By Alan Barton
NMFWRI Director
Twenty years ago, when Congress created the New Mexico Forest and Watershed Restoration Institute (NMFWRI), collaboration was still a relatively new practice in the management of the nation’s forests. One of the goals of the Southwest Forest Health and Wildfire Prevention Act, the organic legislation for the Southwest Ecological Restoration Institutes, was to encourage greater cooperation and collaboration among NMFWRI and “affected entities” – land managers, stakeholders, concerned citizens and entities of the state government, and thereby institutionalize collaboration as a common system of land management.
Over the course of two decades, the staff at NMFWRI have become adept at cooperating and collaborating with partners. We have made this approach part of our organizational culture because it produces desired outcomes and avoids costly problems better than a system rooted in competition. In the twentieth century, when the focus of forestry was on producing wood products, competition among private entities drove better results. In the twenty-first century, with greater emphasis on restoration across large landscapes that encompass a variety of ownerships and interests, collaboration truly makes more sense.
At NMFWRI, our work is built on a foundation of relationships with affected entities. We recognize that strong relationships are not created overnight; they take time to grow, and are the product of frequent and extended interactions. As all parties develop greater knowledge of each other, the relationships become stronger, and also more routine. With enough time, they grow into partnerships, which bring more stability and facilitate working together more effectively.
Four benefits of working with partners include:
First, partnerships make collaborative work easier. The more knowledge you have about another individual or group, the more you know about their capacities, preferences, and weaknesses. Knowing what others can do helps to predict how they will respond to different situations and demands. Working with people who bring a diverse set of talents and skills, and knowing how to allocate these, greatly increases success.
Second, working together, partners can avoid mistakes that can sink a project or produce challenges that must be overcome. Assembling a greater range of experience together into a group of people who are familiar links insights that avert decisions that can lead to problematic actions.
Third, partnerships build buy-in to larger goals, and mold a group identity that solidifies cooperative work. Working together fosters shared perspectives, making agreement about purpose and process easier to achieve.
Fourth, partnerships enhance both social and ecological sustainability. Partnerships increase stability in group interactions, enabling smoother long-term relations. Greater stability in human associations provides the means for sustainable management of natural ecosystems.
The partnerships that NMFWRI has built over twenty years underpin our effectiveness. Partnerships lay the groundwork for fruitful planning and productive short- and long-term projects that help landowners, managers, and interested parties work more efficiently and with a greater impact. Partnerships must be nourished to thrive, and NMFWRI’s ability to convene and facilitate collective action is a vital component of successful cross-boundary land management. The staff at NMFWRI knows the value of partnerships, and we are always ready to mobilize the power of partnerships to generate stronger community action that leads to healthier forests and ecosystems throughout New Mexico.