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A Strategic Plan for theSouthern Appalachian Man and the Biosphere |
IntroductionThe Southern Appalachian Man and the Biosphere Program—SAMAB for short—was established in 1988 to help the area’s public land managers to work together on some very serious problems that they all shared. The region’s population and its industries were growing rapidly, and ways were needed to encourage growth without jeopardizing the magnificent scenery and natural resources of the region.SAMAB grew into a Cooperative of 11 Federal Agencies and three States and a Foundation made up of university, private sector, environmental, and corporate interests. Perhaps its greatest accomplishment in the 1990’s was the publication of a widely acclaimed assessment of the region’s natural resources. This information has been shared with and used by many in the public and private sectors. As the 20th Century waned, however, it became clear that SAMAB needed to make plans and set overall direction for the first decade of a new century. Setting overall direction was difficult because SAMAB’s member organizations differ widely in their missions and goals. Agreement was possible because of a general commitment to people and to the environments in which they live. This publication outlines a ten-year strategic plan for SAMAB. It provides an overall vision for the program, a clearly stated mission, and a listing of core values. It also describes goals, objectives, and strategies. This plan is a dynamic, living document, to be updated annually in response to changing agency and community needs. Please bring your comments and suggestions to the SAMAB Coordinating Office or any SAMAB representative.
SAMAB fosters a harmonious relationship between people and the Southern Appalachian environment.
SAMAB promotes environmental health, and stewardship and sustainable development of natural, cultural, and economic resources in the Southern Appalachians. It encourages community-based solutions to critical regional issues through cooperation among partners, information gathering and sharing, integrated assessments, and demonstration projects. The vision statement clearly reflects commitment of SAMAB members to serve people and to wisely manage the natural and cultural resources of the region. The mission makes SAMAB a forum where people and organizations can communicate, do research, and cooperate to achieve desirable results. Success depends heavily on adhering to a set of core values.
The Southern Appalachian region is one of the most beautiful, biologically rich, and diverse areas in the world. More than 16 percent of the land in the region is publicly owned. That percentage is larger than in most of the South, but much lower than in the West. Private landowners in the Southern Appalachians tend to be strong advocates of private property rights. The area’s natural beauty and pleasant climate are attracting visitors and residents in increasing numbers. More and more people are moving to the region and building their homes in previously undeveloped areas. Increasing demands for services in previously rural areas are testing the infrastructure and financial resources of local communities and governments. Differences in attitudes toward conservation and use of the region’s natural resources have led to conflicts including legal battles. Public land managers in the Southern Appalachians struggle to meet their legal mandates and the widely divergent desires of local and national publics. Increasingly, public land managers must consider conditions and activities on neighboring land to effectively manage resources on public land. With limited budgets and increasingly complex goals of managing for the sustainability of ecosystems, agencies are finding it necessary to work with other agencies to accomplish their mission goals. At the same time, communities are trying to cope with the demands of rapidly growing human populations while maintaining that natural beauty that drew many residents here. Federal and State agencies have information, services, and programs that can help communities to cope with increasing demands and plan for their future. Often, these communities are unaware of the resources that are available to them. The SAMAB Program was created in 1988 to help managers in natural resource agencies to address the complex problems they were facing. The zone of cooperation includes portions of six States—Virginia, North and South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, and Alabama. (Although Appalachian Kentucky and West Virginia are currently outside the official SAMAB regional boundary, these areas share many of the same needs and have participated in SAMAB activities.) The SAMAB organization includes a Cooperative Executive Committee and a Foundation Board of Directors. A Coordinating Office includes an Executive Director and supporting staff. Committees, initiatives, projects, and other activities are initiated as needed to accomplish SAMAB goals and objectives (See SAMAB Organization Chart on last page of this document.) The SAMAB Foundation is incorporated as a 501(c)3 tax-exempt organization in the State of Tennessee. It currently receives limited staff support from the Coordinating Office. The Foundation recently has hired a development director whose duties include raising funds in support of the SAMAB Program.
