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Partnering - Similar Goals, Shared Mission

The value of partnering is seeing renewed interest, especially among government agencies. The four “C’s” of partnering:

  • Communication – Sharing information
  • Coordination – Activity between two or more organizations that prevents duplication of efforts and helps assure the provision of service
  • Cooperation – Activity between two or more agencies that aims at some integration of operations without sacrificing autonomy
  • Collaboration – A mutually beneficial and clearly defined relationship that involves people from different agencies or sectors of the community working together to achieve a common mission. The result is a shared endeavor for which participants commit as much to the ultimate mission as to the specific interest or goals of their own organization.

The Montana Natural Resources Conservation Service has participated in a number of these partnering projects including, by way of example:

  • Development of a Strategy to Maintain and Enhance Sage-Grouse Habitat and Populations - The Montana Sage Grouse Work Group consulted with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks; Bureau of Land Management; The University of Montana; Montana State University; Montana Stockgrowers Association; Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation; Intertribal Agriculture Council; The Nature Conservancy; and private landowners.
     
  • Restoring Prairie-Bird Habitat in Phillips County – The Cooperative Conservation Partnership Initiative in the 2008 Farm Bill allows NRCS to work with eligible partners to help producers enrolled in conservation programs. Montana is developing a program in southern Phillips County designed to restore the habitat priority for prairie birds and to improve and enhance partnerships with private landowners in the area. Partners include the Environmental Defense Fund, World Wildlife Fund, The Nature Conservancy, and members of the Ranchers Stewardship Alliance.
     
  • Flint Creek East Fork Water Siphon – Major construction has been completed on a project to replace a 70-year-old metal pipeline with new pipe to carry water for livestock, pastures, irrigation systems, fish, wildlife, recreation, and most of the area ranches. Partners include the Forest Service, Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, and Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks.
     
  • Energy Conservation – Huls Dairy – The program involved installing an anaerobic digester system that converts methane gas from manure to electricity. The installation produces enough electricity to operate the entire dairy and one Bitterroot Valley home. In addition, a by-product is production of a plant food and soil amendment that is bagged and sold. Partners included the Northern Rocky Mountain Resource Conservation and Development Area Council, Montana State University Extension Service, Ravalli County Economic Development Authority, and Montana Community Development Corporation.
     
  • Fish Screens on the Yellowstone River – Installation of new fish screens at the Shirley Pumping Facility on the Yellowstone River. The intention is to keep juvenile warm-water fish species out of the main canal. Partners included the Bureau of Reclamation and Buffalo Rapids Irrigation District.
     
  • Fleshman Creek Restoration – The project involves fully restoring a creek that begins on the Voyech Farm near Livingston that will, when completed, flow through the city of Livingston. The intent is to restore trout habitat in the creek for trout from the Yellowstone River. The Livingston School District is using the project as an outdoor classroom to teach students about water quality, stream cross-sections, noxious weed control, area invertebrates, and other related subjects. Partners include Montana Fish, Wildlife, & Parks; Park County; Trout Unlimited; Montana Department of Environmental Quality; and the school district.
     
  • American Recovery and Reinvestment Act - NRCS and partners are implementing two of the National ARRA Projects. The Lower Birch Creek Watershed shed project is located in Pondera County and is a cooperative venture including NRCS, the Pondera County Canal and Reservoir Company and the Pondera County Soil and Water Conservation District.

    The project involves controlling excess irrigation flows from the ends of canals that severely erodes gullies and then is wasted into Birch Creek and the Marias River. The work involves building pipelines to deliver the excess water back into its original source, Birch Creek, correcting problems that began in the early 1900s. Total Federal funding is $527,000 with $366,000 in matching funds.

    The second is at the Buffalo Rapids Watershed Project to improve irrigation water quality and quantity. The project will save 600 acre feet of water that will remain in the Yellowstone River rather than being pumped for irrigation use. The project is designed to decrease conveyance erosion and increase control over irrigation water.

    Partners include the Buffalo Rapids Irrigation District, the Custer County Conservation District, the Prairie County Irrigation District, the Dawson County Irrigation District and the Department of Interior-Bureau of Reclamation. The cost of the project is $281,000.

These are but a few examples of the effective use of partnerships to accomplish ultimate completion of complex conservation projects.

Last Modified: 10/08/2009