Oregon Projects
The
Consensus Program recently facilitated the Governor’s Advisory
Group on Global Warming, which is now circulating a draft Oregon global
warming strategy for public review. Still on-going are numerous assessments,
as well as several other agreement seeking processes—one being
handled solely by the Consensus Program, and two that the Program helped
coordinate and are now being mediated by outside neutrals.
Aggregate Mining / Farmland Consensus Group – The Consensus Program in June began a process to develop policy recommendations for siting and regulating aggregate mines on farmlands. The issue is hugely contentious in Oregon, where demand is high for aggregate for highway construction and repair, and because some of the largest aggregate reserves lie in the farmlands of the Willamette Valley.
Among the challenges the consensus group faces is balancing the state’s need for access to aggregate, and its efforts to protect farmland in the valley. The consensus group includes representatives from the concrete and aggregate industry; the farm bureau; the departments of agriculture, transportation, geology and minerals, and land conservation and development; conservation and civic groups; and the Governor’s office, which is serving as convener.
Hallmark said the Consensus Program recently initiated a cooperative agreement with the Institute for Natural Resources at Oregon State University, which is working with the mediation team to gather, prepare and present data and technical analysis to inform and support the process.
Coastal Coho Recovery Project – This joint state and federal effort involves a stakeholder group whose task is to review recovery efforts for coastal salmon and explore long-term possibilities for the recovery of fish through management programs that would protect the salmon at sustainable levels.
Hallmark said the Consensus Program cooperated with the U.S. Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution (USIECR) to conceptualize the program, identify funding sources, and interview and hire the mediators. Funding was secured through federal agencies, USIECR, and the State Fish and Wildlife Program. The process is aimed at evaluating the effectiveness of The Oregon Plan for protecting these coastal salmon, and at helping National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries to determine a final recovery plan for the Coastal Coho salmon.
Hallmark said the Coho project is an initial step in exploring how the Consensus Program can cooperate with entities such as USIECR and NOAA on projects that involve both federal and state agencies. “We see the Consensus Program’s mission as somewhat similar to USIECR’s, although we’re not limited to environmental cases,” she said. “We can provide on-the-ground local connections and assistance for larger, cooperative projects.”
Local Land-Use Consensus Process – Among the several land-use projects on the Consensus Program’s agenda is a dispute between residents and developers who are at loggerheads over a proposed ski area expansion. When one of the parties contacted the Oregon Consensus Program about the possibility of beginning mediated discussions, Hallmark said, they had in mind a “quick, typical litigation model” of mediation to resolve the current litigation arising out of their long-running dispute. After several conversations with the parties, “we helped them understand that for the kinds of issues they’re involved with, they were likely to have better outcomes with a broader, more comprehensive approach,” Hallmark said.
While the case qualified under the Court of Appeals Mediation Program, which has a roster of mediators who work for nominal fees, few of the mediators are experienced in public policy cases. Hallmark said the Consensus Program helped the parties keep the case in the court program to take advantage of the flexibility in scheduling the case, but to use mediators who are not on the court roster. The Program helped the parties select the mediator, develop initial funding and pool that funding through the Consensus Program to enable the start the process. The Program continues to assist the parties in developing funding to continue working toward agreement.
For more information on the Oregon Consensus Program projects, contact Elaine Hallmark.