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Friday, 9:45am

In this session, experienced collaborators will share on-the-ground examples and specific skill sets, strategies and techniques to effectively advance and adapt long-standing collaborative efforts.   Come learn how to trouble shoot and improve collaborations in a setting where discussion about complex situations is whole heartedly encouraged.  This session is an interactive forum and will include a chance to engage in scenarios and problem-solve about the best way to confront the diverse challenges that may arise in collaborative efforts.

Speakers

• John Allen, Forest Supervisor, Deschutes National Forest
• Vicky Sturtevant, Professor, Sociology, Southern Oregon University
  

Moderators

Alden Boetsch, Senior Policy Associate, Sustainable Northwest, Kathy Lynn, Associate Director, Resource Innovations

Recommended Readings

Guides and Fact Sheets
Stages of Collaboration (USDA Forest Service, 2006)
Describes the basic steps required to move a collaborative process forward.

Challenges to Collaboration (USDA Forest Service, 2006)
Identifies common barriers that challenge collaborative groups and processes.

Keys to Successful Collaboration (USDA Forest Service, 2006)
Discusses important components of successful collaborative processes.

Collaboration: A Guidebook for Environmental Advocates
The document’s main audience is conservation groups, however it offers “how to” information about participating in collaboratives that is valuable beyond this sector.

International Association of Public Participation Spectrum of Participation
A useful reference tool regarding types of public involvement in decision-making, along with associated outcomes.

Tools and Best Practices
Best Practice: The Value of a Simple Field Exercise
Collaborators on the Glaze Forest Restoration Project (Deschutes National Forest) spurred discussion, focused learning, and increased understanding through a simple field exercise.

Best Practice: Formalized Agreement between Collaborative and the Forest Service
The Northeast Washington Forestry Coalition (Colville National Forest) formalized the process by which the collaborative would review projects and provide feedback to the Forest Service, and defined clear guidelines regarding member responsibilities to the process.

Best Practice: Governance Documents for Collaboratives
Includes sample governance documents from two collaborative groups (Tongass Futures Roundtable and Northeast Washington Forestry Coalition).

Best Practice: Multi-agency MOU Coordinates Landscape Restoration
The Uncompaghre Plateau Project entered into a multi-party memorandum of understanding to coordinate restoration efforts over 1.5 million acres.

Tool: Forest Service Handover Memo
In order to smooth the transition between departing and incoming Forest Service staff with regard to collaborations and other community relationships, the Forest Service developed a “handover memo”.

Tool:  Adaptive Management Requires Collaboration
The Department of Interior released a technical guide in 2007 regarding adaptive management to help agency personnel deal with uncertainty in management decisions. Collaborating with stakeholders is an important component of the adaptive management process.

Reports regarding Federal Policy
Opportunities Exist to Enhance Federal Participation in Collaborative Efforts to Reduce Conflicts and Improve Natural Resource Conditions (GAO 2008)
A discussion of collaborative successes and challenges, with recommendations for how Federal agencies can improve their support of and involvement in collaboration.

Federal Land Agencies to Create a Collaborative Management Environment: Collaboration Action Team Progress Report (2008)
Discusses progress and continued barriers to Federal agency collaboration with communities.

Rural Voices for Conservation Coalition, Collaboration issue paper
Includes definitions of important terms, a discussion of the benefits of collaboration, and recommendations to strengthen Federal policies for collaboration.

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John Allen

I’m currently the Forest Supervisor on the Deschutes NF in Bend, Oregon.  I have been here for one year. I grew up in San Diego, California and graduated from the University of California, Berkeley in 1979 with a B.S. in forest management.  

My Forest Service career started as a seasonal employee on the Fremont NF, where I also received my career appointment as a forestry technician.  I have worked on the Winema and Umpqua NF’s in a variety of positions, as a district ranger on the Willamette NF at McKenzie River and in Bozeman, Montana as the Deputy Forest Supervisor for the Gallatin NF.  

My wife Julie is an elementary school teacher and I have a son, Conor, 7 years old.  Our family loves hiking, skiing, fishing, and exploring new places.  I enjoy reading a good book, floating rivers and spending time with friends and family. 

Vicky Sturtevant

Victoria Sturtevant has taught sociology and environmental studies at Southern Oregon University since 1980. She studies and teaches social dimensions of forest management, particularly community involvement in social assessment, ecological monitoring, wildfire planning and collaborative stewardship. Currently she works with regional groups such as the Southern Oregon Small Diameter Collaborative, the Alliance of Forest Workers and Harvesters, the Applegate Partnership and Resource Innovations. She has contributed to various workshops, GTRs and books on collaboration, community assessment and wildfire planning; coedited a book, Forest Community Connections; and published articles in Society and Natural Resources, Journal of Forestry and Journal of Community Development.

Alden Boetsch 

Alden Boetsch is the Senior Policy Associate at Sustainable Northwest where she works on public land management and rural economic development issues. In addition to her work on policy, Alden is also involved with multiple community-based collaborative groups in the region. Before joining Sustainable Northwest she researched and analyzed collaborative planning efforts on Western state trust lands with the Sonoran Institute. Alden's previous experience also includes working as a coordinator of the Bureau of Land Management's citizen-based Resource Advisory Councils, and on legislative and public affairs issues for the agency in Washington, D.C. In addition, she has worked on public relations campaigns at Fenton Communications in Washington, D.C. Alden holds a Master's Degree in Natural Resource Policy from the University of Michigan School of Natural Resources and Environment and a Bachelor's Degree in Geology from Carleton College.

Kathy Lynn

Kathy Lynn is Associate Director of Resource Innovations. Since 2003, Kathy has focused on working with rural communities and Native American tribes in the Pacific Northwest to understand their risk to wildfire, ability to access fire-related programs, and build capacity to reduce wildfire risk. Kathy led the development of the Josephine County Integrated Fire Plan and has provided technical assistance to Jackson and Clackamas Counties. Kathy also created a framework for community fire plans that was adopted and distributed by the Oregon Department of Forestry in the fall of 2004. Kathy has a Master’s degree in Community and Regional Planning from the University of Oregon in 2001. Kathy also served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Haiti from 1996 to 1999.