It was clear from the fisheries discussion that fishing-fleet managers resist the notion of risk as a driver of decisions. The same must be involved in the spotted owl old-growth controversy. Sometimes the alternatives or solutions lie outside the enve- lope being considered. It is in the area of solutions that the term uncertainty often raises its head. The term can easily be manipulated to put scientists on the defen- sive.
Uncertainty is fundamentally part of the inherent honesty of the scientific process.
Indeed, it is part of the normal way in which we discuss almost anything and is generally endemic to decision-making. Uncertainty is at least as applicable to the countervailing view of what recommended change science may put forth. We need to recognize that and not permit ourselves to be put on the defensive. Clearly, there is a need to move toward greater emphasis on the active, but it is folly to assume that we will ever know enough to avoid surprises altogether. There is a serious challenge, in Hat ecological risk assessment is vastly more complicated than society will ever understand, and at least in principle, society wants it an done.