As part of ongoing programs offered by American Whitewater’s River Stewardship Institute, our members working on hydropower relicensing in the West will have an opportunity to receive formal training in negotiation skills. Funding from the Hewlett Foundation through a grant to the Western Caucus of the Hydropower Reform Coalition has allowed us to provide this unique opportunity.
The program will be led by Steve Smutko of the Natural Resources Leadership Institute and our goals will be to develop knowledge and skills to advance interests, build trust and stable agreements, and mutual understanding in a negotiation context by:
1. Improving participants’ understanding of the theory and practice of negotiation and dispute resolution, and strengthening their negotiation skills.
2. Improving the policy dialogue among the various interests in hydropower relicensing.
3. Shifting process from win-lose to mutual gain solutions.
American Whitewater has a long history of success using the FERC relicensing process to secure important conservation victories for whitewater rivers across the country that benefit paddlers, wildlife, and the entire river ecosystem. Increasingly the FERC relicensing process depends on negotiated settlements and with a small staff we depend on our volunteers to represent the organization. This workshop will serve an important need by providing our volunteers with the skills they need to be successful during the final, but most critical stage, of the licensing process.
The details
Releases on the Feather River will take place on Saturday and Sunday (10/15 and 10/16). Participants are welcome to take this opportunity to enjoy this great river. On Sunday afternoon AW stewardship staff will lead a short workshop on the need for ongoing stewardship throughout the life of a hydro license. The negotiation training workshop will take place over a full day on Monday, October 17th at Donner Summit, CA (near Tahoe, a short drive west of Reno, NV).
Travel scholarships will be available for those interested in attending this workshop and expenses the day of the workshop, including food and lodging, will be covered.
Expectations
This workshop is targeted towards our volunteers who are representing American Whitewater in hydropower relicensing and who seek to expand their skill set to become more effective volunteers. All participants are expected to participate the full day on Monday (8:30 am -6:00 pm).
If you are interested in attending this workshop, please contact California Stewardship Director Dave Steindorf. Space is limited preference will be given to those who have a demonstrated interest in representing American Whitewater in hydropower relicensing.