The Sonoran Institute: Conserving and Enhancing the Western Landscape

By Alison Grey, 1-10-08

The Gallatin Valley is home to over 200 non-profits. These organizations do not hinge on metropolitan amenities, and are often created to stimulate local communities of the West. As part of our New West economy, NewWest.Net/Bozeman is highlighting Gallatin Valley organizations in a weekly series.

With unprecedented population growth throughout the West, both its demographic and economic landscape have witnessed major changes. Committed to promoting community decisions that respect the environment and the people who live here, The Sonoran Institute strives to create a collaborative approach to protecting both the culture and the land of the West.

The Sonoran Institute, Northern Rockies Office, founded in 1990, has a staff of 11 people, including land use planners, community organizers, rural development specialists, a landscape ecologist, conservationists, a communications expert and a GIS specialist, all committed to the organization’s mission of inspiring and enabling community decisions and public policies that respect the land and the people of the West. Dennis Glick, director of the Sonoran Institute’s Northern Rockies office, expands on the organization and its efforts.

NewWest.Net: Why and how did your organization come into being?

SI: The Sonoran Institute was created to fill the niche of a community-based conservation organization working collaboratively with citizens to address the impacts of growth and change in the West. The Institute strives to not only help communities achieve their conservation and development goals, but also to build their capacity to sustain these efforts into the future.

NewWest.Net: Why is this organization in Bozeman?

SI: Initially, much of the work of this office was focused on fast growing counties in the Yellowstone region. Bozeman was located in close proximity to many project sites and the home of several staffers. Our geographic scope of interest has expanded to include the entire Rocky Mountain region of Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. We now have staff in Choteau, Missoula, Helena and Cheyenne, Wyo. and we have helped to create or strengthen partner organizations in Salmon, Idaho, Fremont County, Idaho, Madison County, Mont., Canmore, Alberta, Red Lodge, Mont. and here in Gallatin County.

NewWest.Net: What are the advantages and challenges of operating in this area? Are there other non-profits in this area that you partner with or would like to?

SI: The biggest advantage is the people. There is an abundance of good people concerned about the same issues that we are working on - the environmental, social and economic impacts of rapid growth and change - and they are deeply committed to finding solutions to these challenges. These folks represent a great cross section of regional residents - old-timers and newcomers, farmers and ranchers and businessmen and recreationists. In this region, just about everyone shares a common concern about preserving the natural and cultural assets that make this such a great place to live, work and play. In many ways there is a regional sense of place and that is a great foundation for finding solutions to these growth related challenges.

We work with a number of non-profit organizations. Some of these are conservation groups but others are involved in economic development, affordable housing, and in improving the quality of local government. We are encouraged by the emergence of rural grassroots groups that are working almost exclusively on land use issues. The Madison Growth Solutions Group in Madison County and a similar non-profit in Fremont County Idaho are two valued partners. Nearly all of our projects are carried out in partnership with others. Some would consider these as “non-traditional”—at least for the conservation community. They include the National Association of Counties as well as many individual city and county officials. Recently we have been working closely with regional architects and developers who are striving to adopt “Best Development Practices” that enhance, rather than degrade our communities and rural landscapes.

NewWest.Net: Where are you directing your resources?

SI: We focus on five major strategies for achieving our goals. They include: 1) Research on critical growth related issues such as quantifying the economic costs of growth to individual counties; 2) Training for county officials and key decision makers on tools for managing growth and protecting natural and cultural assets; 3) Technical and in some cases, financial support to cities, counties and local citizens to assist them in their efforts to plan for and manage growth in a way that achieves conservation and development goals; 4) Support for developers who are applying the Sonoran Institute’s Best Practices for new development; and 5) Policy reform efforts at the state level that strengthen and provide incentives for local planning, rural conservation and sustainable development efforts.

NewWest.Net: What is your annual operating budget, and can you please break that down between administrative and fund-raising versus program expenses?

SI: The annual budget for this office is around $1 million. Administration and fundraising is 20 percent of the overall budget.

NewWest.Net: How are you fulfilling your mission statement?

SI: We believe that we are one of the few organizations working at the state, regional and local level to apply the tools and strategies needed to create livable communities, vibrant economies and healthy landscapes. Our track record includes several ground-breaking studies on the costs and impacts of growth in the West. Officials from 29 counties in the Northern Rockies have participated in our growth management training programs. Citizen activists, and a dozen Northern Rockies watershed councils have also benefited from Sonoran Institute training (and over 30 grassroots groups have received small grants from the Institute). With our assistance, at least a dozen counties have strengthened their land use policies and programs and their planning expertise. A growing number of developers have adopted the Institute’s Best Development Practices for urban, edge and rural development. And, with our support, several bills (seven) were passed in the most recent Montana legislature that improve the quality of local planning efforts.

NewWest.Net: What is your most recent success story?

SI: Sonoran Institute staff believe that rural land protection and good community development are two side of the conservation coin. Our “Building from the Best of the Northern Rockies Project,” coupled with our rural land planning efforts, illustrate that belief. This year the Institute completed a two year effort to identify and illustrate the principles of good development for the communities and rural landscapes of the Northern Rockies. A team of well-respected architects, developers, engineers, conservationists, affordable housing and smart growth advocates, realtors and landscape architects helped to draft these Best Practices. Over 125 new development projects in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming that illustrate these practices were critiqued by this advisory group. The best of these case studies were included in a richly illustrated book titled Building from the Best of the Northern Rockies. The book was unveiled and awards given to some of the project principals at a gala event attended by a very diverse audience. This project, coupled with our rural land planning efforts, illustrate that belief that public involvement and new development can enhance communities and protect the environment.

NewWest.Net: Thank you!