What New Mexico Has to Offer - Part II: a New Form of Park Recreation

New Mexico in autumn was refreshingly cool and clear. The scenery was very reminiscent of the eastern coastal pine forests, but at a much higher altitude, with larger hills, and a drier climate. My guide, from The Forest Guild, Eytan Krasilovsky, and I walked the trails of the Santa Fe National Forest on a fine early morning. Our conversation was lively and uplifting.

A slight figured man with a youthful expression, he began, "We offer involvement. If you live in New Mexico and are concerned about our forests, you aren't alone. For the many groups involved in this project that I will show you here, and in the many others scattered throughout the state, we monitor the forest's well being, checking its trees and shrubs, their sizes, locations, and ages. We take photographs and look for evidence of change over time too. We build a foundation from which we take actions to restore a more resilient forest, with less risk of high intensity fires."

"You do?!" I said, catching my breath, mindful of the altitude. "That's not what we do where I come from! Where I live, it doesn't matter how much time you spend outdoors, hiking, hunting, riding horse, birding, taking pictures, or being a naturalist. But what does matter is political power and the influence it wields." My shoulders sagged. "We fight. How is what you say possible?"

"There's no mystery or magic in what we do. It's all about multiparty monitoring. It helps us reduce conflict by providing the means to discuss different ideas and to reach agreement about appropriate management activities." He paused to admit, "Oh yes, we also have those who seek to steer us away from collaboration. It's far too easy to talk over people's heads, and get everyone discouraged. But when the many come together to out compete the one overpowering voice, we succeed with a valued community forest restoration project."

Rummaging through his pack for a handout, he gave it to me. It described the Collaborative Forest Restoration Program as a cost-share grant program for cooperative and collaborative forest restoration on public lands in New Mexico. According to this U.S. Forest Service web page, "Projects must include a diversity of stakeholders in their design and implementation, and address specified objectives, including: wildfire threat reduction; ecosystem restoration, including non-native tree species reduction; reestablishment of historic fire regimes; reforestation; preservation of old and large trees; increased utilization of small diameter trees; and the creation of forest-related local employment."

I briefly scanned the handout, and said, doubtfully, "All this requires an openness and honesty that I don't think I can muster."

"You aren't alone in your thinking. Collaboration is a new way of learning and doing. It presents many unknowns to collaboration newbie's."

Retracing our steps back down the trail, birds flitted delicately among the trees, sung clearly, and flew picture perfect against a blue sky. In New Mexico, I must also think and act differently. With a pair of binoculars and field guide in hand, I worked to identify a bird.

Eytan paused and waited.

He offered me a sports drink as I put away my field guide.

"Thanks, I keep on forgetting how dry it gets in New Mexico."

"Let me suggest some ideas to you," he said eagerly lifting his arm up as if reaching for an imaginary fruit. "You see, we have found it most effective to work on 'low hanging fruits' first, those that are easy to reach. Yet disagreements are O.K. and are often beneficial to the process. Disagreements can produce more meaningful outcomes as long as they are civil and common ground can be reached on these 'low hanging fruits first.' The idea is that the group moves forward on what they agree upon, not on what they disagree upon. We first built and now apply New Mexico's Forest Restoration Principles.

"Well, I just want to improve wild blueberry stands for recreational picking and increase native grasses and wildflowers within our pine forest for beauty and ecology. To me a restoration isn't complete without things that explore our relationship to the land."

He nodded. "For more ideas, you can also look at A Declaration of Civic Principles for Responsible Forest Restoration. In Mexico, we are also concerned about making the restoration economically beneficial for the community too."

"Exactly! Many of us would appreciate some financial compensation in hard times."

Driving back to Santa Fe, we entered into the old city. Street artists and art galleries opened. Shiny metal suns smiled. Strings of dried red chilies hung on doorways. The cities adobe architecture was earthy and intimate. An animal statue caught my eye, and I could almost hear hooves pounding on dry desert soils.

Dropping me back at the hotel, he said, "When a person proposes a multiparty monitoring project under our U.S. Forest Service grant program, they're going to follow our restoration principles, which you can also develop in your home state. You will then know what to expect in terms of the restoration's monitoring and management actions."

"I've spoken with a state forester who questioned this approach. He said outreach to all interested parties wouldn't be easy."

"Not every interested party needs to be contacted. It's not supposed to perfect, just better than the status quo. Multiparty monitoring as a means toward collaborative natural resource management doesn't need public involvement as long as outreach is made to interested parties who want to participate in a constructive way."

I nodded. The trip to New Mexico had opened my eyes to new possibilities.

Will my own state adopt a program modeled after New Mexico? The goals behind The Community Forest Restoration Act are to: design collaborative and cost effective restoration projects, empower diverse organizations to implement activities which value local and traditional knowledge, build ownership and civic pride, and ensure healthy, diverse, and productive forests and watersheds.

In Conclusion

The challenge is not to better manage the public but to instead come to terms with a new form of recreation that includes the public in meaningful ways. The first part of this series described the circumstances that exist in the eastern Pine Barrens. This second article builds public involvement in the planning and monitoring of big restoration and management projects. The next article will describe the pros and cons of volunteering and of seasonal hires, what it means, what to watch out for, and how to take actions. I would like to thank all those who contributed to this article: Quality Parks contributors.