Fuels Planning: Science Synthesis and

Integration

Social Issues Fact Sheet: 9

Benefits of Collaboration

United States

Department

of Agriculture

Forest Service

Rocky Mountain

Research Station

Research Note

RMRS-RN-21-9-WWW

September 2006

Social Science Team Lead:

Pamela Jakes

USDA Forest Service

North Central Research Station

1992 Folwell Avenue

St. Paul, MN 55108

pjakes@fs.fed.us

Synthesizing

Scientific

Information

for Fire and Fuels

Project Managers

Pacific Northwest

Research Station

Rocky Mountain

Research Station

Collaboration—Achieving Goals

Wildland fire professionals at the Federal, State, and local levels have a long tradition of

collaborating across agencies and jurisdictions. Collaboration helps them achieve goals together that they could not achieve independently. But more can be done. Citizens, managers,

and policymakers continue to express the need for expanded and improved collaboration

for wildland fire and fuels management.

Collaboration is the pooling of information, money, labor, and other resources by two

or more stakeholders to solve a set of problems that neither can solve individually. It can

lead to decisions that are more likely to be implemented, while better preparing agencies

and communities for future challenges.

Why should managers collaborate? There are plenty of reasons.

Increases Efficiency

Collaboration can create relationships and agreements that increase the efficiency of fuels

management by sharing personnel, equipment, and data; leveraging resources to attract

grant monies; and mobilizing citizen volunteers. Although it may initially take more time

and money, collaboration bears long-term benefits of increased efficiency and bigger

“bang for the buck.”

Increases Agency Awareness of Changing Values

Social values are changing and becoming more diverse. Attitudes, values, and beliefs

about wildland fire and fuels management are changing too. Through collaboration—

building coalitions, identifying common ground, engaging in collective learning, and sharing information—land managers can better identify, understand, and respond to these

changes.

Builds Trust

Relationships that are built during collaborative projects help to create trust. Trust can be

further fostered if collaboration is inclusive and shows by example that the partners value

diversity.

Also, local residents may trust individual employees of a government agency, but distrust

the agency. When Federal employees participate in collaborative activities as individuals,

trust builds between them and residents, and may eventually expand to include the agency.

Promotes Landscape-Level Management and Planning

Although fuels mitigation may be planned and implemented at the local level, to be

effective it must contribute to and support a broader landscape-level plan for fuels management. Several case studies of collaborative groups working in watershed restoration

show the positive results of joint resource management planning across a broad geographic area.
Motivates Private Landowners

One of the major challenges of fuels management is motivating private landowners to take responsibility for necessary

mitigation actions on their land. Studies show that collaborative projects have promoted personal responsibility and motivated landowners to mitigate their vulnerability to fire.

Supports Science

Scientific truth is being debated publicly and contentiously these

days. Collaboration among agency, university, and community scientists can facilitate a shift from relying on agency expertise toward emphasizing shared learning and responsibility. This can anchor a project in the community, while meshing

traditional science with local knowledge.

Produces Intangible Benefits

Many of the benefits of collaboration are intangible, or “invisible

successes.” New attitudes, shared knowledge, support, and working relationships can lead to new policies and government initiatives. Collaborations also foster improved job satisfaction and

motivation among agency workers who report greater public

support for action.

Builds Community Capacity

Collaborative projects build the abilities of residents, community organizations, and leaders to meet local needs and expectations. They bring people together not only as stewards of public

and private land but also as empowered citizens—enabling them

to sustain wildfire and fuels management programs into the future on their own.

Builds Agency Capacity

Collaboration can increase an agency’s ability to meet its mission and goals, expanding the scale and complexity of its

projects, available technical expertise, and project support.

Collaborative work enables organizations to spend less on

projects and undertake those that would not otherwise happen or would take longer to complete.

Source

Sturtevant, Victoria; Moote, Margaret Ann; Jakes, Pamela; Cheng,

Antony S. 2005. Social science to improve fuels management: a

synthesis of research on collaboration. Gen. Tech. Rep. NC257. St. Paul, MN: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, North Central Research Station. 84 p. Available online at

http://ncrs.fs.fed.us/pubs/viewpub.asp?key=3123 [2006, August

25]. For a hard copy, contact Pamela Jakes at pjakes@fs.fed.us.

Additional Collaboration Fact Sheets

Benefits of Collaboration is one of a series of four fact sheets on

the topic of collaboration and fuels management. See also

Stages of Collaboration, Social Issues Fact Sheet 10 (RMRS RN21-10-WWW); Challenges to Collaboration, Social Issues Fact Sheet

11 (RMRS RN-21-11-WWW); and Keys to Successful Collaboration, Social Issues Fact Sheet 12 (RMRS RN-21-12-WWW).

Collaboration involves private landowners in defining objectives and prioritizing projects. Such involvement helps motivate them to take responsibility for necessary mitigation actions on their land. Photo: V. Sturtevant

Social Science Team Fact Sheets

Look for fact sheet topics from the Social Science Team including information on developing personal responsibility for fuels

reduction, communicating fire hazard, topics for community

fire plans, guidelines for community education, collaboration,

and the “golden rule” for communicating fire hazard to people.

Fuels Planning: Synthesis and Integration

This fact sheet is one in a series being produced as part of a

larger project supported by the USDA Forest Service to synthesize new knowledge and information relevant to fire and fuels

management. Fact sheets address topics related to stand structure, environmental impacts, economics, and human responses

to these factors. Information in the fact sheets is targeted for the

dry forests of the Inland West, but is often applicable across

broad regions of the country. For more information, please visit

our Web site at:

www.fs.fed.us/fire/tech_transfer/synthesis/synthesis_index

Fuels Planning: Science Synthesis and Integration is an interagency research/management partnership to support the TenYear Fire Plan, led by Russell T. Graham, RMRS, and Sarah M.

McCaffrey, NCRS.