By Russ Lawrence
Land managers from 16 countries made a stop in the Bitterroot Valley on Wednesday, July 15, to learn how voluntary conservation easements are enhancing a community’s values.
The visitors were participants in a Forest Service program, the International Seminar on Protected Area Management (ISPAM). The seminar is designed to stimulate deliberations and interactive problem-solving, for issues related to protected area and natural resource management, according to the program syllabus.
Participants arrived from the seminar’s base at the University of Montana, and paused at the Lost Horse Creek Ranch to hear from Gavin Ricklefs of the Bitter Root Land Trust, and to view one of the properties under a voluntary conservation easement.
Ricklefs explained that in evaluating properties for potential inclusion in their program, the Bitter Root Land Trust focuses on protecting water, wildlife, and working lands, with a secondary emphasis on recreation.
One topic of the seminar is engaging local populations in resource management. Ricklefs detailed how the public expressed their desire to protect key properties by passing the 2006 Open Lands bond, with a 58% “pro” margin. To get political and public buy-in, however, the Land Trust then spent a full year working with stakeholders to develop the guidelines under which lands are evaluated for inclusion in the program.
In Ravalli County, government-imposed conservation measures wouldn’t work, so voluntary landowner participation was the key, Ricklefs told the group. More than anything else, he said, what makes it work here is “neighbors talking with neighbors.”
The seminar is designed for planners and managers of significant protected areas around the world, and examines strategies to conserve those places. The program is sponsored by the US Forest Service International Programs, and the University of Montana, and is designed to help managers evaluate policies and institutional arrangements that sustain both people and natural resources.
The culturally- and geographically-diverse attendees represented every part of the world, including Sri Lanka, Nepal, Moldova, Congo, Zambia, Madagascar, Israel, Palestine, Georgia, Armenia, Brazil, Ecuador, Guyana, India, Indonesia, and Mozambique.
During the two-week seminar, the visitors traveled to several types of protected areas in the region, interacting with experts in the management of national parks, wildlife refuges, privately held land conservancies, and multiple-use forest and grassland reserves.
They also took advantage of their international perspective to talk about issues that don’t respect borders, such as climate change, fire, and wildlife management.
Retired USFS Ranger Dave Campbell has helped facilitate the seminar, and has also traveled abroad for Forest Service International Programs. Such international experiences provide for more well-rounded employees and land managers, he said, citing examples of unique collaborations and conservancies that he’d seen.
After leaving the Lost Horse Ranch, the group enjoyed a lunch prepared by the Trapper Creek Job Corps Center culinary arts students, before setting off for three nights at the Magruder Ranger Station in the heart of the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness.