The Implications of Work Force Diversification in the U.S. Forest Service

Abstract

Natural resource management agencies, like the U.S. Forest Service, face a formidable challenge today—to develop and implement resource management plans that satisfy diverse and changing social political and economic values. Effective organizations develop strategies, either explicit or implicit, for adapting to changing environments. The Forest Service is currently implementing one such adaptive strategy—a work force diversification program based on affirmative action called "Work Force 1995" whose objectives include the creation of a mix of employees in the agency that better reflects the diverse publics it serves. The premise of the program is that work force diversification will eventually result in land management decisions that better reflect the wants and desires of the American people. Using results from a nationwide study of Forest Service employees, we examined these assumptions with respect to gender and assessed the potential impacts of changes in the work force on agency resource decisions. The authors' results suggest that gender diversification in the Forest Service will have significant impacts on future agency directions in its development and implementation of resource policies. It is argued that the combination of gender and professional diversification in the agency will create an organizational culture very different from the past and that these changes could dramatically impact future resource decisions.