Statewide Extension of Best Practices

The Coronado National Forest was the first in the Southwest Region (Region 3) to initiate the revision of its Land and Resource Management Plan under the 2005 planning rule. But every other Forest in the Region either has begun or will soon begin its plan revision process. Lessons learned on the Coronado—especially with respect to public participation and collaboration—will be invaluable exports to these other Forests. Conversely, as the Coronado enters the midstream of its planning process, new approaches explored elsewhere in Arizona and New Mexico can provide essential course corrections. The Coronado Planning Campaign mirrors this sharing of knowledge and experience by extending its resources throughout the Southwest, and by staying tuned to efforts on other National Forests in the region.

How Is the Coronado Planning Campaign Extending Its Reach?

Organizations involved with the Coronado Planning Partnership are leaders in the Arizona Forest Plan Revision Coalition. This informal coalition brings together the Arizona conservation community to share ideas, resources, and planning toward achieving the best possible Plan Revisions for Arizona's forests. The group includes Sierra Club-Grand Canyon Chapter, the Center for Biological Diversity, Grand Canyon Wildlands Council, Arizona Wilderness Coalition, Arizona Zoological Society, The Wildlands Project, Forest Guardians, Maricopa Audubon Society, Sky Island Alliance, Grand Canyon Trust, and the Arizona Wildlife Federation.

Like the Coronado Planning Partnership, the Arizona Forest Plan Revision Coalition is centered on a statement of principles (Principles to Guide Forest Plan Revisions), submitted to the Regional Forester on behalf of the coalition's constituencies. Addressed in these principles are (1) collaboration, (2) fire protection for the community and wildland-urban interface, (3) cultural resources, (4) economic compatibility, (5) fire and fuels management, (6) grazing, (7) human trends, (8) invasive species, (9) mining, (10) recreation, (11) old growth, (12) the precautionary approach to ecosystem conservation, (13) resources for research, monitoring, mitigation, and enforcement, (14) restoration of ecosystems, (15) roadless areas, (16) Special Management Areas, (17) transportation system, (18) visual resources, (19) watersheds, (20) Wild and Scenic Rivers, (21) Wilderness, and (22) wildlife species and habitats. Elements of the Coronado Planning Partnership's statement of principles were adapted, or incorporated wholesale, into this document.

What Are the Current Goals and Strategies for Statewide Extension?

Goal:
Share lessons learned through the Coronado Planning Campaign with other conservation organizations engaged in planning efforts throughout Arizona and the Southwest Region.

Strategies:
•  Advise the Arizona Forest Plan Revision Coalition on developments in the Coronado Planning Partnership.
•  Develop and deliver a workshop for planning coalitions that are focused on other National Forests in Arizona, to offer guidance based on the Coronado experience.
•  Produce a white paper on private-sector collaboration in the Coronado Forest Plan.

As a result of these strategies, the Coronado Planning Partnership expects that
•  Stakeholders in National Forests statewide will streamline and strengthen their advocacy for conservation-based management as a result of the Partnership's work.

What Lies Ahead?

Collaboration among stakeholders is the lifeblood of the new generation of Forest Plans. Through documents, stakeholder agreements, and collective action on the ground, the Coronado Planning Partnership and its allies, including the Forest Neighbor Network, are building a long-term network of exchange that links forests and the people who care about them.