Once upon a time, Worldwide Conservation Alliance (WCA) hired a new staff person to manage its ten-year-old preserve in the western part of Arcadia County, in the state of Bliss. Previously, the preserve had no onsite staff, and most local residents lived their lives in near-complete ignorance of Worldwide Conservation Alliance. An examination of WCA’s membership database reveals that it has some 750 members in the county, 80% of whom reside in the county’s more urban eastern communities.

The preserve consists of three small tracts, 600 acres in all, bordering a small river, which overflows its banks annually. WCA was attracted to the property because the area provides important habitat for several species of rare darters, scores of neotropical songbirds, and the purple-legged frog, which is under consideration for designation as an endangered species.

The preserve has not been open to the public, although sports fishing enthusiasts often wander onto the preserve to fish from the banks. Rafts managed by the several commercial rafting companies that conduct a brisk business on the river sometimes pull onto WCA property so rafters can eat lunch before continuing down river.

Over the years, WCA has assisted federal and county government to protect some 2,000 acres of land near the preserve, and a partnership with an electric utility company has established good land management practices on another 500 acres. But even when combining the preserve with these other protected properties, the area is too small to enable WCA to meet its habitat protection goals for these species. Therefore, WCA has decided that it must work to influence surrounding land uses, beyond these protected areas, if it is to achieve its goals.

WCA’s preserve is a small oasis of stability in a region undergoing rapid change. Small, privately owned tracts predominate in western Arcadia. Some of the family farmers who have owned the land for generations have found a more profitable use for it: selling it to real estate developers, who are constructing relatively expensive homes, usually to house people moving from the city. Property values are escalating, new home permits in this part of the county are increasing at historic rates, and population is projected to expand by one third over the next decade. The new residents generally commute to jobs in other parts of the county or the city. Other privately owned tracts are being clear-cut at a rapid rate. Larger corporations conduct timber operations on federal and state lands, often with scant regard for the state’s newly enacted Forest Management Act regulations. The state and county are widening the two major roads traversing this part of the county, which will make for easier access. All of these relatively new

developments are conspiring to fragment the habitat WCA seeks to protect. Increased erosion due to logging and development has already reduced the number and diversity of darters.

In addition to these changing land uses, each year more and more people are visiting the county to take advantage of its many recreational opportunities. Rafting trips, fishing, hiking and bicycling are the major attractions. Federal and county parks in the area are experiencing heavy use, primarily by nearby urban residents. People generally visit only for the day, since there are few acceptable local places to stay or eat.

But, despite these recent developments, western Arcadia County remains predominately rural. Most residents have lived in the county all their lives and inhabit relatively modest homes in the river’s floodplain. There are two small towns, each with fewer than 1,000 residents, in this part of the county. Each town has a few small stores and churches, a post office, a small school, and an equal number of seedy taverns and run-down coffee shops. Residents are accustomed to driving an hour to the nearest large town to obtain locally unavailable goods and services. Unemployment is relatively high, incomes relatively low, but residents appear to enjoy their rural style of life.

The eastern part of the county, situated on the coast, has already experienced the growth that is beginning to creep west. Along the interstate, major bedroom communities have sprung up virtually overnight as people have sought to escape the growing megalopolis to the south. Residents in this part of the county are young, more highly educated, commute to relatively high-paying jobs, and enjoy the many outdoor recreational opportunities the region offers.

The three county commissioners are struggling to develop a growth management plan for the entire county, a recent state government mandate. Accustomed to a relaxed style of government and little public attention, the county commissioners are not enjoying this task. The private landowners and the large timber companies that operate in the county oppose any limitations on timber harvesting. The older farm families are divided; some are looking forward to a prosperous retirement that selling their land to developers will insure, while others decry the ruination of their traditional way of life. Real estate developers and homebuilders dog the commissioners at every turn. Clamorous Sierra Club and Audubon members show up at every public hearing. And pesky local newspaper reporters are covering growth management conflicts with unusual attentiveness.

A vocal private property rights group has sprung up in the past year and attracts several hundred people to its meetings. Big government regulations and environmental restrictions are eroding private property rights, its members contend, in violation of Constitutional guarantees. This group includes many active contributors of letters to local newspapers. Some recent letters have accused WCA, along with the Audubon Society and the Sierra Club, of threatening private property rights.

Little is known of the general public’s views on growth issues, habitat protection, economic development, or other issues that might be relevant to WCA’s mission. Three months ago, however, a newly-formed group, Arcadians For Farmland Preservation, released the results of a county-wide poll that shows that 80% of 400 county residents surveyed believed that disappearing farmland is a high-priority county problem, and 62% expressed a willingness to

pay higher property taxes to enable the county to protect it. The poll achieved its intended effect: the county commissioners, whose opposition to tax increases is legendary, have gone on record favoring farmland protection and are considering increasing property taxes. WCA staff and the farmland preservation group have had some initial discussions about earmarking a portion of the new revenues for acquiring critical habitat, but they have not yet broached this idea with the commissioners.

In addition to these development issues, WCA also faces a pressing stewardship challenge. For years WCA scientists have said that controlled fire is an essential tool to restore the natural ecosystem. Bliss Field Office staff tried as best they could to convince local decision-makers to permit controlled burning, but the area’s volunteer fire departments were adamantly opposed. Having no local staff to wage a more effective campaign, WCA did not press the issue.

Now, with a preserve manager in place, WCA wants to explore more thoroughly the possibility of obtaining a permit for prescribed burning.

Under these circumstances, the preserve’s project team -- the preserve manager, along with stewardship, communications, development and government relations staff from WCA’s Bliss Field Office -- comes together to conduct a stakeholder analysis and develop an initial community outreach strategy.

Create a stakeholder register for this project.

Prepare a stakeholder analysis.

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