Collaborative Solutions

"People affected by change have to be deeply involved in the crafting of solutions...We have to get better at both involving people in the process of change and providing them with enough information to make that involvement useful and worthwhile."

-- William D. Ruckelshaus

The Ruckelshaus Institute's collaborative solutions program supports natural resource stakeholders, policy makers, and managers in making decisions about the future. We achieve this by:

• Combining scientific information, human values and decision support
• Developing effective, lasting solutions to environmental problems
• Using the Ruckelshaus Institute's cadre of experts who convene stakeholders and representatives from private business and industry, public interest groups, landowners and government
• Exploring policy alternatives, management priorities and future visions

Read our flyer describing our work in Collaborative Solutions.

Collaboration Program in Natural Resources

The Collaboration Program in Natural Resources provides professional training for a cohort of mid- and upper-level natural resource decision makers and engaged citizens. In six rigorous sessions, participants will gain skills and knowledge to apply collaborative processes to complex environment and natural resource challenges to build lasting, supported solutions. We accept 12 to 16 participants into the program each year. The application period is in April.

Current and recent projects

Wyoming Public Lands Initiative

The core goal of the Wyoming Public Lands Initiative (WPLI) is to develop a locally-led, Wyoming-specific, legislative lands package to address designation, release, or other management for Wilderness Study Areas in Wyoming. The WPLI is a voluntary project initiated and led at the county level that will culminate in legislation forwarded to Wyoming’s Congressional delegation. Some counties in Wyoming are engaging the Ruckelshaus Institute's Collaborative Solutions Program to help create an inclusive collaborative process for developing recommendations.

Thunder Basin Collaborative Learning Workshops

The Ruckelshaus Institute explored stakeholder perspectives regarding prairie dog management and collaborative problem solving opportunities on the Thunder Basin National Grassland. This situation assessment resulted in a recommendation for a collaborative process to seek management solutions. In 2015, the Ruckelshaus Institute will facilitate a series of collaborative learning workshops for Thunder Basin National Grassland stakeholders.

Governor's Task Force on Forests

Governor Matt Mead created the Task Force on Forests to study the benefits forests provide and to analyze and consider new response strategies and recommendations for both active and passive management. The Forest Task Force reached consensus on 12 major recommendations comprising 53 sub-recommendations, for the Governor’s consideration, now available in the final report. Visit the Governor's Task Force on Forests page for more information.

Laramie County Control Area Steering Committee

In October 2014, the Laramie County Commissioners created the Laramie County Control Area Steering Committee. Its 29 members are charged with developing creative and effective options for reducing water use, which will be forwarded to the Laramie County Control Area Advisory Board and the State Engineer for consideration.

Click here to browse our Collaborative Solutions archives.