This book explores the role of science and public participation in an environmental policy-making process in Western Australia. The focus is on the Regional Forest Agreement (RFA), a Federal Government initiative designed to resolve a long-running dispute over native forest use and management. The analysis reveals a systemic failure in the management of the RFA, pointing towards a process and governing structures which constrained opportunities for stakeholder input and science-based decision-making. A range of cultural, socio-political and personality-based issues are shown to have given...