Forest Service Collaboratives in California

Alpine Biomass Committee Team
Alpine Biomass Committee team on a site visit

5W's and H of Collaboratives

What

Collaboration is a process in which people with diverse views work together to achieve a common purpose. It involves sharing information and ideas to expand everyone’s knowledge of a topic or project, while identifying areas of agreement and disagreement, and working together to identify new and better ways of moving forward. Although it requires time and commitment up front, collaboration can make planning, decision making, and management more effective and more widely supported.
Collaboratives in the Forest Service utilize these principles of collaboration, and usually are defined by the following characteristics:

  • A group that works together to plan and/or implement work on a defined area of Forest Service lands and potentially adjacent lands or lands with a nexus to Forest Service lands;
  • A group of at least two distinct entities, in addition to the Forest Service, that represents diverse, and often cross-boundary, interests;
  • A group that has documented intention to work together over the long-term on more than one project;
  • A group that meets regularly and is nonexclusive, allowing new entities to join.

Why

There are many benefits to collaboration. Here are a few key ones:

  • More information: Sharing the process helps create a better understanding among all parties
  • Better decisions: More informed, more creative, more opportunity for dialogue
  • Better outcomes: When projects are well balanced between social, ecological and economic needs
  • More support: For projects when a network of people is invested in the outcome
  • Less conflict: When misunderstandings are addressed and trust is built

Who

There is a wide diversity of entities participating in collaboratives. Categories of partners that currently participate in collaboratives include: local, national, and international environmental non-profits, resource conservation districts, fire safe councils, city and county representatives or council members, concerned residents, private landowners, timber companies, utility companies, local, state, and federal natural resource and land management agencies and departments, tribal government or representatives, local businesses, local fire departments, academic institutions, and more.
The Forest Service also has a role to play in collaboratives. The role(s) that Forest Service staff play may include the following, and may change as the collaborative evolves:

  • Non-decision making participant
  • Subject matter expert
  • Forest Service process interpreter
  • Internal communications
  • Outreach and relationship leader
  • Project proponent
  • Facilitator
  • Collaboration leader

When

It is important to critically evaluate whether to engage in collaboration because working as a collaborative may not always be the best method. For collaboration to be successful, the following factors should be present:

  • Complex situation requiring multi-stakeholder solutions
  • Room for agreement between stakeholders
  • Willing participants interested in collaborating
  • Leadership that can spearhead the collaboration
  • Facilitation and coordination to ensure progress is made
  • Decision-maker is supportive of collaboration
  • Adequate resources to engage in collaboration

Where

There are two geographical foci collaborative groups may take: all lands or public lands. Collaboratives sometimes shift their focus as they evolve and grow.

All Lands: Collaborative groups that discuss projects and issues with an approach to land management that looks beyond National Forest land boundaries. Using an all lands approach includes planning and management that considers the contributions of state, private, tribal, citizen groups, and other land owner management and connectedness to Forest Service lands. An all lands approach does not mean that the Forest Service makes land management decision on non-Forest Service lands.

Public Lands:Collaborative groups that discuss projects and issues as they relate to areas within the boundaries of Federal public lands only. These collaborative groups still have members representing a diversity of interests, and organizations, but their issue focus is mainly on federally owned public lands.

How

The following ten principles of collaboration are important to building a strong foundation for engagement within collaboratives:

  • Work together
  • Embrace diversity
  • Be inclusive
  • Take risks
  • Build relationships
  • Practice transparency
  • Be accountable
  • Use clear rules of engagement
  • Monitor and evaluate
  • Collaborate at the right scale

To build this foundation, you can refer to the workbooks on Building a Solid Foundation for Collaborative Efforts and Maintaining the Foundation of Collaborative Groups.

These are many authorities that encourage or require collaboration. Some key ones and associated references are provided below:

Most information in this section draws heavily from the Pacific Northwest Region, Region 6, collaborative directory.

