Re: Less Documents, More Action

[Aimee Houghton <aimeeh@igc.org>]

Posting from Mary O'Brien <mob@darkwing.uoregon.edu

Re: Lenny Siegel's piece, "Less Documents, More Action" is helpful, as it 
proposes some alternatves to the current paralysis through endless 
documentation at clean-up sites.

 His cll for organizing environmental restoration around "rel 
world objectives" rather than "deliverable documents" is excellent. 
However, I would suggest that those objectives should NOT be "defining 
activities," such as characterizing contamination at a specific site. 
Insted, they should be "outcomes," e.g., achieving deired reduction in 
groundwater contamination. Lenny suggested either of the above as 
objectives, but I think outcomes are the important deliverables.

 As those of us who follow the antics of the Forest Service know, 
for instance, activities do NOT necessrily correlate with environmental 
restoration. In the natme of achieving forest health, the Forest Service 
thins forests, salvages forests, burns forests, sprys forests, and builds 
roads into forests.

 It's not wise to make busy-ness the mark of accomplishment.

Mary O'Brien
Environmental Research Foundation/Hells Canyon Preservation Council
P.O. Box 12056
Eugene, OR 97440
mob@darkwing.uoregon.edu