The Gravelly Collaborative is a diverse group of citizens and stakeholders who value the Gravelly area for its rich fish and wildlife habitat, natural resources, opportunities for recreation, and clean water. We believe that through cooperation and open dialogue, we can help advance solutions to shared problems. Initiated in 2012, we have strived to include all relevant interests and to foster a transparent, consensus-driven approach to addressing natural resource and community concerns of the Gravelly landscape.

The diverse habitats in the Gravelly Landscape provide clean water, wildlife habitat, and many other values important to local communities and people across the country. Prolonged droughts, insect outbreaks, and the increasing risk of severe wildfires threaten the landscape’s ability to recover from these types of changes. At the same time, differences of opinion regarding national forest stewardship and complex decision-making processes have led to increased polarization and very little management activities on the ground.

Our collaborative approach with diverse participation can foster trust, effective communication, and transparency in public forest management. By focusing on issues within a zone of agreement, we can advance stewardship that addresses current threats to our forests and benefits wildlife, local economics, and clean water. Consensus driven problem solving presents a better way forward on our public forests than conflict, litigation, or inaction.