Planning the Future

On November 3rd [2006], the Coronado Planning Partnership will be hosting a one day symposium, focused on some of the issues we feel are most important for discussion, as the Coronado NF moves forward in developing a new land and resource management plan, in collaboration with the public.

We have a great group of speakers with a broad range of experiences and perspectives. We are scheduling the presentations in a way that provides plenty of time for questions after each presentation.

We invite you to participate in this important meeting, which will take place at the Ward 6 offices, located at 3202 E 1st St, from 8:30 am to 5 pm. This event is Free but we are asking that you please RSVP to David at dhodges@skyislandalliance.org or 520-624-7080 ext. 201. We will provide the final agenda, with times for each speaker when you RSVP.

Our speakers are:

David Hodges, Policy Director at Sky Island Alliance – David will speak about what the Forest Planning process is, and what it does and doesn't do. He will also touch on some of the biggest challenges facing both land management agencies and the public in the current Forest Planning process. 8:30 – 9:15

Click here to download David's PowerPoint presentation. (360 MB)

Paul Hirt, Associate Professor of History at Arizona State University – Paul, who has written a book on the history of national forest management, will speak on the origins of land management planning on National Forest lands, and comment on the previous forest planning process in the 1980s on the Coronado National Forest, highlighting what worked and what didn't, as well as problems with implementation.  His review of the recent history of land management planning offers lessons for those hoping to improve the current round of planning. 9:15 – 10:00

Click here for an outline of Paul's talk, with recommendations to the Forest Service. (PDF)

Mac Donaldson, co-owner of the Empire Ranch at the Las Cienegas National Conservation Area – Mac will be speaking on the many challenges of Adaptive Management as well as lessons learned. 10:00 – 10:45

Click here for a summary of Mac's talk. (PDF)

Bill McDonald, Executive Director and a founder of the Malpai Borderlands Group – Bill will be talking about the importance of protecting critical valley corridors and habitat, much of which is on private lands, between the scattered National Forest units. Bill will explain how he and his neighbors have done this while introducing fire back in to the system, protected wildlife, and have continued to live and work on the land. 10: 45 – 11:30

Click here for a link to the website of the Malpai Borderlands Group.

Lunch 11:30 – 12:30

Chris Kassar, Conservation Biologist with the Center for Biological Diversity – Chris will be speaking about the new Travel Management Rule and what it will mean for National Forest lands in the Sky Islands. The travel management planning process will take place over the next two years and will determine what roads are closed and what will stay open, as a part of the transportation system for the Coronado NF, far into the future. 12:30 – 1:15

Click here for a PDF version of Chris's presentation. (5 MB PDF)

Rob Marshall, Director of Science for The Nature Conservancy in Arizona – Rob will share information on the Southwest Forest Assessment Project. With this assessment, Region 3 of USFS and The Nature Conservancy have been working collaboratively since August of 2004 to develop ecological data and modeling tools to support Forest Plan revisions for the 11 National Forests in Arizona and New Mexico. Six new regional datasets have been developed that address ecosystem-level changes and evaluate species-level distribution patterns across the 11 forests.  All data and tools are available to the public at www.azconservation.org. Models of vegetation change were developed to compare historical and current conditions and to enable USFS to develop scenarios for desired future conditions.  The presentation will provide an overview of these new data and tools and illustrate their application to the planning process with examples from the Coronado National Forest. 1:15 – 2:00

Click here for a link to the Southwest Forest Assessment Project.

Jennifer Ruyle, Forest Planner and Revision Team Leader for the Coronado National Forest – Jennifer will talk about the Coronado's timeline for developing the new Forest Management Plan and key steps along the way, including the soon to be completed Comprehensive Evaluation Report. 2:00 – 2:30

Click here to download Jennifer's PowerPoint presentation. (0.5 MB file)

Perry Grissom, Fire Ecologist at Saguaro NP – Perry will be discussing the current state of fire management in the Rincon's, a system that is mostly roadless, steep, and has Wildlands-Urban Interface on a part of it's boundary. He will also talk about the history of fire management in the Park, which leads us to where we are today. 2:30 – 3:15

Click here to download Perry's PowerPoint presentation. (30 MB file)

Rebecca Carter, Project Manager of the SocioEconomics Program at the Sonoran Institute – Rebecca will be speaking on a recent report that SI produced, which looked at the economic impact of rural areas when adjacent public lands were given a protective designation, such as National Monument or Wilderness. 3:15 – 4:00

Click here for a PDF version of Rebecca's presentation. (5 MB PDF)

Melanie Lenart, Research Associate with the Climate Assessment for the Southwest (CLIMAS) team at the U of A's Institute for the Study of the Planet Earth – Melanie will be speaking on changes we can expect over the next 25 years in the Sky Islands as a result of Global Warming, as well as potential management strategies for dealing with these changes. 4:00 – 4:45