米国の森林計画SEAにおける公衆参加の意義と特徴

―Finger Lakes森林計画策定を事例として―

抄録

Public participation and “meaningful replies” toward it are essential to a successful SEA. In this context, we examined a case concerning Finger Lakes National Forest planning. What we found are: the Forest Service (FS) made a sincere effort to engage the public in an early and open process at every stage of the planning process; to engage the public, FS created a variety of participation techniques such as public meetings, field trips, educational forums, open houses, and stakeholder analysis and involvement; and FS emphasized a collaborative approach which created an open dialogue and exchange critical to a transparent decision-making process. FS made incremental decision-making possible through incorporating the interests and opinions of the public into every step of the process. We found that the initiatives of the Finger Lakes National Forest planning case are instructive and suggestive to considering public participation for SEA in Japan.