Inside CMC Conservation

By Steve Bonowski

As chair of the CMC Conservation Committee, I was pleased to see conservation-related letters to the editor in the March-April issue of Trail & Timberline. Letters to the editor and op-ed pieces are always welcome, even if they disagree with a club position, and will be published at the discretion of the editors.

Considering the content of those letters, this seems a good time to share with members how the Conservation Department works and how positions on issues are developed.

The Conservation Committee structure and how positions are developed are governed by the Conservation Committee Guidelines. The focus area of the CMC Conservation program, as assigned by the Board, is the Southern Rockies Eco-region, about ninety percent of which is in Colorado. The Board directs the Conservation Department to also work on national issues when they impact our interests.

Conservation policy statements developed by the Committee must be approved by the Board of Directors. Policies are developed by looking at the best available scientific information. Because issues from the past can still be relevant today there are policies still in place dating back more than forty years. Issue positions are developed from the policies, with a heavy reliance on precedent. Maintaining a consistency in public statements is a key to maintaining the club’s credibility with the public.

One of the letters raised the issue that we were blatantly opposing the Bush administration.  Our response is that environmental protection should be and is a bipartisan issue.  Our goal is to report what is happening in public land policy and environmental protection, including the role in these debates of our elected officials.  We do not endorse candidates or parties, but rather provide members with information they can input into their personal electoral decisions.

Questions or comments about the Conservation Department and policy making in the CMC should be sent to Vera Smith, Conservation Director (smithv@cmc.org), or direct to me (SBonowski@aol.com). Thoughts about stewardship work can be sent to Pete Bond, our Stewardship Coordinator (peterbond@earthlink.net). P