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:'1 ..~ ~ ^-:T;~~ .,' " 134 PUBLIC LAND LAW REVIEW (Vol. 15 l't "lY " timber harvesting in spotted~owl territory.8M Clearly, neither the NFMA nor the Forest Service exist in a vacuum; political and social forces exert tremendous influence over the agency and the public. Regardless of whether the Forest Service voluntarily changes its management practices, the NFMA will continue to be a vehicle for change in national forest management. For the Forest Service, NFMA provides much of the substantive direction the agency needs to adopt a more holistic approach to forest management and secure not only the timber our nation needs, but the fish. wildlife, water, recreation, and wilderness the nation needs and wants as well. For the public, the NFMA provides an opportunity to be involved in national forest planning and to hold the Forest Service accountable for its decisions. NFMA gives all parties interested and involved in forest use and management not only a process in which to engage, but substantive rules, however illMdefined, with which to protect and enhance the nation's forest lands. It provides the rudimentary tools needed to achieve that elusive goal of responsible stewardship, toward which both the public and the Forest Service consistently strive. In order for NFMA to be an effective tool, though, courts must be willing to interpret it as having substantive strength. They must read and interpret the statute as a whole rather than analyze statutory sections in isolation from each other. They must be willing from time to time to go beyond the agency record in order to determine whether an agency finding is arbitrary or capricious. They must be willing to enforce the underlying policy and purpose of NFMA by imposing substantive limitations on Forest Service management practices and balancing timber production against other values. They must, in short, stand as independent arbiters of the law and, from time to time, the facts. Judicial deference toward the executive branch may be an important component of a constitutional democracy, but as noted by Judge Parker of the Eastern District of Texas, "Deference does not mean acquiescence."606 Judicial acquiescence in agency actions that fall outside the boundaries of NFMA undermines the legislative branch and renders the judicial branch an unimportant observer in the democratic process. Congress enacted NFMA 18 years ago to rein in unbridled Forest Service discretion. To automatically defer to that same discretion without critically examining the statutory and regulatory requirements that bind the agency is to "return to the 'bad old days' . . . which were supposed to be left behind by NFMA."eoe ~, \ Micbael Conner. Glen Canyon. Flowing through the bottom of the gorge is the tame and domesticated Colorado River, released from the bowels oftheadjacent Glen Canyon Dam. Formerly a goldenMred, as the name implies, the river now runs ~ld, clear and green, the color of glacier water. Great river-greater dam. . . . A plug, a block, a fat wedge, the dam diverts through penstocks and turbines the force of the puzzled river. What was once a mighty river. Now a ghost. - Edward Abbeyl Because the hand of man now controls the flow of water through the. .. Grand Canyon, Congress, acting for the American people, has a responsibility to ensure that our hand is firmly guided by the ethics of stewardship. . . . We must conserve and protect those resources and values that caused Congress to designate the Grand Canyon as a national park and to make its specjal qualities available to the American people for all time. . ...:- Stewart UdalP I. INTRODUCTION Glen Canyon Dam: viewed by some as an engineering marvel, and by others as a destructive intrusion into the natural environment. Whichever version one believes, the fact remains that the dam exists. And while it provides a number oLbenefits, including water storage, flood control, recreation, and hydroelectric power, it is also responsible for a significant 604. The "timber summit" was held April 2, 1993, in Portland, Ore80n:-Su. fI.g.. Egan, supra note 7,at A22. and S 1 at 6. 60S. Espy, 822 F. Supp. at 366. 606. ld. at 36S. . Attorney, Office of the Solicitor, U.5. Department of the Interior. Washington, D.C.; J.D., 1993, University of Colorado; 8.5.,1986, Chemical Engineering. New Mexico State University. The author is extremely grateful to Professor Charles Wilkinson and Sarah 8ates for their valuable comments on this paper. Responsibility for any remaining errors rests solely with the author. The vicws expressed in this article are solely those of tbe autbor and do not neccssarily refiect tbe palitiou of the U.s. Dcpanment of lhe Interior. \. EDWARD ABBEY, THE MONKEY WRENCH GANG 2 (1975). 2. 137 CoNG. REC. 518.743 (daily ed. Nov. 27, 1991) (as quoted. by Sen. McCain. R.Ariz.). '\,. ":' "-;0- .';~~{"