Common Themes

Why Networking? Working together in the Crown enables us to respond to challenges and opportunities that cross boundaries, that are larger than any one group or agency. Some issues - such as protecting water quality, enhancing wildlife habitat, or fostering geotourism - reveal how interdependent our local stewardship efforts must be. Networking provides us all an opportunity to:

• Build a common understanding of the Crown's social/cultural, economic, and ecological values.
• Build a common understanding of issues facing the Crown.
• Clarify who is doing what - formal and informal stewardship efforts at both region-wide and sub-regional levels.
• Identify affinities - common areas of interest.
• Explore how to improve regional stewardship in the Crown (e.g., through networking, information exchange, pooling resources, partnership projects, etc.).

Themes - Several common themes for why folks want to work together:

• The desire to preserve and sustain a unique quality of life.
• Ecosystem and habitat fragmentation concerns.
• Water and air quality concerns.
• Climate change.
• Contributors to these concerns, such as land subdivision, commercial and residential growth, energy development, and the need for coordinated land and resource management.
• Opportunities such as stewardship-based geotourism, the International Peace Park, integrated weed management, etc.

Regional Stewardship - "Stewardship" means taking care of and sustaining three things: environment, community, and economy. Some stewardship groups focus on the entire Crown ecosystem. Other groups work within sub-regions, at the watersheds and community level. By thinking as a region and acting at the appropriate scale on the ground, we can achieve regional stewardship.

Networking - Regional stewardship in the Crown is a dynamic participant-driven process. For many people, terms such as "collaborative governance," "regional planning," and even "regional network" connote another layer of government or organizational infrastructure - in a word, bureaucracy. Our networking approach aims at fostering self-directed networking, which may or may not eventually lead to a more institutionalized forum for collaboration.

First Nations/Tribal Governments - By law and culture, tribal people in both Canada and the U.S. live as sovereign nations. In Canada, native tribes are referred to as "First Nations." In the U.S., there are tribal councils, agencies, and simply tribes, all of which can be respectfully covered by the term "tribal governments." The custom within the Crown is to say "First Nations and tribal governments" when talking about tribes on both sides of the border. Although smaller in size, they are sovereign nations - on par with the two federal governments. There are four First Nations/tribal governments within the Crown region: The Confederated Salish Kootenai Tribes (Flathead Valley of Montana); The Blackfeet Nation (Rocky Mountain Front in northern Montana); The Ktunaxa Nation ("toon-uh-hah;" southeastern British Columbia); and The Blood Nation (southeastern Alberta)

Crown Managers Partnership - This is a group of federal, tribal, provincial, and state agencies working together where possible to cooperatively manage lands and resources in the Crown of the Continent. Some 21 agencies are invited to an annual forum; a smaller core group of agencies is more active. CMP is staffed by the Miistakis Institute at the University of Calgary.

Geotourism - Geotourism sustains or enhances the geographical character of a place-its environment, culture, aesthetics, heritage, and the well-being of its residents. Geotravelers are people who like the idea of geotourism, who enjoy authentic sense of place and care about maintaining it. (National Geographic)

Geotoruism MapGuide Project - Steve Thompson, with the National Parks Conservation Association, is spearheading this effort to produce a geotourism MapGuide with National Geographic. Steve solicited nominations for sites to be included in the MapGuide and convened a council of people around the Crown to develop the MapGuide, which will be published in 2008 by National Geographic.

Crown of the Continent Ecosystem Education Consortium - This group of 24 agencies, educational institutions, and non-profit organizations focuses on fostering cooperation and coordination of ecosystem education efforts around the Crown. Their goal is to raise awareness and understanding of the regional ecosystem and to foster stewardship efforts that maintain the integrity of the ecosystem.