Restoring dignity to sound professional judgment

Both the scientific community and the judiciary make decisions based on less than complete information, and both acknowledge the reality of uncertainty. The scientific community tends to view certainty as a yes-no phenomenon, demands a high degree of certainty, and considers only several variables at one time. The judiciary, however, uses a sliding scale of certainty, allows a lower degree of certainty, and considers the totality of the situation. For natural resource decisionmakers-people with scientific training whose decisions are subject to judicial review-what should the standard of judgment be? This article examines certainty from both perspectives, argues for the restoration of sound professional judgment as the standard for natural resource decisionmaking, and offers suggestions to improve sound professional judgment.