 variety of citizen participation techniques exist, planners must develop public participation programs that meet the specific goals, objectives, and circumstances of each individual project. Cogan states that:
A successful citizen participation program must be: integral to the planning process and focused on its unique needs; designed to function within available resources of time, personnel, and money; and responsive to the citizen participants (Cogan, et al. 1986 p. 298).
Because of the reasons stated above, each specific project will demand a different approach to public involvement. However, Cogan indicates that most successful citizen participation programs contain some common elements. To be effective, Cogan suggests that citizen participation programs must:
A program that incorporates these elements will generally be effective in meeting the expectations of both the planner and the participants.
Public Involvement In Natural Resource Management
Planning has always been used by the Forest Service as a means to guide the allocation and management of forest resources. Planning is an essential component of sound natural resource management because of the variety of resources present and the time frames for managing timber resources.
A number of legislative mandates exist that formalize Forest Service long-range planning efforts. These include the Multiple-Use Sustained Yield Act of 1960, the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974, and the National Forest Management Act of 1976. These acts also give the public a role in the planning and decision-making process of the National Forests (Sample, 1992).
The demand for use of National Forest resources have increased to the point where the Forest Service can no longer accommodate all uses at optimal levels without conflict (Krutilla and Haigh, 1978). Increasingly, conflicts arise between various interest groupstimber, recreation, environmental conservation and preservation. Over time, these conflicts have grown in significance and severity resulting in a stalemate of legal challenges that has forced the Forest Service to defend it's decisions.
Public participation is one approach that the Forest Service can use to help generate consensus and approval in it's decision-making. Working under the assumption that public consultation is becoming increasingly important in natural resource management issues and that it is generally desirable, we conclude our discussion with a review of the elements of an effective consultation program.
Priscoli & Homenuckm point out that demand for public consultation in policy and decision making is part of a larger movement that evolved from the 1960s. The initial question they raise is: who is the public? They categorize publics into five groups including: (1) the organized public; (2) the general public; (3) politicians; (4) public interest groups; and (5) local experts (Priscoli and Homenuckm, 1986 p 68).
The second issue is: who does each group represent? The answer is that some groups are not very representative, while other groups are highly organized and know how to lobby but may not reflect the views of the majority of the population. They emphasize these are reasons that it is essential a public consultation program be properly designed in order to establish a process which provides the opportunity for all views to be identified and incorporated into a decision-making process. The purpose of public consultation is to aid decision makers by ensuring that views are identified, questions raised, answers provided, and judgements supported (Priscoli and Homenuckm, 1986 p 69).
The third issue is with respect to the amount and form of consultation. Priscoli and Homenuckm identify six goals or objectives for public consultation (Priscoli and Homenuckm, 1986 p 70). While all are rarely achieved, mixes can be achieved:
1. To build credibility with those who will be affected, those who will pay and those who will use a project. This point doesn't have to be dwelled upon; everyone recognizes the credibility gap exists.
2. To i