaho and Montana.

Catastrophic fires in the Interior West have had a

major impact on national policy ever since. Our

Fire Sciences Laboratory is the world’s largest

wildland fire research facility and will remain

dedicated to studying fire behavior, wildland

smoke, and the effect of fires on ecosystems. Our

other research programs also address many of the

questions contained in the National Fire Plan. We

will conduct basic and applied research in a core

fire science program aimed at providing predictive

models of fire behavior and effects.

Some Relevant Questions

• How do vegetation, terrain, and weather

interact to affect fire behavior?

• How do forest and rangeland fuels vary in their

flammability?

• How do fire behavior and weather affect the

chemistry and transport of smoke?

• How can remote sensing technologies be

integrated into real-time fire management?

• How can computerized decision support

systems be integrated into tactical and

strategic fire operations to improve safety and

effectiveness?

• How do we determine which ecosystems

require postfire rehabilitation and restoration

efforts?

• What level of fuels treatment is necessary to

provide defensible space for firefighters and

structures?

• What are the effects of harvesting and grazing

on the frequency and intensity of fires in

various forests and rangelands?

• How do insects and pathogens affect fuel

dynamics and flammability?

• What is the impact of fuels management on

fish and wildlife habitat?

• How can communities better protect their

infrastructure from fire in the wildland-urban

interface?

• What monitoring protocols will improve

organizational effectiveness?

Fire as a natural process has

been excluded from much of

the landscape. We need to

develop understanding and

tools to safely restore fire in

ecosystems.
Strategic Framework Rocky Mountain Research Station 21

4. Healthy Environments:

Water Quantity, Water

Quality, and Clean Air

Environmental legislation, such as the Clean

Water and Clean Air Acts, provides strong and

explicit provisions. Although regulations often

focus on stable or “threshold” conditions, natural

systems are dynamic. The dynamic nature of

healthy environments means that variations in

water quantity, temperature, sediment, fire, smoke,

and other characteristics should all be expected.

Human disruption and development have

significantly altered these processes. All of these

forces combine to challenge the predictability of

water availability, water quality, and air quality.

The growing human needs in urban, suburban, and

rural settings drive the increasing need for clean

and plentiful water and for clean air. Our research

will focus on meeting these needs.

Some Relevant Questions

• What roles do different management

approaches have in achieving and

maintaining healthy environments?

• What management options would maintain

healthy environments under extreme events

such as drought and flooding?

• How can agroforestry technologies be used

for treating non-point source pollution from

agriculture and communities while

providing amenities to the landowner?

• How does increasing urbanization of

forested areas affect air and water quality?

• How does recreational use of watersheds and

adjacent lands influence water quality?

• What role do forests and rangelands have in

maintaining clean air and clean water?

• What are the limits of acceptable change in

air and water quality?

• How can managers provide for livestock

grazing while maintaining water quality and

habitat for threatened and endangered

species?

• How is air quality changing in remote

environments?

• How can the effects of climate change be

quantified?

• How are terrestrial functions and processes

linked to riparian ecosystems?

• What options exist to simultaneously

manage for clean water, clean air, and forest

health?

• How does air quality affect water quality?

• How does climate change influence water

quality, water quantity, and air quality?

• How can managers maintain air and water

quality in the presence of fire and fuel

treatments?

• Can we predict the water demand and supply

for human uses and ecological functions?

• How much and when can water be removed

before adversely affecting stream channels

and aquatic and riparian life?

• What smoke guidelines and prescriptions

should be used for prescribed burns?

• How do snow-pack and runoff affect water

quality and quantity?

Using rainfall simulation equipment, scientists

compare post-fire emergency rehabilitation

treatments on the Bitterroot National Forest in

Montana.
22 Rocky Mountain Research Station Strategic Framework

5. Wildlife and Fish

Habitats: Restoration

and Maintenance

The conflict is high as managers struggle to

simultaneously conserve unique habitats for

threatened, endangered, and sensitive species and

handle recreation, timber management, fire, insect

and disease outbreaks, expansion of noxious

weeds, and other resource issues. Environmental

legislation—such as the National Environmental

Policy Act, the National Forest Management Act,

and the Endangered Species Act—provides for the

conservation of wildlife and fish habitats. Concerns

over wildlife and fish conservation have hastened

major policy shifts in forest and rangeland

management over the past 25 years. Most appeals

and litigation over management practices on public

land in the Interior West involve wildlife and fish

issues. We will provide land managers and

policymakers with scientific information to

incorporate into their decisions.

