Upper Stony Creek Watershed Restoration

Location:

California (within Mendocino
National Forest)

What is fostering progress?

Gilgert believes that the project has been successful because he and his staff have been able to gain ranchers’ trust over time. He said his staff has been lucky enough to find ranchers who are willing to reach for a common goal and to take risks to do so. In addition, Gilgert said that the best way to get staff from different agencies and ranchers to all work together is to “find common ground.” He continued, “That’s not hard to do. We all like to breathe clean air. We all like to be around our families. We all like uncontaminated food. [When] we start talking about the similarities, the differences kind of melt away, so we can concentrate on the kinds of things we all agree on and we try to work our way a little at a time on the differences.”

 

Gilgert also believes that the educational component of the project is a very important part of its success. He emphasized that merely providing cost-sharing for projects is not enough, and that educational outreach is necessary to help provide people with guidance and information. Nay emphasizes, “In the end the thing that really makes a difference is what people learned in the process. Did we really change their behaviors and their beliefs about how large landscapes should be managed?”

 

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.