Colorado State University Hosts Collaborative Conservation Conference Sept. 8-11

Colorado State University is hosting a public conference, "Bridging the Gap: Collaborative Conservation from the Ground Up," Sept. 8-11, 2009 on the CSU campus in Fort Collins.  Co-hosts for the conference are the Center for Collaborative Conservation, Colorado Forest Restoration Institute, Colorado State Forest Service and Colorado State University Extension.

The first generation of collaborative conservation initiatives forged new ways to bring together diverse stakeholders to achieve joint conservation and livelihood goals. The second generation challenges entail strategically sustaining and expanding collaborative conservation to new levels and this is what will be discussed at the conference.

"By working together, private landowners, government, non-profits, the private sector and universities have tackled some of our most daunting problems in community-based conservation. This conference will allow these groups to work together to chart out new approaches to current and future challenges," said Robin Reid, director of CSU’s Center for Collaborative Conservation.  

To kick off the conference, Gary Paul Nabhan, a well-known author writing on conservation, ethnobotany and local foods, will speak at the Lincoln Center at 7 p.m. Sept. 8. His talk is open to the public and admission is free. This event is sponsored by Be Local Northern Colorado, Matter Bookstore and the Center for Collaborative Conservation.

The conference will bring together people with experience working in rangelands, forests, watersheds, agricultural lands and urban areas to develop this new strategic approach. It is open to anyone interested in collaborative conservation and will include community members, private land owners, land managers, policy makers, non-profits, the private sector and universities. Session panelists will discuss their collaborative work on water, invasive species, fire, energy, forest health, biodiversity, urbanization, climate change and other issues.

Conference sponsors include the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association, Colorado Watershed Assembly, Environmental Defense Fund, Environmental Governance Work Group from CSU’s School of Global Environmental Sustainability, National Forest Foundation, Sustainable Northwest, Partners for Western Conservation, The Conservation Cooperative, The Nature Conservancy and CSU’s Warner College of Natural Resources.  

Registration is now open. For more information, visit www.collaborativeconservation.org or send an e-mail to conference@collaborativeconservation.org.

-30-