Publications

Building Trust: Lessons From Collaborative Planning on State Trust Lands

The changing landscapes, economies and demographics of the West are demanding more diverse approaches to trust land management. These changes also have focused greater attention on trust lands as communities view these lands as public assets valued for their for open space, fish and wildlife protection and recreation.

As a result, developers, industry and business leaders, conservationists, neighboring community members and others have become increasingly interested in the use of trust lands, sometimes resulting in conflict over trust management decisions.

A promising tool, collaborative approaches applied to the planning and management of trust lands are being explored by trust managers across the West to reduce conflict, provide creative solutions and produce enduring results.

This report addresses challenges and opportunities for collaborative trust decisions and shares best practices and recommendations for collaborative planning on state trust lands based on eight case studies. The observations and best practices in this report grew out of stakeholder reflections and perceptions, as well as the researcher's external analysis.

Download the full report [3.3 MB]

For a detailed report of the full-length case studies, results and lessons for collaborative planning on state trust lands, go to theUniversity of Michigan's School of Natural Resources and Environment, Ecosystem Management Initiative.