 Photo provided by Kurt MenkeSpine of the Continent Campaign members visit a potential future wildlife overpass site on a tour of Tijeras Canyon, NM.More than 30 representatives of Wildlands Project partner groups from around the West assembled at the Albuquerque Biological Park on September 12-14 to participate in the third Spine of the Continent Initiative planning workshop. The impressive group included 13 executive directors, numerous board members, program directors, foundation representatives, and communication professionals.
One of the most valuable components of the workshop was an afternoon filled with presentations by initiative steering group members, including Yellowstone to Yukon, Heart of the West Coalition, Southern Rockies Ecosystem Project, Grand Canyon Wildlands Council, Sky Island Alliance, Naturalia and Tijeras Canyon Safe Passage Coalition – which also lead an eye-opening field trip to view its work to incorporate wildlife crossing structures across I-40 in the Sandia-Manzano endangered linkage east of Albuquerque.
The presentations highlighted each group's current projects that will become the regional focuses of the initiative and stitch together various wildlands core-corridor protection initiatives into a 4000-mile-long wildlife passage along the Spine of the Continent from Alaska to Mexico. According to Wildlands Project Southwest Director Kim Vacariu, the opportunity for so many prominent conservationists to see and hear about many ongoing regional success stories was the highlight of the workshop. "These organizations are all having tremendous success on the ground, but their work is often limited to a regional scope that does not receive continental recognition and that rarely offers chances to discuss their work face-to-face with colleagues doing similar work in distant regions," Vacariu said. "That is what this entire process is all about – creating a network of people working together to protect a vast landscape."
Co-hosted by the Wildlands Project and local initiative steering group member Tijeras Canyon Safe Passage Coalition, the event resulted in clarification and refinement of a project case statement to be used in fundraising activities over the next 12 months, consensus on a preliminary strategic plan outline, and an initiative funding and implementation timeline with two, five, and ten-year benchmarks.
The group agreed that current momentum and excitement around the initiative has grown substantially, with outreach efforts to an even broader range of potential new collaborators a primary focus. "The stage is now set for us to roll up our sleeves and launch this initiative as soon as fundraising will allow," said Margo McKnight, Wildlands Project executive director.
For more information on the initiative, contact the Wildlands Project's Southwest Field office at 575-557-0155 or southwest@wildlandsproject.org. |
