Federal land managers within the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) are asking the public to help them assess the ecosystem issues they focus on, and to build stronger relationships in the future.
The Greater Yellowstone Coordinating Committee (GYCC) is a group of 11 federal land management agencies that work together to manage more than 15 million acres of public land in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming.
GYCC managers are inviting the public to join them in a conversation in late October in Bozeman, Mont. Rather than hold a discussion about individual agency issues, managers are asking for input on cross-jurisdictional, ecosystem scale issues the GYCC can address, according to a joint statement released by the various agencies.
Specifically, the GYCC wishes to explore questions related to:
• Cross-agency land and resource management issues and opportunities;
• The GYCC’s GYE-level priorities;
• Future communication and collaboration with the public and stakeholder groups.
This conversation between the public and GYCC leadership is set for 1-5 p.m. on October 28, 2014, at the Best Western GranTree Inn in Bozeman, Montana. The emphasis of the session will be on interaction and communication between all attendees, with participants discussing issues in small groups with agency leaders. Interested participants are also welcome to attend a more in-depth GYCC orientation from 9:00 a.m. to noon at the same location.
A similar meeting will be held in Cody in spring 2015. Information gathered during these sessions will help the GYCC develop and strengthen its working relationships with the public and stakeholders as they collaborate to address joint challenges managing these shared landscapes.
All are welcome. To help plan meeting logistics, those who plan to attend are encouraged to RSVP by October 22 to gycc-October28@fs.fed.us.