If you partner with BLM, here's some good news: The President’s Budget recommends $69,549,000 for the National Landscape Conservation System, an increase of $4,580,000 over last year. The BLM's National Landscape Conservation System includes Wilderness, WSAs, NCAs and nationally designated trails and rivers.
If your organization works with BLM to steward and protect these areas, please contact your Congressional delegation and ask them to support the President's budget for the National Landscape Conservation System.
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If you'd like to get involved more with NWSA,
serving on committees or the Board,
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Wilderness has been called an enduring resource. But those who know it well understand that it needs nurturing, tending and protecting if it is to endure.
Climate change and its attendant wildfires and insect infestations, along with overuse and access issues are just some of the threats to our nation’s wilderness. Another is a shrinking federal budget. The four federal agencies charged to manage wilderness (BLM, NPS, USFS, and USFWS) are falling further and further behind in maintaining wilderness areas as their funding dries up.
Indeed, shrinking budgets during the past 15 years or so have galvanized the wilderness stewardship movement, according to Dave Cantrell, National Wilderness Stewardship Alliance (NWSA) Board Chair.
“Right now, just a fraction of the nation’s 757 wilderness areas have local volunteer groups dedicated to their stewardship. But we've seen across every American landscape that we citizens will engage, that we will protect our heritage, whatever the state of federal budgets. Our confidence in that vision was the impetus to form the NWSA, the only national organization that focuses exclusively on wilderness stewardship."
“The good news is that volunteers are out there. But they need support: to build capacity, to learn from each other, and to create synergy around programs and opportunities for partnership,” Cantrell says. “Our wilderness areas have lacked funding for full stewardship for years, and additional cuts are underway. As NGOs, wilderness stewardship groups can still go after funds from the nonprofit world.”
Since forming two years ago, the NWSA has:
• Met with numerous agency staff, beginning to forge long-term, strategic relationships
• Built the essential groundwork for a sustainable national organization
• Worked with three local groups to build capacity, leadership and skills
• Designed workshops to help local volunteers learn how to incorporate, write a mission statement and partner with federal agencies
• Convened the popular annual stewardship conference.
“We’ve set some ambitious goals for ourselves in 2012,” Cantrell says. The NWSA will work to:
• Understand the ways each agency works with volunteer stewards, so we can support each agency within their model.
• Support our members’ desire to see consistent training and certification with traditional tools.
• Complete MOUs with all four NWPS agencies.
• Continue our research to identify every stewardship group across the National Wilderness Preservation System,
and invite them to join our critical work.
• Hold workshops to show new stewardship groups how to form, and help them get underway.
• Find more and more ways to support our members, and help them network to support each other.
“And our annual conference, scheduled for November 1-4 in Asheville, NC, is shaping up great,” Cantrell notes. "Of course there will be great presentations and workshops. But the most important part of the conference is to meet other stewards — we heard loud and clear that the networking at last year's conference was both invaluable and inspiring.”
“It has been thrilling to see the enthusiasm for our mission from local stewards everywhere, from national and regional NGOs, and from the National Wilderness Preservation System agencies,” Cantrell says. “The need is clear and urgent, and we're confident we have the support to meet it. We'll work hard now to forge strong, enduring, functional relationships with all wilderness stewards,” he concluded.
Who are you working with?
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The crosscut saw is one of the icons of the wilderness steward, a symbol of the restraint and care that should be used in managing the nation’s wilderness. But training and certification in the saw’s use is a time consuming process. That’s one reason why the U.S. Forest Service has formed a working group to develop a nationally consistent policy on training and certification.
Standing nearly as tall as a person and requiring two people to use it efficiently, the crosscut saw isn’t something to be mastered in an hour or two. It takes real training to learn to wield it, to know the dangers its use can invite, and to understand how to use it safely.
“The federal land agencies all offer training on the crosscut saw and other traditional tools. But each agency has different requirements for training and certification, as do different USFS regions and forests,” says Jimmy Gaudry, Southern Region Wilderness and Wild & Scenic Rivers Program Leader and liaison to the NWSA Board. “As a result, a sawyer certified on one forest may find s/he’s not certified to work or volunteer on a different forest, park, refuge or BLM area.”
The topic sparked a lively discussion at the National Wilderness Stewardship Alliance conference last March. Wilderness stewards were frustrated at the time it takes to get certified and by the lack of consistent training across forests, regions and agencies. The inconsistencies lead to serious inefficiencies and have interfered with steward organizations’ efforts. Many agency staff at the meeting noted that this was a long-festering concern among NGOs and agency personnel.
Joel Holtrop, then Deputy Chief of the Forest Service (who has since retired), took the matter to heart and formed a USFS working group. This working group consists of a mix of USFS personnel from the field, regional offices, and the Washington Office. The group has been meeting regularly since January, 2012 with the goal of having draft recommendations this summer.
“The saw policy working group will propose recommendations for Forest Service national guidance related to non-fire use of chainsaws (outside of wilderness areas) and crosscut saws, “ says Steve Chesterton, a member of the group and a Natural Resources Specialist for the USFS Wilderness and Wild and Scenic Rivers Program. “Its goals are to promote the safe use of saws on National Forest System land and optimize utilization of all trained and certified sawyers on projects, whether they be employees, partners, volunteers, or contractors.”
Another objective of the working group is to establish a consistent standard for determining who can train crosscut sawyers. This may allow for some volunteers to assume the role of trainer and assist the Forest Service in meeting the increasing demand for this skill.
