Setting Up the Forest Futures Horizon Scanning System

—The USDA Forest Service, Northern Research Station’s Strategic Foresight Group partnered with the University of Houston Foresight program to design and implement a horizon scanning system for the agency. The guiding question for the project was: What emerging issues might impact forests, forestry, and the Forest Service in the future? The University of Houston’s “Framework Foresight” approach provided the conceptual foundation for this horizon scanning system. Framing of the topic is described, including creation of a domain map, and identifying the geographic focus, timeframe, and stakeholders for scanning. Three principal steps in the scanning process are then defined: finding signals of change, collecting the signals in an online database, and analyzing the database in order to shed light on possible implications for the future of forestry. Lessons learned in the implementation of the horizon scanning system are discussed.