Many conservationists have long wished for greater say over management of public lands. Some have sought to influence land management through the courts, but the results have been limited. Lawsuits seem better suited to finding fault with the plans and actions of government agencies than in actually producing better results on the ground. Conservationists have much to contribute toward more enlightened land use, especially to encourage managers to keep multiple use and the broad array of resources in balance with revenue-producing activities, like logging and grazing. But for conservation groups to contribute meaningfully, they need to be able to do more than say “No.”
This is why we're cheering - and you should too - agreements signed in mid-December in Missoula by the U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management and the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation.
The agreements were awarded under relatively new “stewardship contracting” provisions in federal law. Standard management practice is for the Forest Service to auction off timber or grazing rights, sending the money to the Treasury, while awaiting appropriations from Congress to pay for work beneficial to wildlife, water quality, recreation and other forest resources and uses. Stewardship contracting allows agencies to plow money generated from resource sales directly back into on-the-ground work - almost always increasing what work actually gets funded and accomplished.
The Elk Foundation's main mission, as the contracted steward for the lands covered by the agreements, will be to improve wildlife habitat. Doing so will involve logging - thinning forests and harvesting timber. This will put loggers and truckers to work and help supply mills with raw material. That's all the timber industry - long the dominant contractor in the national forests - really wants. But with one of the nation's leading conservation organizations in the driver's seat, we should be able to trust that the logging will be done to an extent and in ways that improve forest health and productivity. Building trust, in part by more extensively involving local groups and businesses in meaningful, hands-on land management work, could be one of the most valuable commodities produced by these projects.
Stewardship contracting isn't going to resolve every issue. It's probably not suitable for every site or situation. But it's certainly a promising new tool. It's hard to think of a better way to prove its potential than by bringing in the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation for such a long-term, large-scale demonstration.
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