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June 7, 2010
Crown of the Continent Event
by Melanie Parker
On June 1st, an all star line up of federal officials came to celebrate all the hard work that has been going on for over a decade in the Blackfoot Valley, along the Rocky Mountain Front, and here in the Swan Valley. Imagine for a minute what it felt like to be me…getting to talk about the things that I most care about with this line up!
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It was a spectacular day with a wild mix of rain and sunshine. The morning session was held at the Blackfoot Community Conservation Area. The above picture was taken inside the wall tent that was set up to shield us somewhat from the weather, but one side was completely open with a great view of the valley and the mountains beyond. For over one hour, 15 community members met with Senators Baucus and Tester, Governor Schweitzer, CEQ chair Nancy Sutley, Undersecretary of the Interior Jon Jarvis, and (right next to me!) Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack. The administration considered this an important first stop on their tour to gather ideas for America’s Great Outdoors initiative.
Senator Baucus moderated the discussion. Jim Stone, myself and Dusty Crary gave introductory comments about our regional work in the Blackfoot, Swan and Rocky Mountain Front respectively and then a very unstructured and candid conversation followed. The conversation centered on the elements of success in the Crown and on our suggestions for how the federal government can better support community based conservation both here and in other parts of the country.
All of our community partners from the three landscapes made great points. Some of the resounding themes were:
- Keep federal employees living and working in rural communities over time; that’s how trust is built and solutions are crafted that really work for local land owners and communities.
- Build flexibility into federal programs to account for variation across the land and over time.
- Put as much emphasis on conserving the culture and economy of the place as you put on conserving the land.
- Invest in grassroots, community based approaches rather than sponsoring large federally driven initiatives.
Towards the close of the discussion, we offered to formulate ourselves as a new Crown of the Continent Advisory Group to travel back to D.C. in a coordinated fashion and offer input on policy. The panel seemed to welcome this suggestion.
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The second event was a larger public event held down on the Rolling Stone Ranch in Ovando. About 300 people attended and the format provided for a few short speeches and a town hall like session where residents could ask questions or make statements about community based conservation in the Crown of the Continent.
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| Event attendees at Rolling Stone Ranch | Blackfoot Valley resident Juanita Vero |
I had an opportunity to thank Senator Baucus for work on the Montana Legacy Project. I also made a few points about the role of rural communities in conservation to the administration officials (download Melanie's comments, PDF).
Other NwC staff attended as well. Mo had this to say, "The word that comes to mind is hope. I walked away feeling that our federal partners not only honored place-based initiatives but found them essential in meeting the ecological, social and economic goals in rural areas.
Secretary Vilsack reemphasized his mission to take an 'all lands'’ approach to conservation – showing the importance of doing landscape scale projects, on both public and private lands. He emphasized that building strong local economies is a vital part of conservation work and conservation outcomes. We are starting to see this vision infused into national legislation like the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Act (CFLRP) which focuses on landscape restoration and stewardship while emphasizing product utilization and local job creation.
Moreover, I feel even more hope that the benefits and values derived from rural landscapes and the stewards of these lands (local ranchers, loggers, outfitters, etc.) are now being valued at the national level."
When I asked Tom his impressions of the day he simply said, "Home run."
The day was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. We stayed late and networked with friends, neighbors, colleagues, elected officials and administration staff. And now, we’re onward to charting out our next steps in promoting local benefits on conservation lands in the Crown!
Keeping it local when it comes to management of natural resources
Guest Column by TOM VILSACK, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture,
The Missoulian, June 21, 2010 (PDF)
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