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The federal government was ill-prepared to deal with the fuel, food and nonenergy materials "shortages" experienced in the early 1970s. Future shortages may well be anticipated, due not only to depletion of available stocks, but also perhaps to economic (pricing), political (supply disruption), and limited production capacity fac tors. Annually, the United States is becoming more depen dent upon foreign sources of supply. As the international scene has become more volatile and unstable, thereby in creasing the vulnerability of foreign supply sources, over all domestic exploration has declined. New planning mech anisms are required if governmental capability to forecast and deal with either gradual or abrupt changes in supply or price is to be achieved. "Alternative futures" analysis is seen as a useful tool in the creation and implementation of a viable nonenergy materials policy.