Some Relevant Questions

• How do natural disturbance processes such as

fire affect habitats on different time scales and

at different spatial scales?

• How do large-scale disturbances such as fires

influence population resilience and

persistence?

• What are the effects of ecological restoration

and post-fire treatments on habitats?

• How can managers prioritize where and when

management actions will be most effective at

reducing risks to important habitats and

species?

• How do human activities, exotic species, and

ecological restoration efforts influence fish

and wildlife habitats and populations?

• How do exotic species invasions affect

community structure, trophic interactions, and

disease dynamics?

• What factors contribute to the biological

diversity and viability of fish and wildlife

populations in forest landscapes?

• Can landscapes be managed to maintain a

diverse mosaic of habitats and species

diversity in fire-prone ecosystems?

• Can we develop a conceptual framework for

more effectively addressing issues of

population viability and persistence?

• What better tools and methods can we develop

to inventory and monitor fish and wildlife

populations?

• How can we provide a reliable knowledge base

for the conservation of threatened,

endangered, and sensitive species?

This migratory bull trout is equipped with an archival temperature tag. These tags provide high-resolution information

on thermal habitat use by individual fish. Black-tailed prairie dogs.
Strategic Framework Rocky Mountain Research Station 23

6. Communicating With

Our Stakeholders

Credible, useable, and effective scientific

information is our product. We recognize that the

scientific information we produce must be

packaged, promoted, and delivered so that our

stakeholders can understand it and use it effectively.

As we disseminate information, we will solicit

feedback as to its relevance and usefulness. We will

monitor the success of our focused communication

efforts and adapt strategies as needed.

Our communication strategy will be to:

• Assure public confidence in the quality of our

products through statistical, technical, editorial,

and peer reviews of our study plans and

manuscripts.

• Proactively disseminate our products by making

them easy to find and readily obtainable by all

stakeholders and, in particular, our Forest

Service manager counterparts.

• Produce more ecosystem-based state-of-knowledge

summaries and syntheses of research findings to

help integrate science into natural resource

management and policy.

• Build linkages between Research and land

managers to ensure the implementation of

science findings.

• Maintain the independence and credibility of

each scientist as a neutral and objective source of

scientific information providing facts, options,

and consequences rather than advocating

positions or recommending specific management

actions.

Questions

Journal articles Web-based products

Technical reports Models

Presentations Syntheses

Consultations

Public education

Assessments

News media

Scientific findings Software

Research,

Development,

& Applications

Resource

Managers and

Decision-Makers

Products

We will use a variety of media to communicate our research findings in the adaptive management process.
24 Rocky Mountain Research Station Strategic Framework

In developing and delivering scientific

information, we will:

• Build on our existing strengths and collaborate

with managers to explore new ways for

transferring our science and technology.

• Educate those who use our information.

• Expand and improve our capability to

electronically disseminate information to the

public.

• Continue to build relationships with other

Federal and State agencies, colleges, and

universities to promote collaboration and

capacity building in research and education.

• Strengthen our relationships with congressional

staffs through regular two-way communication.

• Identify underserved communities and effectively

reach out to them.

• Seek a balance among resources spent on

products for managers, products for the public,

and refereed journal publications for scientists.

• Make effective use of a full range of media to

build a positive image locally and nationally.

• Assess the effects and outcomes of our transfer of

knowledge and adjust accordingly.

Scientists use various media

such as Station serial publications, journals, videos, and

CDs to communicate with

stakeholders.

Display from the National

Agroforestry Center.
Strategic Framework Rocky Mountain Research Station 25

Practical Applications. Natural resource managers and private landowners need a

scientific foundation for making decisions. RMRS will make significant contributions

by developing, testing, and providing:

• techniques for adaptive management, resource inventory, and analysis;

• criteria and indicators of sustainability;

• techniques for forest and rangeland health monitoring;

• assessments for national strategic planning;

• integrated assessments at the watershed and landscape level;

• the benefits and/or impacts of management practices;

• models predicting outcomes of disturbances such as fire, insects, and disease

outbreaks;

• methods to improve the National Forest and Rangeland planning process;

• risk and trade-off analyses;

• refined communication and technology transfer tools; and

• syntheses of scientific findings.

