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Jacksonville Woodlands Management Plan While the Jacksonville Woodlands Association protected 300 acres of woodlands, they never developed a plan to manage and protect them. Now they have one, thanks to a partnership of numerous landowners. Project Partners
How to Manage the Woodlands? Getting seventeen landowners to work together to manage Jacksonville’s protected woodlands was a big challenge for schoolteacher-turned-activist Larry Smith and Phil Gahr.
Smith, a retired fourth-grade teacher and founding member of the nonprofit Jacksonville Woodlands Association, and Gahr led a grassroots charge in the 1990’s to preserve 300 acres of woodlands surrounding the historic town in southeastern Oregon that had been threatened by development.
But after years of successful land acquisition, the Association faced a new problem -- how to manage the land it had acquired, a task made more complex by the number of land owners involved. In 1997, Smith and Gahr sought help from the Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance (Rivers & Trails) program of the National Park Service. The Solution Rivers & Trails recommended the Association develop both a general management plan outlining a strategy for uniform management and a new agreement binding landowners to implement the plan.
Rivers & Trails helped the Association develop a vision statement and the plan’s structure by facilitating seven advisory committee and two public meetings. Rivers & Trails then wrote the plan, ensuring that each landowner’s input was integrated. In 1999, the plan was adopted by the Association and backed by an agreement among all landowners. Protecting the Investment The plan insures the Association’s decade-long investment in land acquisition will not be lost. In 1989, Smith and a small group of citizens formed the Association, and after a six-year fundraising campaign, the association purchased its first property. Then, with support from Jackson County and the city of Jacksonville, the Association worked in cooperation with the U.S. Forest Service, the Trust for Public Land, and the Rogue Valley Council of Governments to negotiate easements and purchases of nearly 300 acres of land surrounding Jacksonville, including their biggest acquisition to date, the 89-acre Peter Britt Estate.
Smith and the Association have ambitious plans to add to the woodlands over the next ten years. No matter how big the woodlands grow -- and how many more land managers join -- the plan will provide the Association with a management tool to protect the woodlands in perpetuity. Keys to Success Formal agreement between the numerous land managers and stakeholders to create and implement a general management plan for the Woodlands.
Limitless enthusiasm of Larry Smith, president of the Jacksonville Woodlands Association, who kept stakeholders involved and the vision of the general management plan alive.
Dedication of all stakeholders to build consensus Help From the National Park Service Meeting facilitation. Strategy development. Building coalitions. Writing general management plans. In these ways over the course of nearly two years, the National Park Service contributed to the Jacksonville Woodlands Association’s decade-long effort to protect 300 acres of woodlands. This is one example of how the National Park Service’s Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance (RTCA) program works -- it provides short-term staff assistance to local groups to help them solve the problems they face when protecting their community’s important resources. If you think the National Park Service could help your group, contact Michael Linde, Program Leader, Rivers & Trails, 909 First Avenue, Seattle, WA 98104 or (206) 220-4113 or visit www.ncrc.nps.gov/rtca/. "Thanks to the National Park Service, our cooperation with our partners increased tenfold. They also helped us see things that we did not notice before, especially in regards to public involvement." -Larry Smith, Jacksonville Woodlands Association What the Future Holds for the Woodlands Using the completed general management plan as a guide, the Jacksonville Woodlands Association will raise money to pay off past acquisitions and purchase new land. Two examples are the 7.5-acre Burkholder parcel and a 14-acre parcel next to Beekman Woods that will include trails connecting Stage Coach Hills, the Beekman Canyon Trail and the historic section of Jacksonville. Also, the Association will continue to produce educational and interpretive materials. For More Information On This Project Contact Bryan Bowden of the National Park Service’s Rivers & Trails program at bryan_bowden@nps.gov or (206) 220-4123. |
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