With a shared goal to facilitate the continued existence of large expanses of forested lands, interested parties entered into a collaborative initiative called the Forests, Wildlife & Communities Project. The goal of the Forests, Wildlife & Communities Project was to implement a regional and landscape level campaign for conservation by advocating with local officials, landowners, and realtors and engineers to implement community land use and landowner based strategies for forest land and wildlife habitat conservation.

Objectives:

• Prioritize key wildlife, forest and natural resource areas in the Mad River Valley;
• Engage local citizens and landowners in the Mad River Valley to create grassroots support for conservation through diverse non-regulatory strategies and policies.
• Advocate land acquisition of key conservation areas and develop local funding options to achieve conservation in the Mad River Valley;
• Promote sound local land use development through creative land use and zoning mechanisms to conserve key forest resources and habitat areas.
• Positively influence local land use development by promoting smart growth principles with realtors, engineers and local decision-makers in the Mad River Valley