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FOUR CORNERS HERITAGE COUNCIL
HERITAGE SITE STEWARDS CONFERENCE

US FOREST SERVICE PERSPECTIVE
Paul Peck, USFS / BLM
October 11, 2001

 


Key Message: An effective Site Stewardship Program is critical and necessary.

National View and Strategy

  • Over 250,000 heritage sites on national forest lands.
  • Want to provide world class recreation (tourism) opportunities.
  • Provide different levels of experience, challenge, and discovery.
  • Strong linkage to public needs and desires.
  • Balance recreation use with resource sustainability.
  • Work with partners and volunteers to deliver this program.
  • Standards:
      o  Health and Safety
      o  Site Protection
      o  Resource Protection
      o  Environmental Setting
      o  Social Setting and Experience
      o  Interpretation and Education
      o  Maintenance and Operation

Management of Sites

  • Management Spectrum from: ID & Monitor to high use & intensive management.
  • Tools for management: Agency employees, permittees, volunteers, partners. 
  • Philosophies: Pre-set limits to Limits of Acceptable Change (LAC), Management driven to market driven.

The Challenge

  • One Forest Context - San Juan National Forest (SINE)
      o  Over 3700 sites.
      o  Minimum cost to meet standards = $370,000 (nat'l avg. cost of
          $100/site.)
      o  SJNF budget in 2001 was $100,000. Gap of $270,000.
  • Four Corners state context.
      o  29 National Forests in the four states.
      o  Assuming the same gap, the unfunded need to manage sites to
          standard is $7.83 million.
      o  Including BLM lands, the number becomes astronomical.
      o  "Houston, we have a problem!"

Ideas to Bridge the Gap

  • Increased allocations from Congress.
  • Recreation Fee Demo programs.
  • Businesses under permit.
  • Partners and Volunteers.

Some Thoughts on How

  • Share the vision and the challenge.
  • Build long-term relationships with businesses, communities, Tribes, and people.
  • Increase community pride in the public lands, the resources, and the recreation/tourism opportunities available there.
  • Get people actively involved in caring for their public lands and resources.  Figure out ways to increase capacity to manage sites.

What Agencies Need to do in Order to Step to the Plate

  • A vision and a long-term strategy to reach it.
  • Willingness to use all the tools available.
  • Recognition that partners and volunteers are viable tools, not just fluff and fun.
  • Commitment to build and maintain long-term relationships.
  • Committed, dedicated time along with communication and relationship skills.
  • Willingness to communicate, share ownership, and share power.
     
What Partners Can Do to Help Close the GAP
  • Know the Agency vision and strategic plan. Help develop it if one does not exist.
  • Get to know the laws and regs that the Agency must implement and live within. 
  • Understand the Agency employees have overflowing "full plates" of work. 
  • Look for ways to help accomplish work and take things off of "full plates." 
  • Be patient and do not add to the full plate.
  • Help share the vision and the challenge.
  • Be a liaison with communities and people.
  • Build capacity to increase the amount of stewardship accomplished.
  • Lobby. (Based on your own desire.)
  • Help with fundraising and friendraising.
     

Thoughts on Possible Role of Four Corners Heritage Council

Editorial Note: These are just ideas regarding future site stewardship efforts presented by Paul Peck and do not represent an official Agency position on the topic.

  • Support, help, and assist local site stewardship efforts in each state as requested.
(The local efforts in each state are autonomous and will continue to develop and function on their own.)
  • Facilitate communications and information sharing between the different site stewardship efforts. Could include follow-up conferences or a Site Stewardship in the Heritage Tourism web page with links to individual program web pages.
  • Bridging the Cultures. Facilitating communications between Indian Nations and the Site Stewardship efforts. Also, as requested facilitate technology transfer of site stewardship ideas to the Indian Nations and assist them in developing the programs as they desire.
  • National marketing and fundraising. Consider marketing all the local efforts as a Four Corners Site Stewardship project in order to leverage the local resources and seek additional national level partner funding. If successful, the additional funding would flow back to the individual local efforts to increase what they are already doing.
  • Liaison with national level groups to share the local efforts in the Four Corners area, increase exposure, and generate interest in potential national partners.
  • Earmark for Federal Agencies. Subset of the national marketing idea. Explore with Agencies the concept of a Four Corners Site Stewardship earmark, similar to the FC Forestry Partnership. If the Agencies are favorable, then pursue it.
  • Lobbying. National level, and state level as appropriate and needed by local effort.

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