Citizen-Advocate Oversight Framework

Throughout the 2006-2008 planning process, the Coronado Planning Campaign will be dedicated to strengthening the conservation content of the revised Land and Resource Management Plan for the Forest. But even a strong new plan will be just the beginning. It will be a form of strategic guidance, but implementation on the ground will require attention to specific actions (such as restoration of a degraded ecosystem or enforcement of travel restrictions). Citizens of the Sky Island Region have a key role to play in this implementation, and in the long-term oversight of the strategic and project-level plans.

Easier said than done? Perhaps. But the Coronado Planning Campaign is committed to building on existing assets in Sky Island communities to create a framework for advocacy and oversight. Through this framework, participating individuals and groups will measure progress toward the stated goals of the Forest Plan, while using their knowledge and sense of place to achieve these goals in collaboration with the Forest Service.

How Will the Oversight Framework Be Built?

Constituents of the oversight framework have identified themselves (and will continue to do so) through the Coronado Planning Partnership, the Forest Neighbor Network, the Forest Service's collaborative planning workshops, and the community of scientists with research interests in the Sky Islands and the Coronado. The campaign also will bring in new support from nontraditional allies through innovative outreach. The Sky Island Action Center will be another avenue to inform and enlist advocates for plan implementation and oversight.

But the Action Center's role extends far beyond recruitment. As a hub for information and communication, the Action Center will provide the nucleus for organizing the advocate “supergroup” and for keeping it together over the long term. Newly forming place-based groups will have access to information, outreach materials, and training from existing organizations (for example, Friends groups) with experience on the Coronado's Ecosystem Management Areas (EMAs). Friends groups from different EMAs will be able to exchange information easily. Within the lifespan of the Coronado Planning Campaign, the Action Center will become the repository for a private-sector monitoring program, with strong input both from the scientific community and from place-based communities and organizations. Once program design is complete, monitoring data, analyses, and interpretations will be available through the Action Center's channels. Beyond the horizon of the campaign, the Coronado Planning Partnership will maintain this function of the Action Center.

What Are the Current Goals and Strategies for the Oversight Framework?

Goal:
Initiate a framework for long-term citizen-advocate oversight of the Coronado's Forest Plan.

Strategies:
•  Conduct training (workshops and mentoring) in conservation planning and ecological monitoring for small, site-based groups.
•  Foster formation of Adopt an Area programs and Friends groups as embodiments of the concerns of neighboring communities.
•  Design and implement a citizen-advocate monitoring program for desired conditions, etc.
•  House the data and analyses for the monitoring program at the Sky Island Action Center, with participant-group access to both, and with public access to summaries of results.

As a result of these strategies, the Coronado Planning Partnership expects that
•  Community groups with links to specific Coronado EMAs will have the knowledge base and the operational structure to act on their land-management concerns.