Considering biodiversity in integrated natural resource management plans

Abstract Ecosystem management is now widely recognized as the central integrating concept in natural resources management. Sherri Goodman has stated that “On DOD installations, ecosystem management will be achieved by developing and implementing integrated natural resource management plans [INRMPs] and ensuring that they remain current.” This article argues that sustaining biodiversity is the central premise of ecosystem management, and that without an operational understanding of biodiversity, natural resource management will continue to be fragmented. The Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) has endorsed 11 general principles for incorporating biodiversity into management. Military fish and wildlife managers can incorporate these principles into INRMPs and meet the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) by (1) focusing on habitats and maximizing their contribution to regional diversity and (2) characterizing, maintaining, and restoring the natural processes connecting DOD lands to regional ecosystems.