Collaboration & Leadership Forums

Collaborative Leadership in Land Management 

 

Amplifying Local Perspectives for Tongass Management

Staff from the Sitka Conservation Society are regularly appointed to and participate in collaborative advisory bodies that inform land management decision-making and priorities, including local fish and game advisory committees, municipal resource management task forces, and federally designated advisory committees that are convened to inform everything from the creation of an Alaska-specific Roadless Rule to the revision of the Tongass Land Management Plan.  

Our work in these forums is focused on increasing local voices in land management and creating conservation outcomes by diversifying agency management focus and priorities. Historically, old growth timber harvest has driven agency budgets and staff time, while wildlife habitat  restoration, tribal co-management, land protection, and recreation programs have been neglected. Sitka Conservation Society works to raise the profile of and increase investment in projects and policies that restore habitat health and ecosystem function; increase collaboration and partnerships between land management agencies, tribes, businesses, and community organizations; and plan for the long term sustainability of the forest and resources that local communities depend on. We use our long-term participation in these forums to advocate for and create opportunities for other entities to participate and new perspectives to come to the forefront. 

We have participated in the processes that have crafted recommendations and guided agency approaches for on-the-ground management actions and economic development in Southeast Alaska, including the Tongass Transition Collaborative, the Pre-Commercial Thinning Task Force, the Tongass Advisory Committee, the Alaska Roadless Rule Citizens Advisory Committee, and the Tongass Blueprint. You can learn more about the collaborative forums that are leading the transition to a regenerative economy and a healthy forest here: https://tongasslandmgmt.org/