April 2017 - Parks & Recreation - 42

RARE ECOSYSTEM

Tips to Successful
Collaboration

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Be strategic. Know what everyone
at the table needs and values and
how they measure success.

Respect differences. It's OK not
to have the exact same goals, but
successful collaborators' vision for
success must be in sync.

Put it in writing. Everyone should
know what is expected of themselves and others. And spell out
how the collaboration will/can end.
Process for decision-making.
Each collaborator needs to know
his or her role. Does it involve
decision-making and, if it does, for what
and when?

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Be flexible when possible. If you
have a strong foundation for your
collaboration, change is less of a
problem.

represented the greatest long-term threat to
rare native plants at the site.
Another important challenge for the
Magnolia Bog and surrounding areas related to water. Years of development in
and around the surrounding supporting
habitat had altered or destroyed the habitat, particularly the water infiltration so
necessary to keeping alive the bog and all
the life it supported.
Park and recreation agencies are good
planners. We plan for ongoing field and
facility maintenance, growth in programs
and new community interests. However,
our budgets don't generally set aside funding in case a globally rare ecosystem is
discovered, and restoration of this areas
was not in the Arlington County Department of Parks and Recreation's budget.
One of the best parts of working for
parks and recreation is that our work resonates with the public. So, when the Arlington County Department of Parks and
Recreation found out it had this amazing
ecosystem and identified it as the most
ecologically significant natural site in Arlington in its National Resources Management Plan (http://bit.ly/2neZYqL),
people wanted to help. Who wouldn't

Delineate roles: leadership, financial, programmatic, logistics.

Don't collaborate just because
you are asked. Successful collaborations should mean something to
all the players.
Be open and honest. Share materials that relate to the collaboration. Share if/when concerns develop. Consistent communication is the
best way to make sure the collaboration
goes in the planned direction.

Acknowledge your collaborators. Recognize their contributions and talents.

Parks & Recreation

An AmeriCorps volunteer uses a wrench to
remove an invasive plant from the Magnolia
Bog in Barcroft Park. (Photo by Anthony Lee)

| A P R I L 2 0 1 7 | W W W. PA R K S A N D R E C R E AT I O N . O R G

want to restore something globally rare?
With community support, the county
board approved a five-year Barcroft Magnolia Bog Restoration Project, and a longer-term plan to maintain the work was
put in place by staff. In 2011, Arlington
County's Greg Zell, the natural resource
specialist at the time, drafted a Natural
Resources Management Plan for the
newly defined Barcroft Natural Resources Conservation Area that called for:
* removing invasive species to retain
high-value natural lands
* reforesting extant species
* restoring degraded wetlands through
re-introduction of historically appropriate native plants and wildlife
* mitigating damage from storm blow out
and retaining water in the seepage swamp
* developing a holistic plan that favors
the ecosystem
Innovation Through Collaboration
Restoration of the Barcroft Magnolia Bog
is the result of a series of successful partnerships between Arlington County staff
and local volunteer groups. " Our goal was
to coordinate and unite environmental
groups in volunteering to help restore and
steward the rare wetland communities, "
says Alonso Abugattas, natural resource
manager. " We found concerned and interested volunteer partners who were willing
to use their skills and abilities in regular
habitat stewardship events. "
Community support and volunteer assistance came from the following groups:
* Arlington Regional Master Naturalists - a nonprofit corps of volunteers
who provide education, outreach and
service dedicated to the beneficial
management of natural resources and
natural areas within the community.
* Windgate Townhome Community -
an adjacent residential neighborhood)
* Earth Sangha - a Washington, D.C. -
based nonprofit public charity whose mission is ecological restoration as a form of
socially engaged Buddhism. It operates a
volunteer-based program to propagate lo-

April 2017 - Parks & Recreation

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