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Keynote Speech 1
Robert Lewis Jr.2
Governor Cardenas, and esteemed colleagues of Mexico,
Canada, United States, and other parts ofthe world. It is my
great honor to represent the USDA Forest Service during
this North American Science Symposium on ''Toward a
Unified Framework for Inventorying aitd Monitoring
Forest Ecosystem Resources." I bring you warm greetings from Mike Dombeck, the Chief of the U.S. Forest
Service. Mr. Dombeck extends his apologies that he cannot
be present with us on the occasion ofthis important scientific
event.
This Science Symposium is of special significance for the
USDA Forest Service as well as for other U.S. Land Management Agencies which have active research and operational
programs for inventorying and monitoring terrestrial ecosystems. The exchange of scientific information and experiences that will take place in this meeting is also of major
significance for the NAFTA countries since our nations need
to know the status of their ecological systems, soil, water,
plants and animals, water and air; and ifthey are changing,
why and how that change is taking place. In this important
meeting, scientist from our respective institutions will
address the issues of drivers of change as well as scientifically based approaches to:
• Understanding and reporting on the status and trends
in ecosystem condition;
• Describing emerging ecological problems;
. • Aiding in the design of ecosystem management activities;
• Evaluating ecosystem management programs in terms
of their performance; and
• Responding to ecologicai emergencies.
Central to the goal for this Symposium is to build on the
best science and technology available to assure that the data
and information produced in future inventory and monitoring programs are comparable, quality assured, available,
and adequate for their intended purposes, thereby providing
a reliable framework to support informed and responsible
decision making.
Please let me emphasize that the USDA Forest Service
views this ''North American Science Symposium" as an
important integrating mechanism for carrying out and advancing many of our responsibilities. While our forests are
Ipaper presented at the North American Science Symposium: Toward a
Unified Framework for Inventorying and Monitoring Forest Ecosystem
Resources, Guadalajara, Mexico, November 1-6,1998.
2Robert Lewis Jr. is Deputy Chief, Research and Development,USDA
Forest Service, Washington, DC.
USDA Forest Service Proceedings RMRS-P-12. 1999
generally healthy, we know that past and/or current management practices, and change in our global ecological systems, have increased the risk of catastrophic wildfires, and
increased the severity of drought, insect infestation and
disease. Our nations face serious forest ecosystem health
problems, and therefore, ecosystem management practices
need to be improved based on the best available scientific
data and information produced by our research monitoring
and inventory programs. Also, the relationship between the
well-being of people and the healthy condition of ecological
systems is critical to the future of human society. Simply
put, people's needs cannot be met if the health of our
ecological systems is not secured.
Understanding this complexity constitutes one of the
most fundamental challenges society and governments face
today and into the twenty-first century. In this Symposium,
scientists, resource managers, and a variety of experts from
North America and other parts of the world will address the
complexity of these issues and the scientific approaches
needed to confront them.
As our economic systems become more interdependent
and global, understanding the vulnerability of ecological
systems to the different drivers of change is fundamental to
insuring their sustained productivity and societal value.
Sustaining the health of ecological systems, and particularly, managing and mitigating change in those that have
already been damaged, are also among the most critical
issues and challenges governments and societies face today
and in the foreseeable future. Because the complexity of
these issues transcends national boundaries, the collective
environmental and economic performance of our countries
becomes an essential condition for achieving and securing
the sustain ability of ecosystems.
Various international mechanisms and protocols have
been developed to address the complexity ofthese issues. In
particular, the USDA Forest Service has been working
internationally to address these concerns. As in many other
related cooperative undertakings, sponsoring this Symposium in partnership with federal agencies of Canada and
Mexico is a clear example of our international commitment
to ecosystem sustainability for generations to come.
In closing, there is much to be encouraged about in the
progress made so far by our respective agencies since our
1995 Science Meeting on ''Monitoring for Ecological
Assessment of Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecosystems"
held in Mexico City. There is an openness in diplomacy
among our governments for cooperation in many sectors.
Thank you for hosting this Symposium in the beautiful City
of Guadalajara - The Western Pearl of Mexico. I look
forward to the fruits of our work in partnership.