December 15, 2006 — Forest Service planners, conservationists, off-road vehicle riders, backcountry horsemen and others from Montana and Idaho gathered in Missoula on December 15 for the seventh in a series of workshops on how stakeholders can work together to resolve conflicts around motorized use and abuse of national forests.

The workshop, “Effective Collaboration for Travel Management,” attracted 40 participants and was led by experts from the University of Virginia’s Institute for Environmental Negotiation. The Natural Trails and Waters Coalition coordinated workshops in seven states; the National Forest Foundation provided a matching grant to fund the workshops.

Coalition member organizations hosted collaboration workshops in seven states throughout 2006:

• Center for Biological Diversity in Flagstaff, AZ and Albuquerque, NM;
• California Wilderness Coalition in Sacramento, CA;
• Friends of the Routt Backcountry (a chapter of the Backcountry Snowsports Alliance) in Steamboat Springs, CO;
• Bear River Watershed Council and Wild Utah Project in Salt Lake City, UT;
• Oregon Chapter of the Sierra Club in Bend, OR; and
• Wildlands CPR in Missoula, MT.

“Folks enjoy their national forests and tend to get heated when the Forest Service plans what uses are appropriate and where,” said workshop organizer Jason Kiely from Wildlands CPR. “Our goal with these workshops was to learn how stakeholders can work together to balance the many uses of public lands while securing and restoring the forests–our primary source of clean water, healthy wildlife and opportunities to get away from the hustle and bustle of our daily lives.”

Forest Service Chief Dale Bosworth has called unmanaged motorized recreation one of the four biggest threats to our national forests. Accordingly, the Forest Service will seek input from the public as the agency determines where 4X4s, ATVs, and dirt bikes may go and which roads, routes, and areas should be restored to improve wildlife habitat and opportunities for quiet, active recreation. Everyone who enjoys our forests–for recreation, their livelihood, or for healthy food and clean water–has a stake in the outcome.

The workshops prepared all stakeholders to effectively participate in collaborative processes.

“It’s been gratifying to see stakeholders at earlier workshops learn with and from one another,” said Karen Firehock, of the Institute for Environmental Negotiation. “Those who complete the workshop training understand that collaboration is not seeking agreement on the least offensive solution. When people work collaboratively they can often identify solutions to conflicts that achieve better, more creative outcomes.”

Firehock, along with E. Franklin Dukes, Ph.D., led the training. As Director of the Institute, Dr. Dukes mediates and facilitates, teaches and trains, and conducts research about ways of improving environmental, social and economic outcomes of decision processes. He has worked at local, state, and federal levels on projects involving environment and land use, community development, education, and health.

Firehock lectures at the University of Virginia and serves as a Senior Associate at the Institute. Prior to working for the University, Ms. Firehock served as the national Save Our Streams Program Director at the Izaak Walton League of America. Firehock also serves as coordinator for the Community-Based Collaboratives Research Consortium.