Learning Topics and Tools

The Learning Topics and Tools pages host a rich array of examples, best practices, and other resources for practitioners working in the field of conservation and collaboration. The resources are organized around several highly relevant topics:

• Working Effectively with the Forest Service
• Multiparty Monitoring
• Organizational Development
• Linking Science to Practice
• State Collaborative Restoration Principles
• Place-Based Forest Agreements and Laws
• Taproot Quarterly Newsletter Archive
• Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program
• Working with Volunteers

Peer Learning Sessions

Peer Learning Sessions are 90-minute teleconference discussions around key issues collaborators face when working on National Forest issues.

The Peer Learning Sessions website displays upcoming Peer Learning Sessions, and the information required for partner groups or agency personnel to register and join the Session. The site also features an extensive library of previous Peer Learning Session recordings, organized around common topics.

Projects

The National Forest Foundation (NFF) provides direct technical assistance to organizations and National Forests across the country. The Projects page highlights ongoing collaborative projects that are benefiting from NFF technical assistance.

Below, conservation practitioners can find a selection of valuable resources on a number of topics. Many of these resources - and others - are also available on the appropriate Learning Topics and Tools topic page.

Best Practices

The National Forest Foundation (NFF) documents the great ideas and creative approaches used by community-based collaboratives and partnerships. The best practices listed below include a one-page summary, followed by a sample document or agreement that we think is a good template for other groups.

• Formalized Agreement between a Collaborative and the Forest Service
• Multi-Agency MOU Coordinates Landscape Restoration
• Creative Approach to a Field Trip
• Project-specific Collection Agreement
• Participating Agreement – Nonprofit and Agency Share an Employee
• Umbrella Agreement Enables Flexibility in a Partnership
• Governance Documents for Collaboratives
• Employing Field Crews on National Forests
• Creative Forest Service Approach to Travel Planning

Tools

Sometimes collaborative group members or nonprofits know what they want to achieve, but are not quite sure what steps to take to get there. The tools listed below are some of the best guides we have found to help organizations clarify roles and responsibilities, determine needs and an appropriate action plan, manage transitions, assess strengths and weaknesses, raise money in rural areas, and work with volunteers.

• Tracking In-Kind Contributions & Volunteer Time
• Forest Resiliency Indicator Checklist for Collaborative Groups
• Forest Service Handover Memo Can Ease Staff Transitions
• Getting the Work Done – Employee vs. Contractor
• Developing an Outcome-Based Monitoring Plan with Measureable Indicators and Targets
• Outcome-Indicator Form
• Adaptive Management Technical Guide
• Important Questions for a Collaborative Process
• Essentials of Building a Nonprofit Organization
• Self-Monitoring Tool for Nonprofit Boards
• Ten Basic Responsibilities of Nonprofit Boards
• Board and Staff Roles Worksheet
• The Five Life Stages of a Nonprofit Organization
• Basic Fundraising Plan
• Board Fundraising Checklist
• Eight Questions to Craft the Message
• The Collaboration Cloverleaf: Four Stages of Development
• Stages of Collaboration Grid (11" X 17")
• Factors Influencing Successful Collaboration
• Ideas for Recruiting Volunteers
• Fiscal Sponsorship – Doing it Right
• FS Volunteer Reimbursement Update 2011
• Bankhead Liason Panel: Timber and Thinning Monitoring Checklist
• Rural Fundraising Success Stories
• NFF Social Media

Collaborative Examples

When a group of diverse interests first comes together, it is often helpful to learn from the models provided by other collaborations. The purpose of the following collaborative examples is to outline the structures used by different collaborative groups, including an assessment of what worked as well as lessons learned.

• Front Range Roundtable
• Montana Forest Restoration Committee
• New Mexico Biomass Evaluation Task Force
• Northeast Washington Forestry Coalition
• Tongass Futures Roundtable
• Upper Joseph Creek Landscape Scale Assessment

Links

• Forest Service - National Partnership Office
• Forest Service's Ecosystem Management Coordination Collaboration Web Page
• National Council of Nonprofits
• Partnership Resource Center
• Partnership Guide
• Red Lodge Clearinghouse
• U.S. Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution

Not finding what you need here? Email Karen DiBari or call (406) 830-3352 for information and referral.