Transforming Conflict into Collaboration

“ The whole meeting just turned into really a shouting match of indictments and accusations that never went anywhere, except that these people that sat on this side of the room left mad. ”

This speaker might be describing any number of meeting where agencies, special interests and resource users get together to negotiate resource management. As it turns out, the speaker is describing how meetings used to be – and making a point about how her group has the opportunity “to, enhance, improve our skills —communication and collaborative skills, so that we will never be guilty of having a meeting like that [again].”

This speaker is a family rancher, and a member of the Ranching Heritage Alliance, a group formed in the summer of 2008, with the support of SNRE faculty and research staff. The group’s mission is to change the tone of community relations – to turn “conflict into collaboration for improved stewardship of public rangelands.” The group seeks to create dialog with all parties – agencies, environmental groups, ranchers and the public, with the goal of developing science-based solutions for healthy rangelands.

The UA has held collaborative workshops and trained ranchers to monitor rangeland health in the region since 2004. In the summer of 2007, SNRE professor George Ruyle and Research Specialist, Jennifer Arnold held a focus group with six key ranching families to brainstorm ways to reduce conflicts, and enable ranchers to better manage resources. The efforts of both ranchers and researchers came together in the summer of 2008, when the Ranching Heritage Alliance was formed.

The RHA is currently pursuing a range of strategies: hosting and attending workshops, partnering with agencies and universities, participating in social and ecological research, and collecting and disseminating natural resource data for management and monitoring. The ranchers involved also seek to develop individual ranch management plans, through the process. In early 2009, Dr. Ruyle identified the potential of the National Riparian Service Team (NRST), an inter-agency team of resource specialists, to support the group. A recent workshop with the group was well-attended and successful (see press on the event under Related Links).

Controversy over grazing on public rangelands in the southwest centers on the management of sensitive riparian ecosystems and related endangered species. The Apache Sitgreaves National Forest, where the Ranching Heritage Alliance works, is no exception. The level of participation and dedication of the stakeholders is exceptional, however. The Oregon-based National Riparian Service Team noted that it was the largest and most pro-active group they had ever worked with on these issues.

Researchers and extension specialists continue to support RHA in its mission:

“ To promote a spirit of understanding, cooperation, collaboration and communication among community members, agencies and special interests, to work toward realizing a common vision for landscape stewardship, which includes the cultural attributes, ecological processes and economic viability that will sustain ranching families, open space, wildlife habitat, productive watersheds, recreational opportunities and other sustainable benefits. ”

Support from the Renewable Resources Extension Act for the National Riparian Service Team workshop.