Vision and mission statements can be interesting or even inspiring, but questions remain about what an organization hopes to accomplish and how it plans to succeed. Insights into these matters are provided by stating goals, objectives, and strategies. In this plan, goals 1-3 address enduring needs of the region, objectives denote activities needed to approach the goals in a 10-year time frame, and strategies describe means for achieving each objective. Strategies are targeted for the next 1 to 5 years. Goal 4 addresses how SAMAB plans to accomplish its objectives and strategies. Goal 1. Discovery and Assessment: Understand and describe the status and dynamics of the natural, economic, and cultural resources of the Southern Appalachians and the benefits of ecosystem management and sustainable development. Objective 1.1. Characterize geographic patterns and trends in key environmental, socio-economic, and cultural attributes that can serve as indices of conditions in the region. Evaluate historic trends and plausible future scenarios. Examine linkages among attributes, including natural and social dimensions of the landscape. For key attributes, establish thresholds from which environmental-quality goals can be set. Strategies:
Objective 1.2. Work with communities and partner organizations to identify and characterize regional patterns and trends as opportunities for and constraints on various human uses. Strategies:
Objective 1.3. Identify attributes that make places suitable or unsuitable for particular uses, such as urban development, timber production, preservation, restoration, or recreation. Strategy—Work with regional partner organizations and communities to identify key needs and areas. Objective 1.4. Document the philosophy, methods, and technologies for, and case studies of, ecosystem management and sustainable development. Strategies:
Goal 2. Education and Outreach: Foster greater public awareness of the status and dynamics of natural, economic, and cultural resources in the region through innovative communication and education. Encourage use of this awareness to improve decision making throughout the region. Objective 2.1. Support a state-of-the-art, easily accessible information system that facilitates information integration and dissemination, including agency and stakeholder inquiry. Strategies:
Strategies:
Objective 2.3. Provide forums that encourage dialogue about, clarification of, and resolution of environmental issues. Strategies:
Objective 2.4. Maintain a communications program that builds an awareness of SAMAB and the Southern Appalachian environment. Strategies:
Goal 3. Demonstration and Application: Identify, prioritize and support opportunities for cooperative resource management, sustainable, ecologically sound economic development, and research needed to fill knowledge gaps. Objective 3.1. Undertake cooperative resource-management initiatives that have a scope that is regional or crosses boundaries and that address key issues. Strategies:
Objective 3.2. Identify and prioritize sustainable, ecologically sound opportunities for economic development. Strategies:
Objective 3.3. Support cooperative research and development needed to achieve sustainable economies and effective resource management. Strategies:
Goal 4. Organizational Capacity: Develop and maintain a strong SAMAB organization that has the capacity to accomplish its mission. Objective 4.1. Link Federal, regional, State, tribal, and local governments in the SAMAB Cooperative, and link individuals and other organizations in the SAMAB Foundation. Establish and maintain leadership, a comprehensive set of planning and decision-making processes, and funding for joint projects. Coordinate activities across Federal and other public agencies as appropriate. Integrate program delivery at the community level whenever it is appropriate to do so. Strategies:
Objective 4.2. Develop and maintain a staff with the leadership qualities, functional expertise, support, facilities, and lines of authority, responsibility, and accountability necessary to plan, accomplish, and evaluate goals established with them. Objective 4.3. Establish and monitor roles, responsibilities, lines of authority, and accountability within and among SAMAB organizational components and staff. Strategy—Develop position descriptions that clearly define expectations, and implement system for reviewing performance of staff members. Objective 4.4. Clarify amounts and means of financial and in-kind support available from member organizations, the SAMAB Foundation, and outside contributors. Pursue innovative and diverse multi-year financial strategies to provide for administrative and project needs. Strategies:
Objective 4.5. Develop and maintain an organizational culture that earns public recognition and attracts and develops outstanding paid staffers, volunteers, collaborators, and sponsors. Strategies:
National Park Service
Georgia
Charles Van Sickle (President)—retired USDA Forest Service
Ex officio:
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