Capacity of community-based organizations for natural resource management

Abstract

Reliance on community-based natural resource management in the western US has been growing since the 1990s. Collaboration is increasingly essential, and community-based organizations are often relied upon to facilitate this collaboration. This is particularly true in the face of decreasing resources within federal land management agencies and the growing complexity of natural resource issues. The proposed Forest Service Planning Rule, the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program, and other programs rely heavily on collaboration to achieve their goals. Community-based organizations, including nonprofits and informal collaborative groups, work to build public agreement around the management of federal lands; develop local business and workforce capacity for forest and watershed restoration; and ensure that the benefits of restoration activity flow to rural communities. The resources, structure, relationships, and other characteristics of these organizations are less well understood than their strategies, approaches, and activities. This paper seeks to provide insight into the organizational capacity of community-based organizations in the American West and to give recommendations to enhance and grow their impact.