| A Brief History of the Southwest Strategy www.swstrategy.org
In 1997, the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Agriculture, and the Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Environmental Security directed their agencies to develop a strategy that would maintain and restore the region’s cultural, economic, and environmental quality of life. Thus, the Southwest Strategy (SWS) came to be, and in 1999, the governors of New Mexico and Arizona and the tribes of these two states joined the Southwest Strategy.
Management of federal lands has become increasingly complex in recent years. Arizona and New Mexico have large expanses of public and tribal lands intermingled with private lands, fast growing metropolitan centers, scarce water resources, and unique cultural resources. The area also has diverse and fragile ecosystems with numerous endangered plants and animals, as well as the many competing demands on public lands and water resources.
All interests must work together in a comprehensive—rather than piecemeal— effort to ensure resources are managed in a coordinated manner.
The federal agencies participating in the Southwest Strategy recognize and respect the jurisdictional authority of each other as well as the governors of Arizona and New Mexico.
The SWS partners include the Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation, National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Geological Survey, Department of Agriculture, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, Rural Development, U.S. Forest Service, Department of Defense, Regional Environmental Coordination for Regions VI and IX, and the Environmental Protection Agency Regions 6 and 9. The United States Border Patrol recently joined as a member of the Strategy.
The states and tribes of Arizona and New Mexico, conservation districts, counties, and other local government agencies also participate in discussions and activities on topics related to their interests.
California Biodiversity News: Volume 9, Number 1 |
The SWS is a functional forum in which federal agencies involved in resource management and community development issues collaborate with each other and the public, as well as tribal, state, and local governments. The Southwest Strategy effort was crafted to be scientifically–based, legally–defensible, and implementable.