INTRODUCTION

The Oregon Biodiversity Project has been a collaborative effort to develop a statewide strategy to conserve Oregon's natural biological diversity. The project devoted more than four years to a "big picture" assessment of Oregon's biodiversity conservation needs and involved a broad range of interests in developing the statewide strategy.

The Oregon project may be the most successful biodiversity planning initiative ever undertaken at the state level. The project's collaborative approach earned the respect of disparate interests, and the final products have won accolades from land managers and policy makers alike. More important, the project effectively framed biodiversity conservation issues in a way that has captured the attention of key decision makers, and the project's conservation strategy has already begun to shape resource policies in Oregon.

The initial success of the Oregon Biodiversity Project has led many to view it as a model for state and regional conservation planning efforts. This publication is intended to provide insights into the process behind the project with an eye toward helping others apply lessons learned in Oregon to future biodiversity conservation efforts in other states.

The project had its genesis in the early 1990s when a group of conservationists, frustrated with continuing polarization and slow progress in redressing endangered species issues, saw a need for broader-scale approaches to conserving Oregon's biodiversity. They were intrigued by the approach of the Oregon Gap Analysis Program, a promising federal-state effort to identify "gaps" in current protection for biodiversity. New computer technology, mapping based on satellite imagery, and the emerging science of conservation biology appeared to offer the tools needed for a more comprehensive, science-based approach to conservation issues.

Encouraged by the organization's president, Defenders of Wildlife regional staff initiated conversations with staff at the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and the Department of Defense Legacy Program to determine their interest in supporting the project. Both responded favorably, and the foundation urged Defenders to partner with The Nature Conservancy of Oregon and to involve a broad range of interests in the project. Both The Nature Conservancy and the Oregon Natural Heritage Program agreed to participate, and Defenders took the lead in late 1993, laying the groundwork for a private sector-based initiative.

By 1996, the project had grown into a collaborative effort involving dozens of public and private cooperators. Individual researchers and agencies contributed data. Input from the project's three committees (Steering, Science, and Implementation) shaped the outlines of the biodiversity analysis and conservation strategy. Funding support came from a variety of sources, including private foundations, federal agencies, and corporate contributors. By 1998, the project had raised more than $800,000. In-kind contributions were valued at more than $200,000.

Final products, released in the first half of 1998, included:

• A full-color, atlas-type publication, featuring results of the analysis and the project's conservation strategy. Also, a full-color poster, highlighting 42 areas around the state identified by the project as "conservation opportunity areas."
• Two publications on stewardship incentives, one tailored to Oregon and the other adapted for a national audience.
• A manual and software to assist the public outreach component of the project (NatureMapping).
• A CD-ROM containing most of the data sets used in the project's analysis, an introductory overview to the project, two GIS software programs, and a watershed profiler that provides summaries of key data sets at a variety of scales.

Project Vision
Early in the process, the Steering Committee devoted extensive time to discussion of the project's vision. Although the committee never adopted a formal statement, it reached consensus after several drafts on the broad outlines, which project staff refined as follows:

The Oregon Biodiversity Project seeks to develop a statewide conservation strategy for Oregon. In doing so, the project hopes to ensure that this generation passes on to future generations an Oregon in which all elements of the state's native biological diversity are represented, healthy and functioning in a diverse landscape that continues to meet and support human needs.

Goals. The primary goal of the Oregon Biodiversity Project was to develop a pragmatic strategy to conserve Oregon's native biodiversity. The strategy was intended to reduce the risk of species becoming endangered in the future, as well as to give landowners more flexibility in resource management decisions. The project also sought to establish a process to improve communication among diverse public and private interests and help people find common ground in resource management decisions.

Objectives. The project's major objectives were to:

• Compile the best available information to identify habitats and species that may be at risk;
• Identify conservation opportunities where social and economic conditions are most favorable;
• Engage a broad spectrum of interested parties in discussions about the future of Oregon's resources by providing high-quality, easy-to-use products;
• Recommend management actions and policies to assure that representative examples of all of Oregon's habitats are maintained or restored to healthy condition;
• Identify incentives to encourage private landowners to participate in implementing the conservation strategy; and
• Provide opportunities for citizens to help collect data on wildlife distributions, and develop an informed, active constituency for biodiversity conservation.

Administration
Defenders of Wildlife was responsible for the project's administration, including staffing, fundraising, and developing final products. Defenders' West Coast office in Lake Oswego coordinated day-to-day management, with the organization's Washington, D.C., office providing accounting services and other administrative support. The Nature Conservancy of Oregon and the Oregon Natural Heritage Program were, and continue to be, principal partners.

Staffing levels varied somewhat over time, but included a project director, project manager, outreach and product development coordinator, a conservation biologist/GIS technical position, and a project assistant. Of these positions, only the technical position was consistently full-time.

The project director handled most of the fundraising, provided overall direction for the project, and authored the stewardship incentives document. The project manager was responsible for day-to-day operations, organized committee meetings, and authored most of the atlas. The outreach and product development coordinator managed the project's public outreach component, NatureMapping, on a part-time basis with assistance in 1995 from a part-time outreach coordinator. Beginning in 1997, the NatureMapping manager began working full-time on the Oregon Biodiversity Project, coordinating the production of the project's various products. When it became clear in early 1995 that much of the project's technical work would have to be done in-house, Defenders hired a conservation biologist with GIS expertise to coordinate scientific and technical analysis. This person left Defenders toward the end of the first phase, in the fall of 1997, and was re-placed by another GIS specialist to finish up the technical work. The project assistant provided administrative support throughout the project's initiation and development phase. Staff at The Nature Conservancy of Oregon and the Oregon Natural Heritage Program devoted extensive time to the project on a periodic basis. Finally, Defenders contracted throughout this phase with several independent consultants for specific tasks.

Advisory Committees
Three committees provided guidance on various aspects of the project. Committee members were not compensated for their time, unless contracted with individually.

Steering Committee. Beginning in early 1994, representatives from Defenders, The Nature Conservancy, and an environmental engineering firm, CH2M Hill, recruited leaders from Oregon's business community and timber and cattle industries for a six-member Steering Committee. This committee focused on providing policy guidance for the project's direction and assistance with fundraising, and ultimately proved to be a bedrock of support. Although participation by the cattle industry representative was limited in the project's final two years, other members remained actively involved throughout the project. As the project manager put it, "

Science Committee. A 10-member Science Committee was established in late 1994 to provide recommendations on the structure and conduct of the biodiversity analysis; assist with interpretation of the results; and provide recommendations for a statewide conservation strategy. The committee, which included members drawn from academia, agencies, industry, and conservation, met twice during 1995 to explore alternative approaches for the biodiversity analysis. Two workshops in mid-1996 brought together members of the committee and other invited participants to review initial results and plans for the ecoregional assessments. Several committee members assisted with some of the ecoregional assessments and the stewardship incentives report, and others reviewed final products.

Implementation Committee. As the project began to develop, the Steering Committee concluded there was a need for expanded involvement of other interests, principally leading policymakers. In 1996, an 18-member Implementation Committee was formed, representing a broad range of interests with a potential role in implementing the project's conservation strategy. Committee members included directors of several state agencies, top federal agency officials, and representatives of tribal and local governments, industry, and conservation. The committee convened twice in 1996 to provide guidance on implementation strategies, and again in late 1997 to review draft versions of the stewardship incentives and the conservation strategy documents.