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Summary Report Available for Thunder Basin Collaborative Learning Workshops
Release Date:
Media Contact: Aaron Voos, (307) 745-2323
(DOUGLAS, Wyo.) Sept. 19, 2016 – The U.S. Forest Service (USFS) is pleased to announce that the University of Wyoming Ruckelshaus Institute of Environment and Natural Resources has released a summary report on three collaborative learning workshops held earlier this year regarding the greater Thunder Basin National Grassland (TBNG) landscape.
The summary report is available at the following web site: www.uwyo.edu/haub/ruckelshaus-institute/collaborative-solutions/thunder-basin/index.html
Ruckelshaus Institute held workshops on behalf of the USFS and the series addressed the past, present and future of the TBNG. Events took place in Douglas, Newcastle, and Gillette, Wyo. All three collaborative learning workshops were well attended, with the most consistent topics revolving around wildlife habitat management, particularly prairie dog colony management.
Among other things, the report notes the impressive and consistent public participation in the process, and the adjustments stakeholders made to engage in it. Also noted is the high degree of support from all stakeholders to continue a collaborative process and to build on the increased trust that the USFS and its constituents have helped to create in this process.
The report recommends that the USFS continue the collaborative learning process and re-engage with public land management cooperators on a variety of issues.
The U.S. Forest Service is moving forward with the creation of an intergovernmental group of Federal, Tribal, state, and local governments, and continuing the collaborative learning workshops. In coordination with our partners, details of these two transparent and inclusive efforts are forthcoming in the next few months.
This approach by the USFS parallels the final report from the UW Ruckelshaus Institute, as well as the Governor’s Task Force on Forests, which recommends local collaborative efforts to address local forest management issues.
The TBNG, covering nearly 550,000 acres, is located in northeastern Wyoming in the Powder River Basin between the Big Horn Mountains and the Black Hills. Elevations on the National Grassland range from 3,600 feet to 5,200 feet and the climate is semi-arid.
Wildlife abounds year-round on the National Grassland, while it also provides forage for livestock and is underlain with vast mineral resources. Land patterns are very complex because federal, state and private lands are intermingled.
The Douglas Ranger District (DRD) administers the Thunder Basin National Grassland.
For more information about management of the Thunder Basin National Grassland, contact the DRD at (307) 358-4690 or stop by at 2250 East Richards Street in Douglas between 8 a.m. – 4:30 p.m., Mon.-Fri.