Introduction

Abstract

Historically, resource management has entailed the preservation of the status quo. Resource demands, legal constraints, economic considerations, and conflicting public pressures taxed neither the land itself nor its stewards. Passive management, which minimized negative interferences (fires, insects, overcutting, or overgrazing), was sufficient; active management, which would have maximized the output of nature, was unnecessary. For many nations, that chapter of history has come to an inevitable close.