THE HIGH DIVIDE COLLABORATIVE

Transcription

1 THE HIGH DIVIDE COLLABORATIVE Landscape-scale Conservation through Community-based Collaboration By Chris Boyer with aerial support from LightHawk Ecological and Community Resilience in a Changing Environment Bray J. Beltrán, Heart of the Rockies Initiative LTA Rally 2017 The High Divide Idaho & Montana Vast landscape (> 25 million ac) Connectivity GYE Crown Idaho Wilderness Headwaters Missouri/Mississippi Snake/Columbia 1

2 Key Issues Public/Private Land Interface Defined by ranching way of life Continental wildlife linkage And/But many recreate here Building Collaboration COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT Collaboration requires local community support Invite all stakeholders to the table Learn their needs Incorporate into goals Platform for Trust Safe Place for Risk-takers Results 2

3 High Divide Collaborative Partners COOPERATING FEDERAL AGENCIES USDA Forest Service Region 1 Lands Staff, Missoula, MT Beaverhead Deerlodge National Forest Gallatin National Forest USDA Forest Service Region 4 Lands Staff, Ogden, UT Caribou Targhee National Forest Salmon Challis National Forest Payette National Forest Sawtooth National Forest USDI Bureau of Land Management Idaho Idaho Falls District Upper Snake Field Office Salmon Field Office Challis Field Office Twin Falls District Shoshone Field Office USDI Bureau of Land Management Montana Dillon Field Office USDI Fish & Wildlife Service Region 1 Portland, OR Camas National Wildlife Refuge Region 6 Lakewood, CO Red Rock Lakes National Wildife Refuge USDI National Park Service Columbia Cascades Support Office, Seatlle, WA Craters of the Moon National Monument Big Hole National Battlefield Yellowstone National Park USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service Great Northern Landscape Conservation Coop. STATE AGENCIES Idaho Dept of Fish & Game Director s Office Upper Snake Region Salmon Region Montana Dept of Fish, Wildlife & Parks FWP Region 3 Montana Dept of Natural Resource Cons. RANCHING Central Idaho Rangelands Network E Bar Cattle Flying A Ranch Kalsta Ranch Co Madison Valley Ranchlands Group Centennial Valley Association Martinell Ranch Co Turner Enterprises LAND TRUSTS/CONSERVANCIES Lemhi Regional Land Trust Wood River Land Trust Teton Regional Land Trust Gallatin Valley Land Trust Heart of the Rockies Initiative Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation The Conservation Fund The Nature Conservancy Idaho The Nature Conservancy Montana Trust for Public Land Western Rivers Conservancy TRIBAL INTERESTS Nez Perce Tribe Nez Perce Trail Foundation BUSINESS Henry s Fork Lodge Idaho Adventures SPORTSMEN/CONSERVATION LightHawk Backcountry Hunters & Anglers Montana Audubon Big Sky Upland Bird Assoc. Dillon Sage Grouse Working Group Snake River Audubon Wildlife Conservation Society Future West Craighead Institute Wolverine Institute Holocene Wildlife Services Center for Large Landscape Conservation Northern Rockies Conservation Cooperative Salmon Valley Stewardship Greater Yellowstone Coalition Henry s Fork Foundation Henry s Fork Legacy Project Pioneer Alliance The Wilderness Society Big Hole River Foundation Idaho Conservation League Sawtooth Society Ruby Watershed Council Montana Wilderness Association Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership Yellowstone to Yukon Initiative Madison Watershed Partnership Big Hole Watershed Committee Idaho Wildlife Federation People and Carnivores Why? To bring more funding to the ground BUILDING FROM THE SUCCESS OF LOCAL PARTNERSHIPS Local initiatives have been successful in the Madison River Valley, Upper Henry s Fork/Sands, Centennial/Beaverhead/Big Hole, Upper Salmon/Lemhi, the Sawtooth NRA and the Pioneers Alliance Protection: 754,323 acres with $437.5 million invested in acquisitions Restoration: 152,560 acres, 775 river miles $18.7 million 2012 Collaborative Landscape Program (LWCF) Public land managers, conservation groups, private landowners 3

4 What have we accomplished so far? Now securing past investments by filling in the gaps $30 million in LWCF funds for 35 priority projects Finding additional ways to collaborate at landscape scale By Chris Boyer with aerial support from LightHawk HIGH DIVIDE CONSERVATION COLLABORATIVE GOALS Our shared vision to conserve: Ecological linkages among protected core areas Working ranchlands central to communities, economy and way of life Nationally important dispersed recreation land and waterways A cultural legacy of traditional food sources, tribal treaty lands, and travel ways Clean and abundant water Intact, resilient sagebrush-steppe ecosystems Healthy forest lands managed for sustained economic, social, ecological values Open land in the Wildland Urban Interface 4

5 High Divide Landscape Conservation Design Planning Process Gather stakeholders & identify vision Assess current conditions Map goals and objectives spatially Work together to develop strategies Steward for lasting outcomes Lessons Learned Early engagement with open dialogue -- Listen Trust is earned Respect for resources AND people Goals set by all stakeholders Science is needed to support decision making. Information sharing. Stay the course continually steward the collaborative Celebrate Success Life is good! 5

6 Collaboration is not about gluing together existing egos. It s about the ideas that never existed until everyone entered the room. Unknown By Ilona McCarty. Courtesy Lemhi Regional Land Trust 6