Forest Resilience Planning Guide
This guide offers a framework for agencies, private landowners and local collaboratives to align their forest management strategies, leverage resources and sustain forest health.
Forests across Colorado provide invaluable social, economic and ecological benefits. But how can we make sure Colorado’s forests are resilient to disturbances like wildfire? This requires a coordinated effort among agencies, private landowners and local partners.
To help facilitate this coordination, the Colorado Forest Health Council developed the Colorado Forest Resilience Planning Guide so we can work toward the same goal of resilient forests in all parts of the state.
- Flexible framework of four broad, overlapping strategies
- Useful for collaborators of all sizes and levels, whether just starting or working on multiple stages at once
- Strategies presented in discrete, achievable actions
- Resources, templates and case studies to make application easier
Actionable steps in the guide include tools to strengthen collaboration, integrate community values and access science-based resources tailored to local landscapes.
Let’s get started to achieve lasting forest health and resilience in Colorado!
How to Establish a Community of Partners Around Shared Vision
Effective collaboration begins with defining shared values and benefits of forests, which the guide breaks down into four actions.
- Define forest benefits and values: Identify the ecological, economic and social benefits that forests provide to communities.
- Align planning boundaries with opportunities: Ensure that planning areas correspond with ecological and jurisdictional boundaries to maximize impact.
- Gather collaborators: Engage diverse stakeholders, including landowners, government agencies, NGOs and community organizations, to contribute varies perspectives and resources.
- Develop a vision of forest resilience: Create a collective vision that reflects the shared goals and desired outcomes for forest health and resilience.
These foundational steps set the stage for cohesive and effective planning processes. The resulting products include forest resilience values, risks and assets; planning landscape boundaries; stakeholder lists; defined partner responsibilities; codes of conduct; and vision and problem statements.
How to Translate Vision Into Strategy
Once a shared vision is established, the next phase involves strategic planning, which the guide breaks down into five actions.
- Conduct a forest resilience spatial assessment: Use tools like Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to assess current forest conditions and identify areas of concern.
- Brainstorm mitigation, response and recovery strategies: Develop comprehensive approaches to address identified risks and enhance forest resilience.
- Build public awareness: Educate and engage the public to garner support and participation in forest management initiatives.
- Establish measurable objectives: Set clear quantifiable goals to monitor progress and effectiveness of implemented strategies.
- Prioritize objectives: Determine the most critical actions to address based on available resources and potential impact.
This strategic approach ensures that efforts are targeted, efficient and aligned with the shared vision. Products of this stage include a map of values, risks and opportunities; identification of remaining data needs; a portfolio of partner-planned actions; a community outreach plan; definitions of success; and prioritized forest resilience strategies, objectives and indicators.
How to Translate Strategy Into Action
Implementing the developed strategies requires coordinated efforts, which the guide breaks down into three actions.
- Activate strategies and communicate progress: Initiate projects and maintain transparent communication among stakeholders to track developments.
- Secure resources for implementation: Identify and obtain necessary funding, personnel and materials to support projects.
- Monitor implementation: Regularly assess the progress and outcomes of projects to ensure alignment with objectives and make necessary adjustments.
Effective execution of strategies is vital for achieving desired outcomes in forest resilience. During this transitional stage, the resulting products include pilot projects; tools for tracking projects across partners; implementation plans; joint funding applications and agreements for allocating and administering awarded funds; and progress and monitoring reports.
How to Adapt and Sustain Momentum
Long-term success in forest resilience requires adaptability and sustained efforts, which the guide breaks down into three actions.
- Practice adaptive management: Continuously evaluate the effectiveness of actions and adapt strategies based on new information and changing conditions.
- Communicate results and challenges to leadership: Keep decision-makers informed about successes and obstcles to garner ongoing support and resources.
- Check-in on collaborative capacity: Regularly assess the collaboration’s effectiveness and make adjustments to improve partnerships and processes.
These practices ensure that forest resilience efforts remain dynamic and responsive to evolving challenges and opportunities. throughout this stage collaborators might produce adaptive management workshops, revisions or updates to strategies; field trips and site visits; legislative presentations and memos; and situation assessments.
The Colorado Forest Health Council developed this guide with funding and support from the Colorado State Forest Service and the Colorado Forest Restoration Institute.