Studies of the northern goshawk continue

in Arizona.

Soil samples are collected from a

wetland below a mining waste dump.

The Station’s Remote Sensing Lab

uses satellite infrared images to

track fire and smoke.
26 Rocky Mountain Research Station Strategic Framework

STRATEGIC GUIDELINES

Through many group discussions at various

locations, Station employees and stakeholders

provided input for accomplishing our research. By

emphasizing these approaches, we believe we will

be more successful in achieving our goals and in

appraising new opportunities.

Integrated Research

The Station will employ an integrated research

approach when the scope of a problem requires

interdisciplinary collaboration of scientists.

Integrated research can begin with a unified,

coordinated approach, or it can focus, synthesize,

and/or combine disciplinary studies to achieve or

reveal synergisms in complex problem solving.

Experience suggests that a unified approach is

often best done in the project-planning phase.

Interdisciplinary research will be supported by

funding coordinated and collaborative projects,

reducing institutional barriers, and demonstrating

the strategic agility to adapt to the needs of

complex research problems.
Strategic Framework Rocky Mountain Research Station 27

Long-Term Research at

Various Spatial Scales

Long-term studies are often the key to

addressing natural resource issues. They are a

unique strength within the Station. We will

strengthen our commitment to specific long-term

research by using and maintaining selected

experimental forests, ranges, watersheds, sites,

research natural areas, and data sets collected from

them. We will build and maintain the necessary

infrastructure and data management systems for

relevant long-term studies on National Forests and

Grasslands. Scientists will be recognized in panel

evaluations for long-term research and awarded

credit for their contributions.

The scale of a research effort depends on the

organism or process being studied. Large scale,

long-term studies may require a significant and/or

long-term investment and collaboration. As such,

the Station will maintain flexibility to conduct

research at appropriate spatial scales.
28 Rocky Mountain Research Station Strategic Framework

full spectrum of basic research to applied research

and development. Generally, we use base funding

to address research programs and problems, and

outside funding to provide requested specific

products. Both funding sources must support the

unit’s mission; however, short-term research

projects and funds often will be used to leverage

and complement long-term projects when it is

consistent with law and policy.

Outside funding can direct scientists’ energies

toward inventory, monitoring, and assessments and

away from research that develops the necessary

protocols to implement these actions. Concurrently,

outside funding helps us fill critical information

gaps for natural resource managers. Untapped

opportunities exist to form mutually beneficial

partnerships with other research organizations. We

will pursue these relationships through networking,

communication of our capabilities, and strategic

partnerships. The need for this type of work is so

great that we must always carefully consider the

balance so that planning and assessments do not

dilute our primary base funded efforts. Our major

focus remains on work planned through Research

Work Unit Descriptions.

Collaboration

Collaboration across Research Work Units and

with universities, other research stations, National

Forest Systems Regions, and non-traditional clients

The Rocky Mountain Research Station’s territory

covers a mosaic of biogeographic regions, from the

arid desert country bordering Mexico to the boreal

forests bordering Canada. An integrated research

program is needed to address the diversity of issues

in each region.

Balancing Outside

Funding and Appropriated

Base Funding

In recent years, a significant portion of the

Station’s funding has come from outside sources

(i.e., other than Forest Service Research and

Development appropriations). Scientists and

administrators spend a significant amount of time

developing and responding to proposals for outside

funding. Most of this outside funding is for shortterm, applied research and development. The

challenge is to balance base funding with annually

fluctuating outside funding in order to maintain the
Strategic Framework Rocky Mountain Research Station 29

was the area of opportunity cited most frequently

by Station employees. Collaboration is a mutually

beneficial and well-defined relationship entered

into by two or more organizations or individuals to

achieve common goals. Major large-scale research

projects cannot be accomplished in isolation.

Funding from several sources is often required to

accomplish common goals.

Through collaboration, the following

opportunities will contribute to the Station’s

success:

• Access to expertise, equipment, and land.

• Integrated approaches to research problems with

other Research Work Units and scientists at

Universities and other institutions.

• Sharing of Experimental Forests, Ranges,

Research Natural Areas, and other sites with

other researchers.

• Engaging in research and administrative studies

with our National Forest System counterparts.

• Engaging in research activities with tribal land

managers.

