Restoring Ecosystem Health in Frequent-Fire Forests of the American West - Design with the Desert: Conservation and Sustainable Development - page 227

develop meaningful collaborations between the agencies, communities, and the public.
There are emerging models of various forms of collaborative partnerships (for example,
the Greater Flagstaff Forest Partnership in Arizona, the Applegate Partnership in Oregon,
the Four Corners Sustainable Forests Partnership in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico,
and Utah) working to reduce the threat of fire while restoring the forest for its full suite of
values. Success of such collaborations depends on meaningful community collaboration,
human and financial resources, and adequate scientific support to make well-informed
management recommendations. Congress, federal agencies, universities, and non-
governmental organizations must support these communities to help them achieve success.
The time to act is now. Ecological restoration provides the solid foundation for helping
these damaged ecosystems recover, and adaptive management is the only viable approach
for dealing with the forest health crisis. Together they will allow us to move forward at the
pace and at the scale that we must, learning as we go.
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