“Currently, a volunteer is typically trained and recommended for certification by a Forest Service employee, and then approved by a district ranger or forest supervisor. “There may be more efficient ways of moving the certification along.” noted Gaudry.
Still under consideration and discussion is the mechanism in which the working group’s recommendations will be brought forward and shared.
The USFS effort is welcome news for steward groups that work with the Forest Service, but what about training consistency across other lands agencies?
“As our work within the USFS progresses we will continue to share our efforts with other agencies. We are always looking for opportunities to work with other agencies to foster more collaboration in this arena and have many successes already occurring such as interagency workshops.” says Gaudry.
One such is the Wilderness Skills Institute, scheduled for North Carolina May 21- June 1. A joint project of The Wilderness Society’s Southern Appalachian Wilderness Stewards program, The Appalachian Trail Conservancy, The United States Forest Service and The National Park Service, the Institute will cover crosscut saws and much more. Check out the Institute here.
Learn more about the use of traditional tools.
Contribute to the discussion. Share your ideas for streamlining training and cert, or ask a question, at our discussion board.
The U.S. Forest Service released its new Preferred Alternative of the Planning Rule on February 3. The preferred alternative emphasizes collaboration and strengthens the role of public involvement and dialogue throughout the planning process. It also would require the use of the best available scientific information to inform decisions.
“This rule is so important because it governs the way each national forest creates its long-term management plan,” explains Randy Welsh, Washington Office, Wild and Scenic River Program lead, and liaison to the NWSA Board. “These management plans lay out goals and objectives, desired future conditions, special management areas and the main focus of management direction for each forest. Wilderness is included as a management zone, so it’s part of the planning mix,” Welsh points out.
As local forests take up planning, wilderness stewards should definitely be involved in the planning process, according to Welsh.
“I would encourage stewards to work with Wilderness Managers on stewardship projects and, when the opportunity arises to engage in wilderness planning,” says Welsh. “One of the great things about our country and our public lands system is that each citizen can be involved in how their public lands are managed through the opportunity to provide public comment and to engage in workshops and other collaboration activities of forest planning.”
The new rule includes requirements to provide for ecosystem services, protect wilderness areas and wild and scenic rivers, and appropriately manage other designated areas. It continues the evaluative process for identifying wilderness and making wilderness recommendations to Congress, a process established with the Wilderness Act of 1964.
It’s been 30 years since the last forest planning rule was put in place to guide forest planning. The new Rule received nearly 300,000 public comments, prompting Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to dub it “the most collaborative rulemaking effort in agency history.” The final rule will be adopted by the agency after a 30 day public review period which ends in early March.
Learn how the new rule is different from 1982 rule.
If your view of spring break involves sunny beaches, loud music and too much to drink, it’s time to reassess. Many colleges are now hosting service projects during spring and winter break and summer vacations. It’s a chance for young people to see a new part of the country while getting some real life work experience and making a difference.
In December, 13 college students from the University of Illinois descended on Bill Hodge from the University of Illinois' Alternative Spring Program the Southern Appalachian Wilderness Stewards, a program of The Wilderness Society and the Cherokee National Forest in Tennessee.
“I got a call in August and had about four months to put the service project in place, “ Hodge said.
The students spent five days in the Bald River Gorge Wilderness of the Cherokee National Forest in Tennessee, restoring almost five miles of trail. They cared for their own tools, cleaning and sharpening them for the next day.
They even got a thorough briefing on the history of the Wilderness Act, thanks to one very rainy day that prompted a wilderness overview by Bill and a viewing of the documentary, Wild by Law.
The Forest Service provided housing, liability coverage, and the necessary tools while the Alternative Spring Program handled transportation to Tennessee. SAWS provided the training and oversight, and put the program together.
It was a life changing experience for the students –two of them are now considering environmental majors – and a life affirming one for Bill.
“These kids showed up knowing they were going to be outside on the trail in the winter doing very hard work. They showed grit and real commitment,” Hodge said. “It was inspirational to see this younger generation pitch in at that level.”
How to connect:
Summer break may be the next opportunity to put a college service program to work in your wilderness area, and it’s not too early to start inquiring about partnerships for next winter or spring break.
Start with an internet search using the term "alternative spring break," or search on the name of a college or university close to you and the terms, “service project” or “outreach.” Many of these programs are student run. Be prepared to provide a brief write up of your project, what you will provide (such as housing and meals), as well as the work that will be performed. Always try to relate the work to the students’ growth and education.
Don’t overlook students in large universities in other states who might be seeking experiences in new geographical areas. For example, the University of Illinois, which provided the students for the SAWS winter break trail project, offered students service opportunities in five different states during winter break.
VOC seeks Volunteer and Partnership Coordinator at San Luis Valley Public Lands Center, Monte Vista, Colorado.
Applications are due no later than 5:00 PM on February 6th. Please see complete article for application information.
The San Luis Valley Public Lands Center (SLVPLC) recognizes the need for a volunteer and partnership program coordinator to provide leadership and coordination in order to take advantage of youth corps, volunteers and partnerships in the San Luis Valley to care for public lands. The SLVPLC recognized VOC’s leadership in the field of volunteer management and on the ground project coordination and formed a partnership to create this position in May, 2009. The current position is funded initially for 10 months with the desire to continue it on an ongoing basis.
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