The plural form “resources” and “laws” in noun phrases like “natural resources management” and “foreign laws enforcement” are now not only acceptable usage but, I think, the preferred usage in modern American English in much the same way as the plural “resources” is the preferred usage in “human resources development” and “marine resources conservation.” But, we might ask, why use the plural instead of the singular for those modifying words in those noun phrases? I think it’s primarily because the plural form like, say, “resources” and “laws,” better captures the multiple character of the elements covered in such undertakings as “natural resources management” and “forest laws enforcement.” To say “natural resource management” and “forest law enforcement” does seem to convey the sense of just a single resource being managed and of just a single law being enforced, which is far from the reality of such undertakings as we know them.
Ultimately, however, the choice between the singular and plural in such usage is a matter of style and convention. The singular could imaginably prevail in another time and in another cultural setting where, unlike our here and now, pluralism and expansiveness in language might happen to be frowned upon. Then hearing “natural resource management,” “foreign law enforcement,” and “human resource development” might not sound as odd and might not grate as much on the ears as they do to most informed listeners today.
