The varied topics presented in these symposium proceedings represent the diverse nature of the Bitterroot Ecosystem Management Research Project (BEMRP). Separated into six sections, the papers cover the different themes researched by BEMRP collaborators as well as brief overviews of five other ecosystem management projects. The sections are: Understanding the Ecosystem, Its Parts and Processes; Understanding the People and Their Relationship to the Ecosystem; Implementation for Specific Landscape Areas; Overviews of Other Ecosystem Management Research Projects in the West; Fieldtrip Abstracts; and Poster Session Abstracts. The papers presented here are from a symposium held in order to summarize research conducted under the first five-year charter for BEMRP. The symposium was held 1999 May 18-20 in Missoula, Montana for interested public, land managers, and researchers.