• Further collaboration with the support units

within the Forest Service, such as the Inventory

& Monitoring Institute and the Forest Health

Technology Enterprise Team.

• Interagency leadership from the Aldo Leopold

Wilderness Research Institute in Missoula, MT,

and the National Agroforestry Center in Lincoln,

NE.

• Engaging in research with state organizations and

other federal agencies such as BLM, NPS,

USGS, and USFWS.

• Strategic alliances with organizations that have

skills needed to address our mission. Examples

include, but are not limited to: Sandia National

Lab, NM; Los Alamos National Lab, NM; Idaho

National Engineering Lab, ID; Lawrence

Livermore National Lab, CA; Earth Resources

Observation System Data Center, SD; National

Located on the University of Montana

campus, the Aldo Leopold Wilderness

Research Institute is the only federal

research group dedicated to addressing

wilderness research needs.
30 Rocky Mountain Research Station Strategic Framework

Aeronautics & Space Administration, MD; and

National Oceanic & Atmospheric

Administration, CO.

• Cooperative Ecosystem Study Units (CESUs).

This network of inter-university and inter-agency

cooperative units provides collaborative

opportunities that no unit alone can address.

Universities provide space, administrative

support, and access to faculty, staff, graduate

students, and resources. Federal agencies

contribute scientists and/or other professionals

located and working at CESUs under formal

agreements. CESU partners share several

science-based goals in the 21st century: highquality science, usable knowledge for resource

managers, responsive technical assistance,

continuing education, and cost-effective research

programs. A network of Cooperative Ecosystem

Studies Units has been established to achieve

these goals. RMRS is a member in five CESUs:

• Rocky Mountain (hosted by University of

Montana, Missoula)

• Great Plains (hosted by University of Nebraska

- Lincoln)

• Desert Southwest (hosted by University of

Arizona, Tucson)

• Colorado Plateau (hosted by Northern Arizona

University, Flagstaff)

• Great Basin (hosted by University of Nevada -

Reno)

• RMRS also supports inter-agency cooperative

efforts on:

• Fire Sciences (Joint Fire Science Plan and

National Fire Plan)

• Forest Inventory and Analysis, and Forest

Health Monitoring

• Global Climate Change

Researchers monitor weeds after a fire.

Gathering blister rust samples in Yellowstone

National Park.
Strategic Framework Rocky Mountain Research Station 31

Our Workforce

The success of our research programs depends

on the creativity and productivity of our people.

The Station employs about 700 people, of which

about 500 are in permanent positions. The Station

will recognize and reward high-quality work and

provide professional development and growth

opportunities for all employees. Our employees are

dedicated to providing efficient and effective

research and administrative processes. We are

committed to the following operating guidelines:

• Maintain a dedicated workforce of scientists,

research support, operations, leadership, and

administration.

• Give employees ample opportunity to participate

in continuing education and other training to

sharpen their skills and expose them to new ideas.

• Provide opportunities for new talent and entrylevel positions with career paths that result in

retention of qualified scientists and support.

• Seek opportunities to improve administrative

processes, remove inefficient administrative work

processes, and shift such responsibilities from

scientists when possible.

• Assure that our scientists receive appropriate

recognition in panel evaluations for technology

transfer activities.

• Reflect the diversity of disciplines needed in our

workforce for interdisciplinary research and for

communicating with various clients.

• Reflect the larger national workforce as much as

possible, in gender, ethnic background, and

physical abilities.

• Maintain our commitment to Hispanic and

American Indian youth camps and 1890 Black

Colleges.

• Treat each other with dignity and respect, valuing

each other’s perspectives and values.

Topping a Douglas-fir tree at approximately 50 feet

off the ground as part of the canopy fuels in conifer

forests study at the Missoula laboratory.
32 Rocky Mountain Research Station Strategic Framework

Research Infrastructure

and Operations

Accomplishing our research mission depends

on effective and efficient infrastructure and

operations. We have laboratories, experimental

forests and ranges, and technical and administrative

support structures that enable our scientists to

conduct leading edge research and development.

We are committed to the following guidelines for

infrastructure and operations:

• Make efficient use of our infrastructure by

maintaining and co-locating labs with

universities to create win-win situations for

communication, support, and collaboration.

• Take advantage of opportunities to share facilities

with the National Forest System and other

federal agencies.

