Carie's Notes Archive
October 2nd, 2008
Carie's Note #1 (This note is currently the automatic-reply email
that people receive if they email Carie at
rosemont@foxmediation.com
Thank you for your interest in the potential collaborative process regarding the
Rosemont mine proposal.
I would like to respond to each one of you personally. If (as knowledgeable people
predict) I receive many, many e-mails, then the personal connection will have to
build over time.
I have a bootstrapping challenge: I don't want to start designing this augmentation
of the Forest Service's process until I hear from you, and to hear from you I need
to have at least some functioning pieces in place. Here are some initial ideas.
I'll listen and adapt to your needs as we go.
Idea #1: If you would pull together a group of around 6 to 12 people
in your community-your neighborhood, your allies, your organization-I would love
to come meet with you at your convenience. Evenings, weekends, and business hours
are all possible options. For starters, I will be in the Tucson area the last week
of October, coming in Sunday the 26th and heading home to Portland on Friday. The
more of these meetings I can schedule for that week, the happier I will be. If you
are willing to host one of these meetings, the best thing is to call or write to
Kimberly Caringer at the U.S. Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution (520-901-8534,
caringer@ecr.gov) She'll keep the schedule.
If these small gatherings work, I'd like to keep using this approach throughout
the process to complement larger public meetings.
Idea #2: I am going to assume that since you e-mailed me, you would
like to be on my e-mail distribution list. On October 20th I'll send out a note
letting you know my progress (such as it is at that point). In the initial couple
of months I would like to send out a progress note every two weeks or so. I'll also
post the note on the U.S. Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution's website.
Which brings me to the relatively unsatisfying, but very efficient…
Idea #3: The Institute has kindly set up a website (here) at http://project.ecr.gov/rosemont
Who is my team, you ask? I am the lead facilitator. I am a former soil scientist
and lawyer, have had my own mediation practice since I was pregnant with my daughter
(she's 11), and live and work in a little craftsman house in Portland, Oregon. (To
find out more, please see www.foxmediation.com.) Philip Murphy (a brilliant decision
scientist and computer guy) and I have worked on several projects together. Philip
can take any complex issue and make it both simpler and more relevant. He will be
looking for ways to help you in what we think will be your first task: analyzing
the comments the Forest Service received on the Rosemont Mine proposal.
Philip and I have a concern about how comments are analyzed and then played back
to the public in typical federal processes. Thousands of passionate comments come
in. They are organized into issues by the agency. And then, months later, they come
back to the public in a way that can feel distant and sterile in comparison to the
original comments. This feeling of distance is not good for the relationship between
the agency and the public. And as a practical matter, the issues that arise from
the comments are the foundation for the rest of the agency's planning. If those
are solid, then public confidence in the rest of the process is more likely to evolve.
What we are proposing for the first phase of the mediation is that the public develop
themes from the raw comments.
This is a crazy idea. It is a lot of work. It will need totally new software. It
probably requires choosing a representative workgroup, which in itself will be a
challenge. It means trusting that the Forest Service will honor the workgroup's
efforts (while knowing that the Forest Service cannot give them a blank ticket).
People will have to have enough passion for this subject to give up their free time,
yet be dispassionate enough to give voice to all issues, not just the ones they
agree with.
But what an amazing thing if we can make it work! I believe it would be a very strong
step forward in the conversation about the Rosemont mine proposal, as well as being
hugely important in the way agencies listen to their public.
But-these are just ideas so far. They'll become grounded in reality as I learn from
you and your community.
Thank you-
Carie
PS Yes, of course, my first step is to read your e-mail! I am unlikely to read long
attachments, though, especially if they are copies of your previous comments to
the Forest Service. We will be getting to know that material thoroughly, together,
as we engage in the comment analysis. I need to understand the contours of the past
in order to design well, but please appreciate that my focus is on the future.
For comments or questions about this website, please contact:
usiecr@ecr.gov.
This page was last updated 1/13/2011.