Differences of opinion about National Forest stewardship, and the \u201cwinner take all\u201d structures, have led to decades of polarization among our citizenry and near paralysis on-the-ground. Over time, responsible people on many sides of forest issues concluded the present system was failing \u2013 failing our timber workers and timber-dependent communities, failing the ecological health of our forests, failing our responsibility to future generations. That left a question: Despite our differences, could key parties come to the table to see if there was a \u201czone of agreement\u201d we share, a common ground set of ideas we could build on to generate positive work on the ground?<\/p>\n
In August, 2006, Artemis Common Ground invited nine people from industry, the conservation community, U.S. Forest Service, state of Montana, and the non-profit sector to explore that question. After an all day meeting, everyone concluded that common ground might be created around the idea of on-the-ground restoration: work to restore the health of our National Forests. The group formed a Steering Committee whose mission was to engage more community interests in an effort to develop Restoration Principles and an action plan to have those implemented on the ground.<\/p>\n
In January, 2007, thirty-four representatives of conservationists, motorized users, outfitters, loggers, mill operators, state government and the Forest Service held its first meeting at Lubrecht Experimental Forest in western Montana, facilitated by the National Forest Foundation.<\/p>\n
All present agreed the restoration goal was worth pursuing; they agreed to work by consensus\u2014meaning that everyone had to agree before a proposal was accepted; they set August 1st as the deadline to finish their work; and they all personally committed to help get the job done.<\/p>\n
The group was dynamic, and represented a broad range of interests. Success depended on honesty, ability to listen, to disagree respectfully, and most centrally, on learning how to focus on building the \u201czone of agreement.\u201d In such a process, loggers do not become environmental activists and conservationists do not change into timber mill managers.<\/p>\n
People retain their different perspectives\u2014but they develop the ability to be able to say, \u201cWe disagree on these issues over there, but we can agree on this specific point. Let\u2019s start with that, and see if we can broaden areas of agreement, and if successful, figure out a better way to make good things happen on the ground.\u201d<\/p>\n
That is what the Montana Forest Restoration Working Group did. At their last meeting, August 1, 2007, all recommendations were given final, unanimous approval. Next, the group agreed to change its name to the Montana Forest Restoration Committee (MFRC)\u2014reflecting its new mission to see that the approved Restoration Principles and Implementation Plan are put into practice. Finally, members of the group were asked if they wanted to continue to be involved in the effort by serving on the new MFRC. Every person in the room raised their hand.\u00a0The group published a booklet,\u00a0Restoring\u00a0Montana’s\u00a0National Forest Lands<\/em><\/a>,\u00a0outlining the process and the\u00a0restoration principles.<\/p>\n Since that August meeting the MFRC Steering Committee has kept up the momentum created by the original group. Three forest-level collaborative groups were formed on the Lolo, Bitterroot and Helena National Forests. Each has been meeting as a volunteer body regularly to accomplish the mission of the MFRC and its Principles and Vision for restoration in Montana.<\/p>\n In July 2008, the MFRC and Restoration Committee efforts were recognized by Montana\u2018s Governor, Brian Schweitzer, through a letter of appreciation to each of the Committees commending them for their work and dedication.<\/p>\n Also in July 2008, the MFRC was awarded the Regional Forester\u2018s Honor Award for “Gridlock Breaking.”<\/p>\n Below is a list of the founding members of the MFRC with the professional affiliations they had at the time. The group was\u00a0originally named the Montana Forest Restoration Working Group.<\/p>\n Julia Altemus,<\/strong> Montana Logging Association Brian Kahn,<\/strong> Artemis Common Ground Karen DiBari,<\/strong> <\/strong>National Forest Foundation Differences of opinion about National Forest stewardship, and the \u201cwinner take all\u201d structures, have led to decades of polarization among our citizenry and near paralysis on-the-ground. Over time, responsible people on many sides of forest issues concluded the present system was failing \u2013 failing our timber workers and timber-dependent communities, failing the ecological health of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"parent":286,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-288","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","has-post-title","has-post-date","has-post-category","has-post-tag","has-post-comment","has-post-author",""],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/montanaforestcollaboration.org\/app\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/288","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/montanaforestcollaboration.org\/app\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/montanaforestcollaboration.org\/app\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/montanaforestcollaboration.org\/app\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/montanaforestcollaboration.org\/app\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=288"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/montanaforestcollaboration.org\/app\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/288\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1217,"href":"https:\/\/montanaforestcollaboration.org\/app\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/288\/revisions\/1217"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/montanaforestcollaboration.org\/app\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/286"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/montanaforestcollaboration.org\/app\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=288"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Founding Members (Montana Forest Restoration Working Group)<\/h3>\n
\nDebbie Austin,<\/strong> U.S. Forest Service
\nLen Broberg, <\/strong>Sierra Club
\nDave Bull,<\/strong> U.S. Forest Service
\nCaroline Byrd,<\/strong> The Nature Conservancy
\nAl Christophersen,<\/strong> Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation
\nTony Colter,<\/strong> Sun Mountain Lumber
\nMarnie Criley,<\/strong> Wildlands CPR
\nOrville Daniels,<\/strong> Retired U.S.\u00a0Forest Service
\nBob Ekey,<\/strong> The Wilderness Society
\nEllen Engstedt,<\/strong> Montana Wood Products Association
\nPat Flowers,<\/strong> Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife & Parks
\nRick Franke,<\/strong> Smurfit-Stone Container
\nPam Gardiner,<\/strong>\u00a0U.S. Forest Service
\nJohn Gatchell,<\/strong> Montana Wilderness Association
\nWilliam Geer,<\/strong> Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership
\nDave Harmon,<\/strong> Backcountry Horsemen
\nBob Harrington,<\/strong> Montana Department of Natural Resources & Conservation
\nDale Harris,<\/strong> Great Burn Study Group
\nJeff Juel,<\/strong> WildWest Institute
\nTim Love,<\/strong> U.S. Forest Service
\nJulia Riber,<\/strong> U.S. Forest Service
\nJack Rich,<\/strong> Rich Ranches
\nChuck Roady,<\/strong> FH Stoltze Land & Lumber
\nPaul Rumelhart,<\/strong> Kootenai River Development Council
\nGordy Sanders,<\/strong> Pyramid Mountain Lumber
\nDan Thompson,<\/strong> Ravalli County Off-Road Users Association
\nMark Vander Meer,<\/strong> National Network of Forest Practitioners
\nMike Volesky,<\/strong> Governor’s Office<\/p>\nConveners<\/h3>\n
\nMary Mitsos,<\/strong> National Forest Foundation<\/p>\nSupport Staff<\/h3>\n
\nChelsea Pennick,<\/strong> <\/strong>National Forest Foundation
\n<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n