An interdisciplinary research agenda for the study of ecological-economic systems in the American West

Increased public awareness of resource management issues and new attitudes toward resource conservation have led to great interest in the subject of the apposite use and management of natural and environmental resources in the American west. This paper analyzes this subject from an interdisciplinary ecological-economic perspective. The paper first identifies and then discusses four salient issues concerning the study of the west’s ecological-economic systems that remain inadequately understood. Next, the paper proposes a research agenda that will enable us to shed light on some key questions concerning the functioning, health, and management of the west’s ecological-economic systems.