Issue Papers

Stewardship End-Result Contracting

Stewardship end-result contracting is an innovative way for
the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management (BLM)
to collaboratively restore public lands and create economic
benefit for rural communities. This issue paper describes the
benefits that stewardship contracting provides to public lands
and local communities, and offers some suggestions to further
improve the effectiveness of stewardship contracting as a tool
for providing rural community benefit through the collaborative
restoration and stewardship of public lands.

Key Recommendations

Congress should:

1. Reauthorize stewardship contracting to provide permanent authority for its continued use after September 30, 2013.
2. Create a centralized revolving fund for utilization by both the Forest Service and BLM, which could be used to cover agency/bureau-wide cancellation ceiling requirements for long-term stewardship contracts.
3. Enact and fund the Forest Service Integrated Resource Restoration Line Item at $693.8 million.
   

The Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management
should:

1. Engage a diverse array of stakeholders in the development of the new stewardship contract template.
2. Devolve authority to approve stewardship contracting and retained receipts projects to Forest Supervisors and BLM District Managers.
   

To learn more read the 2010 Stewardship End-Result Contracting Issue Paper.
Also read the 2009 Stewardship End-Result Contracting Issue Paper and our 2008 recommendations and talking points.

Best Value Contracting

Best value contracting is a mechanism that the Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management, and other federal land management agencies can use to effectively implement projects with multiple objectives. It allows the federal government to acquire goods and services from the businesses that offer the best value to the government, not simply the lowest price. The federal land management agencies may use best value when purchasing goods and services and must use it when awarding stewardship contracts.

Effective best value contracting can reward contractors who perform high quality work, build and retain a trained workforce, create local community benefits, and utilize the by-products of forest restoration.

RVCC believes that innovative use of best value contracting can help the federal land management agencies ensure excellent value for the federal government and American taxpayers.

To learn more read the Best Value Contracting Issue Paper.

Working Groups

At the 2009 Annual Policy Meeting, the Workforce and Labor and Stewardship Contracting working groups were discontinued and realigned as the new Rural Conservation-based Economic Development working group and Public Lands Stewardship working group. 

The Rural Conservation-based Economic Development working group promotes effective stewardship contracting practices that foster high-quality restoration, local jobs, and economic benefit in forest and range communities.  It seeks to create green jobs and businesses in these communities through increased accessibility to rural development programs, economic recovery funds, and the development of alternative markets such as ecosystem services.

Chairs: Cassandra Moseley, Ecosystem Workforce Program; Marnie Criley, Restore Montana

To learn more read the 2010 draft Rural Conservation-based Economic Development plank.

Learn more about past efforts of the working group.

The Public Lands Stewardship working group strives to improve relevant agencies’ planning processes and budget structures to achieve objectives of landscape scale restoration, hazardous fuels reduction, and wildfire management.  It also seeks to encourage collaboration and establish the roles of ecosystem services, carbon sequestration, and thinning as they relate to the creation of green jobs and effective landscape scale stewardship on public lands.

Chairs: Lynn Jungwirth, Watershed Research & Training Center; Wendy Gerlitz and Maia Enzer, Sustainable Northwest

To learn more read the 2010 draft Public Lands Stewardship plank.

Learn more about past efforts of the working group.