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domi
environ
agreement
They
at
ENVIRONMENTALIST
Collaboration
undercuts gains
long fought for
By ERICA ROSENBERG
There s nothing wrong with a group of people
historically at odds sitting down to find common
ground Or is there
For decades our public lands have been a bat
tleground timber wildlife recreation wilder
ness — which interests and uses should
nate But now collaboration is all the rage In
collaboration diverse stakeholders —
mentalists developers off roaders timber com
panies county officials — hash outan
on how to manage their local public lands and
then submit it to Congress for approval
The new paradigm means everyone sits down
with their adversaries But these collaborations
are troublesome particularly for environmental
ists who risk undermining their mission as well
as the very laws that are the basis of their power
effectiveness and legitimacy
For example a bill poised for introduc
tion in Congress would turn into law an agree
ment reached by one collaborative group on how
to manage Montana s 3 3 million acre Beaver
head Deerlodge National Forest The stakehold
ers Montana Wilderness Association National
Wildlife Federation Trout Unlimited and timber
companies — had one thingin common
hated the management plan proposed by the
Forest Service So they came up with their own
plan specifying which areas can be logged which
can be opened to off roaders and which should
be recommended to Congress for wilderness
designation
Sounds reasonable enough So what s wrong
To start as owners of the public lands all Amer
icans have a stake in their management and they
have not designated these representatives Even
the most inclusive collabo
Atlanta Journal­Constitution
Circulation: 318350
DMA: Atlanta, GA
City: Atlanta
State: GA
ration can go bad The Bea
Congress is verheadbill for example
ir Ji A triples the acreage where
mumtxi lu logging can take place from
nibber Stamp what was in the Forest Ser
theseloeallv vice plan
mese lotdiiy The collaborationpro
Sponsored totype the 1998 Quincy
initiatives Library Group legisla
mmauves tion illustrates the prob
Overlooking the lem That group named
y 1 h for the California town
a library where it met came
are an end run up with a plan for three
irnnnrl tVip lnw« national forests in the
aiound the laws sierra affectedby endan
that safeguard gered species listings The
DllbllC lands Proposal increased logging
puuiit ldiius while protecting pristine
areas When it landed in
Congress California Rep George Miller insisted
on adding one provision All environmental laws
would apply The Quincy Library proposal held
up at the time as a model of local consensus
based decision making has never been fully
implemented Why Primarily because it didn t
jibe with Endangered Species Act guidelines pro
tecting the California spotted owl
That environmentalist stakeholders signed
on to the Quincy Library agreement in the first
place highlights the danger of the collaboration
fad
For decades environmentalists fought to get
a more level playing field and establish transpar
ency and accountability in public lands policy
How ironic it would be then if in their eagerness
to embrace the new paradigm they craft and push
through Congress deals that undercut the very
laws that got them to the table in the first place
¦ Erica Rosenberg directsthe programon public policy
Arizona State University s law school and served as coun
seTEothe House Resources Committee from 1999 to 2004
© Copyright 01/31/2008 Atlanta Journal­Constitution Cision USA, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.
Unlicensed Reproduction, Sale or Republication Prohibited.
Account: 2565G0
Date: 01/31/2008
Pub Num: GA­D50
Section/Page: A19
Page Count: 1 / 1
RefNo: 32f759