Issue Papers

Collaboration

Over the last few decades, federal lands management has been characterized by gridlock and public controversy, adversely impacting the health and vitality of our national forests and communities. The RVCC sees great value in using collaborative approaches to resolve natural resource managmenet issues. We believe that collaboration is essential to accomplishing effective and widely supported on-the-ground efforts in assessment, planning, implementation and monitoring of natural resource management projects on public lands.

To learn more about how we're strengthening federal policies for collaboration, read our Collaboration Issue Paper.

Community Capacity Building

Restoration, managment and long-term stewardship of our national forests depend on the ability of agency representatives, concerned stakeholders, and natural resource based-businesses to implement management activities. Regardless of the goals, investment in the people, programs and institutions carrying out this work is a fundamental part of accomplishing the on-the-ground work. Rural communities adjacent to public lands are uniquely positioned to perform restoration, management and long-term stewardship. Investing in building their capacity to address current national forest health problems is critically needed.

For more information on how we support community capacity building, read our Building Community Capacity Issue Paper.

Workforce and Labor

Restoring our public lands and revitalizing adjacent rural communities depend on quality work implemented on-the-ground and quality jobs for those that perform the work. To have a well-trained workforce with the capacity to perform the high-value work needed to restore and maintain our public lands requires that fair wages, durable employment, a diversity of jobs, training opportunities, and safe work environments be offered.

Current economic opportunities for rural community-based and mobile forest workers do not reflect this condition, indicating that the contracting system needs improvement. RVCC has developed a number of solutions addressing this issue which are described in our Workforce and Labor Issue Paper.  For more information read our 2008 recommendations and talking points.

Working Groups

The Legislative Strategies and Appropriations and Accountability Working Group promotes an integrated approach to forest management that directs investments to rural communities to stimulate local economies and builds capacity for long-term public lands stewardship.  The Working Group also provides insight and ideas regarding how federal agencies can include measurements relevant to rural forest dependent communities and workers in their performance measures, which they use to monitor agency effectiveness.   

The Working Group functions as a resource for all of the RVCC working groups, providing support with legislative comments and research, media strategy, and sign-on letters.  Specifically, the group focuses on increasing investment and new authorities needed to promote restoration, rural conservation-based economic development, farm bill, access to work and supply on public lands, collaboration and partnerships, wildfire policy, and related legislative and appropriations proposals. 

Each year, the group responds to the Administration’s budget proposal by producing a comprehensive Community-based Restoration Funding Package.  The group clarifies and emphasizes the importance of monitoring at several different levels (local, regional, national) in agency activities, and the ways in which monitoring can/should feed into decision-making processes.  Specific tasks include developing and disseminating issue papers on collaboration and performance measures that reflect RVCC's perspectives and recommendations for related policies and programs.  Chairs: Maia Enzer, Sustainable Northwest; Wendy Gerlitz, Sustainable Northwest; Kathy Lynn, Resource Innovations

The Workforce, Labor and Contracting Working Group aims to improve the quality and quantity business and employment opportunities for forest workers and contractors. The group approaches this goal in a number of ways including: working to increase the functioning of Forest Service and BLM service, timber sale, and service contracting for rural communities and workers and improving the monitoring and enforcement of labor laws. During 2006, the working groups developed a RVCC workforce and labor issue paper, prepared testimony for hearings on Capitol Hill, and forwarded concerns about job quality and quantity to agency and congressional staff in Washington, D.C. In 2007, member groups co-hosted a forum on the Working Conditions of Forest Workers in Eugene, Oregon and will be continuing its work with Forest Service, BLM, Department of Labor, and congressional staff to improve business and employment conditions.  In 2007, the working group wrote a briefing paper on best value contracting, new talking points for stewardship contracting, and monitored the New Business Model process.

In 2008, this working group has divided into two subgroups: the Stewardship Contracting working group and the Workforce and Labor working group.  Chairs: Cassandra Moseley, Ecosystem Workforce Program; Lynn Jungwirth, Watershed Research & Training Center