Archives by Tag 'joint fact-finding'

NOAA Fisheries to Implement Bycatch Reduction Regulations for False Killer Whales; Based on CONCUR-Facilitated Consensus Team Recommendations

NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA Fisheries) recently published a Take Reduction Plan and implementing regulations to protect false killer whales in Hawaii. The Plan is based largely on recommendations developed by a CONCUR-facilitated False Killer Whale Take Reduction Team. “The steps NOAA Fisheries is taking will help mitigate the impacts on these populations of [...]

Coastal and Marine Spatial Planning Workshop in Hawaii (August 2011)

CONCUR conducted a one-day workshop in Honolulu, Hawaii, focused on effective community participation in Coastal and Marine Spatial Planning (CMSP) efforts. The August 2011 workshop was presented by the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council (WPRFMC), one of eight regional fishery management councils tasked with developing management plans to govern fishing activity in U.S. waters. [...]

Guest Lecture at Columbia University (July 2011)

As part of CONCUR’s periodic guest lectures at major universities, Senior Associate Bennett Brooks served as a guest lecturer at Columbia University in July 2011. Speaking to the graduate-level course, “Environmental Conflict Resolution Strategies,” taught by Adjunct Professor Allen Zerkin, Bennett’s presentation focused on strategies for folding complex and often-contested information into science-intensive, consensus-seeking dialogues. [...]

Customized Training for Conservation Alliance for Seafood Solutions (June 2011)

CONCUR Principal Scott McCreary and Senior Associate Bennett Brooks designed and led a training course in Mutual Gains Bargaining for the Conservation Alliance for Seafood Solutions, a 16-member consortium devoted to the dual goals of protecting ocean ecosystems and ensuring a long-term seafood supply. The focus of the training was to impart and practice skills [...]

Two CONCUR Projects Move Toward Implementation: Alaskan Way Viaduct Replacement and Southern California MPAs

We at CONCUR like to take on key roles in controversial large-scale, high stakes projects and programs, helping parties find a viable “solution space” and moving projects towards implementation. In December, two projects where we did just that hit major milestones. One involves what will be the largest deep bore tunnel in the world to [...]

CONCUR Guest Lectures at UC Berkeley College of Environmental Design: 2009 and 2010

In 2009 and again in 2010, Scott McCreary presented guest lectures on CONCUR’s work in environmental conflict resolution to graduate courses in the UC Berkeley Departments of Landscape Architecture & Environmental Planning and City Planning. Both presentations stressed the linkage between the theory of principled negotiation and mutual gains bargaining and their practical application in [...]

Update on Adaptive Management for the Guadalupe River Flood Control Project

The Guadalupe River Flood Control Project has a prior history of collaboration, which culminated in its redesign from a trapezoidal channel bypass tunnel and successful construction of the project, along with a suite of early implementation items to mitigate remaining impacts on the river corridor. Its 2001 Dispute Resolution Memorandum, facilitated by CONCUR, created an [...]

False Killer Whale Take Reduction Team Reaches Unanimous Consensus on a Draft Take Reduction Plan (July 2010)

The False Killer Whale Take Reduction Team – a diverse group that includes the Hawai‘i longline fishing community, conservation organizations, researchers and government agencies – reached a unanimous consensus agreement on a Draft Take Reduction Plan to reduce false killer whale bycatch in the Hawai‘i-based longline fleet. The consensus Draft Plan, formally submitted on Monday, July [...]

False Killer Whale Take Reduction Team (2009-Present)

In Fall 2009, CONCUR was asked to help the NOAA/NMFS Pacific Islands Regional Office (PIRO) prepare for and convene the pre-meeting of the False Killer Whale Take Reduction Team meeting held November 2009 in Honolulu, Hawaii. CONCUR’s work on this effort focused on several key tasks: (1) providing strategic planning advice to PIRO; (2) working [...]

Harbor Porpoise Take Reduction Plan Final Rule Amendment published (February 2010)

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has published a final rule to amend the regulations implementing the Harbor Porpoise Take Reduction Plan (weblink). The final rule, whose measures become effective in March 2010, addresses the increased incidental mortality and serious injury of the Gulf of Maine/Bay of Fundy stock of harbor porpoises in gillnet fisheries [...]