Assessment of Early Implementation of the US Forest Service’s Shared Stewardship Strategy

In 2019, Colorado State University entered into a challenge cost-share agreement with USFS State and Private Forestry to conduct independent research on the implementation and development of Shared Stewardship efforts. The first phase of our work took place in 2020, when we interviewed agency and state employees and representatives of partner organizations in states in the West that had signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU)with the USFS to formally pursue Shared Stewardship. Our primary goal was to understand the main factors affecting the early stages of Shared Stewardship efforts across these states, including key actors’ perspectives on the Strategy and early planning and development efforts, primary opportunities and challenges, and the types of capacities, mechanisms, and direction needed to move ahead successfully with partnerships and Shared Stewardship implementation.