Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
collective agreement about the sources of existing information, as well as the protocols
for collecting new information and the group process for revisiting and measuring
field plots as part of the quality control system of the assessment. This latter process was
particularly important in building broad ownership and understanding of the forest
condition assessment, and it helped sustain collaborative support for specific silvicul-
tural treatments.
Consider the Interests, Strengths, and Challenges of All Relevant Entities
Maintaining open, inclusive, and transparent collaboration requires both commit-
ment from the group to these values and leadership and investment by a mutually
trusted convener or facilitator. Within the Upper Joseph CreekWatershed Assessment,
Wallowa Resources played this role and, therefore, bore the highest transaction costs.
In addition to planning for and facilitating NRAC full committee discussions and some
of the working groups, Wallowa Resources maintained direct communications with
several groups that were not initially fully invested in the process, including local envi-
ronmental watchdogs, the Nez Perce tribe, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife,
and the Wallowa Valley Trail Riders. As this collaboration had significant implications
for the USFS in terms of their program of work and the expectations built by the col-
lective investment, Wallowa Resources also maintained a very close relationship with
local USFS staff to ensure the end result was something that would facilitate their work
and align with existing laws, policies, and internal agency direction. Wallowa Re-
sources, as a community-based nonprofit, was also able to raise external funding to help
pay for the assessment and contract initial restoration projects.
Create Expectations of Shared Responsibility and Accountability
Ultimately, the success of any collaborative rests in the shared investment, risk, and
accountability by all participants. There is no requirement for equity in investment,
but all must be fully committed to the process and invest what they can (even if this is
limited to their time to participate). They must also be willing to take risks: risks based
on the common vision and the recognition that more can be accomplished through
group effort than can be accomplished by individual parties working without coordi-
nation or in direct conflict with each other. Finally, each party must also be account-
able to the collaborative. If representatives commit to recommendations and action
within the group, they need to be certain that they speak for their organizations and
constituents. By being part of the collaborative, they necessarily agree to work toward
new, creative group solutions and not be limited by any narrow, interest-based posi-
tions they pursue outside the collaborative.
Conclusion
Across landscapes in the western United States, conservation needs have accelerated
with the pace of technological change, population growth, and species transloca-
tions. Public capacity to address these needs has declined with the loss in public
