Restoration Committees and Pilot Effort
Function:
Restoration Committees (RCs) will function, in cooperation with the Forest Service, to ensure diverse and knowledgeable community engagement in the selection, design and monitoring of restoration projects on National Forests in Montana. (For more detail, see “Restoration Interface”.)
Initial Structure: Pilot Effort:
To achieve meaningful interface with on-the-ground restoration, RCs will need to function at the project level. The MFRWG assessed various approaches to achieving this goal, and initially concluded that multiple RCs would be needed in Montana. After considering multiple factors, including partner organizational capacities, the immediate availability of citizens willing to participate, and budget issues, the Group concluded that a pilot effort was appropriate, and has proposed:
1) The MFRWG will become the Montana Forest Restoration Committee (MFRC). It will be the governing body under whose authority all work will be conducted, and to which all of its component units will be ultimately accountable. The MFRC will meet once or twice per year, and will have authority to approve new, Forest-level or local RC’s, changes in Restoration Principles, etc. In addition, the MFRC will evaluate the pilot effort and make changes as necessary to better accomplish the goals of the RCs.Forest Service representatives will serve as ex officio members of the MFRC. (See Appendix A for a proposed Organization Structure diagram.)
2) The MFRC will elect a Steering Committee to which it will delegate day-to-day operational and executive functions, as well as strategic planning, fundraising and outreach. The Steering Committee will elect its own officers, which will serve as members of the Executive Committee. The Steering Committee will determine how it will carry out its various functions. In addition to its other responsibilities, the Steering Committee will:
- Work with the MFRC Fiscal Agent to develop an RC budget and recommended staffing structure and, with MFRC organizational partners, to solicit necessary operational funds
- Serve as the liaison between the MFRC and the Forest Service at the Regional and Forest level.
- Serve as the liaison between the local RCs and the MFRC, providing periodic updates on progress, challenges and lessons learned.
- Perioidically review the composition of the MFRC, and if not sufficiently representative of diverse interests, appoint additional members.
- MFRC staff will be hired by the SC and supervised by its chairperson or, in the event of co-chairs, the designated co-chair.
- Assess potential Fiscal Agents and select one, by consensus.
3) Two Forest-levels RCs will initially be established, the Lolo RC and the Bitterroot RC, to engage with restoration projects on those Forests. The membership of the MFRC and the Forestlevel RC’s will be comprised of those members of the MFRC who wish to serve in the new capacity. This membership will be augmented by the MFRC Steering Committee as needed to assure adequate diversity of representation. Each Forest-level RC will elect a chairperson, who will serve as a member of the MFRC Steering Committee.