Initially, there were several challenges to overcome: "Turf, ego the human elements - those are the real barriers," said Weldon. Canfield agreed, "personalities are often a problem." Both believed that the process they've developed for working together would solve these problems over time. "Outlining exactly how coordination works," is the best answer said Canfield. Weldon said the best thing one can do about problems with "the human elements is to forget about them." He believed the processes and the successes that will result will make these problems disappear. And, in fact, two years after the initial interviews were conducted in developing this case study, Canfield commented "some of the 'bugs' we noted then have virtually disappeared over time. We continue to develop mutual respect and the 'habit' of working together has become fairly routine."
Canfield, LaMarr, and Mike Korn, Helena Area Coordinator for Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (FWP), all noted the challenge in managing the land and the resources within a single ecosystem by three agencies that each have different mandates. "In general, the state (FWP) manages for wildlife and federal agencies (FS and BLM) manage the land, so it has always been difficult to satisfy everyone when decisions and plans are being made, " said Canfield. Furthermore, even when agencies agree to priority projects, tightening budgets and shrinking staff numbers mean that these projects are still not always completed.
In the past, there had been some problems with "equality" between the agencies. "We have to be careful not to forget BLM," Canfield said. Good says, however, that his agency has been forgotten several times. "The Forest Service has more of a dedicated group, more manpower," Good explained. "I have a smaller group, and they're spread all over heck. Sometimes the Forest Service would say, 'we'll go ahead with this, you catch up later.'" Good said the answer, for him, is simply not to allow them to do this: "I tell them, if you do this once, you're going to keep doing it, and then we all may as well forget it." Despite his efforts, however, he said "we keep doing this over and over."
The effort has also faced some barriers in attempting to work with the general public. In the early 1990s, the Elkhorn group tried to establish a Coordinated Resources Management (CRM) Group to gain input from local interests. However, the group had difficulty finding people who truly represented different stakeholder interests and “the meetings were often contentious and angry,” said Korn. However, the agencies had better success gaining public input through what Canfield called “grassroots public involvement,” such as sending out mailing and holding open houses and meetings. Currently, a new working group has been convened to address growing conflicts between grazing and wildlife needs in the Elkhorn Mountains, and early efforts appear promising. In January 2002, representatives from the three major agencies invited a range of stakeholders -- permit holders, ranchers, hunters, conservation groups, private landowners -- to attend preliminary meetings. After 6 months of discussing the issues and options, the group has put together a series of viable recommendations for the three agencies. It is unclear whether a private citizen group can continue to legally function under the auspices of federal agencies due to FACA regulations, so the group is becoming an independent entity and will only receive logistical support from FWP.
This site was developed by the Ecosystem Management Initiative through a partnership with the US Forest Service and the US Department of Interior. Read more.