• Maintain and improve our physical facilities to

accommodate the technology of the future.

• Acquire the most up-to-date technology and scientific

equipment to support our science efforts.

• Share our library resources with other stations and

agencies.

• Automate operational tasks strategically as

appropriate.

• Work toward an efficient and accountable

centralized accounting system.

• Provide Station-wide infrastructure to support webbased applications.

• Pursue the safest possible working environment and

emphasize safety among our employees.

• Develop strong working relationships between

scientists and operations/support staff through

communication such as field visits with scientists

and office demonstrations with operations staff.

The nation’s first Forest Service research

station: Fort Valley Experimental Forest,

established in 1908 near Flagstaff, Arizona

Territory. 1915 photo.
Strategic Framework Rocky Mountain Research Station 33

The Next Step

Having outlined our goals and philosophical strategy

in this Framework, our next step will be to shape a

plan to achieve these goals. Implementation will

involve assessing and refocusing our workforce

capability and capacity, the physical infrastructure to

support it, and the budget to accomplish our mission.
34 Rocky Mountain Research Station Strategic Framework

Acknowledgments

During our strategic planning process, we

occasionally referred to the strategic plans of the

Pacific Northwest, North Central, Southern, and

Northeast Research Stations; Atlas of the New West;

and the national Forest Service Strategic Plan. We

adapted their wording when it articulated the same

ideas we wished to express.

We thank Lane Eskew for his significant contribution

in writing and editing this document. Connie Lemos

(Visual Information Specialist) created the layout

and coordinated printing.

Many thanks go to the photographers for their

beautiful work in this publication.

The use of trade or firm names in this publication is for reader information and does

not imply endorsement by the U.S. Department of Agriculture or any product or

service. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its

programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, gender, religion,

age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, and marital or familial status. (Not

all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require

alternative means for communication of program information (Braille, large print,

audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 7202600 (voice and

TDD).To file a complaint of discrimination, write USDA, Director, Office of Civil

Rights, Room 326-W, Whitten Building, 14th and Independence Avenue, SW,

Washington, D.C. 20250-9410, or call (202) 720-5964 (voice or TDD). USDA is an

equal opportunity provider and employer.
Strategic Framework Rocky Mountain Research Station 35

The territory of the Rocky Mountain Research

Station is home to some of our nation’s earliest

natural resources research, dating back to 1903 when

the Santa Rita Experimental Range was established

by the Bureau of Plant Industry near Tucson, Arizona.

But to understand the rich history of Forest

Service research in the West, we must go back to

1891 when the Forest Reserves (precursors to the

National Forests) were created. At that time, little

information or knowledge existed about the lands or

the nature, value, or use of natural resources.

In 1908, the Forest Reserves were reorganized

into National Forests and, soon, the Office of Grazing

Studies was founded in Washington, D.C. From

there, a series of field stations and laboratories were

set up nationwide to study timber, grazing, and

watershed management. These included the Fremont

Experiment Station and Wagon Wheel Gap

Experimental Watersheds in central Colorado, the

Priest River Experimental Forest in Idaho, and the

A Brief History of the Rocky Mountain

Research Station

Jornada Experimental Range in southern New

Mexico. These and other sites were placed under

the Forest Service’s Branch of Research in 1915.

As the importance and use of forest and

rangeland resources increased, the Forest Service

recommended the creation of a nationwide forestry

research program consisting of a network of

regional experiment stations. So, under the

McSweeney-McNary Act of 1928, 12 stations were

established. The Southwestern, Northern Rocky

Mountain, Intermountain, and Rocky Mountain

Forest and Range Experiment Stations oversaw

Forest Service research throughout the Southwest,

Great Basin, Rocky Mountains, and parts of the

Great Plains. Through a series of mergers, the

latest being that of the Intermountain and Rocky

Mountain Stations in 1997, the four stations are

now combined into the Rocky Mountain Research

Station, headquartered in Fort Collins, Colorado.

– Rick Fletcher

Rocky Mountain Research Station

Natural Resources Research Center

2150 Centre Avenue, Building A

Fort Collins, CO 80526

Visit our website at http://www.fs.fed.us/rm/

February 2003

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF

AGRICULTURE

FOREST SERVICE

ROCKY MOUNTAIN RESEARCH STATION

Cover: Rocky Mountain National Park.