Pacific Northwest Region U.S. Forest Service. Collaborative Directory. U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture. June 2017.

Collaboration in Region 5

Importance

The Pacific Southwest Region is committed to continuing to engage with collaboratives. Collaboration is an opportunity to meet local community priorities, increase the safety and sustainability of our communities, engage in cross-boundary projects, restore ecosystems, build capacity, promote exchange of ideas and sharing of resources, and more. As the Forest Service looks to increase the pace and scale of restoration and fire prevention, partners must be engaged so that impact is maximized across large landscapes. Nearly every National Forest in Region 5 works with at least one collaborative or is in the process of jointly establishing a collaborative with partners.

Collaboratives in California

With 27 collaboratives in Region 5, there is a wide range of projects being implemented. Here, you can find information on each collaborative, including their mission, success stories, achievements, and areas of expertise. Each collaborative overview also provides contact information and their website for more information.

Locations indicated on this map link collaboratives to their respective National Forest(s), and are not indicative of project area

Additional Collaboration in Region 5

There are ten collaboratives in Hawaii that the Forest Service supports in their forestry restoration work. You can find out more about these collaboratives on the Hawaii Watershed Partnership Program Website. The collaboratives are alliances of public and private landowners committed to the common value of protecting Hawaii’s watersheds, and 95 partners participate in these collaboratives spanning over half of the land in Hawaii.  Each collaborative has its own field crew and staff, including a coordinator who helps find funding and direct collaborative work.

SCALE

Sierra to California All-Lands Enhancement, or SCALE, was a pilot initiative funded by the Forest Service to bring collaboratives together to promote the exchange of information and lessons learned amongst collaboratives. SCALE, run by the Sierra Institute for Communities and Environment, convened bi-annual meetings to facilitate peer-learning and build the capacity of the Pacific Southwest Region’s collaboratives, in addition to doing site visits to learn and share best practices of collaboratives. SCALE also guided collaboratives navigating funding and legislative uncertainties and produced research-based white papers.

The initiative included 12 collaboratives: Alpine Biomass Collaborative, Amador-Calaveras Consensus Group, Burney-Hat Creek Community Forest and Watershed Group, Dinkey Creek Landscape Restoration Partnership, FireScape Mendocino, Forest First Partnership, Lake Tahoe West Restoration Partnership, South Fork American River Cohesive Strategy Project, South Lassen Watersheds Group, Trinity County Collaborative, Western Klamath Restoration Partnership, and Yosemite Stanislaus Solutions.

The Community Capacity & Landscape Stewardship Grant Program

The Community Capacity & Landscape Stewardship Grant Program (CCLP) in R5 ran from 2013 to 2018. The Regional Office provided funding to the National Forest Foundation to run annual grant cycles to support collaborative development, based on the Forest Service Region 6 and Region 10 programs. The goal of the program was to build up local capacity toward achieving watershed restoration objectives. The CCLP program awarded grants up to $24,000 for items such as professional facilitation, training, development of restoration plans, and support for the collaborative process. Forest Service regional staff provided input and guidance, but these grants were administered by the National Forest Foundation.

Resources for Collaboratives

The collaborative directory below represents an overview of the extensive amount of work we are able to accomplish in partnership with collaboratives across California. The directory is an informal compilation of collaborative information and is meant to be used as a resource. The directory is neither promoting any collaboratives nor is it exhaustive.

This browser does not support PDFs. Please download the Collaborative Directory PDF.

Contacts 

National Collaboration Cadre

Sharon Timko
Public Engagement Specialist
Ecosystem Management Coordination, Washington Office
Office: 202-205-1140
Email: sharon.timko@usda.gov

See here for more information on national Forest Service collaborative support.

Collaboratives Contacts

Here you can find the contact information for collaboratives in Region 5. Both a Forest Service and non-Forest Service contact are provided for each collaborative.

Collaborative Resources