Natural Resource Management Sciences: A New Association of Academic Disciplines

Abstract

It is proposed that the traditional interdisciplinary nature of the agricultural sciences be extended and integrated with management sciences pertaining to other renewable natural resources. Current conflicts between agriculturalists and environmentalists demonstrate the need for professionals whose educational background gives them an understanding of the issues involved. Policy decisions regarding the activities of renewable resource industries, compatible with sustainable development and the maintenance of environmental quality, demand that those making the decisions be knowledgeable about the industries involved, as well as understand environmental impacts. Similarly, those whose principal concerns are for wilderness and interface areas should be better informed for the optimum management of those areas with an understanding of underlying agricultural principles of animal and plant production. It is for these reasons that there should be a consolidation of faculties of agriculture, forestry, and fisheries, together with the units that have developed on most campuses to address such areas as environmental studies, water conservation, wildlife management, waste management, land use planning, landscape architecture, and bioresource engineering.