Grassroots GIS in the Southern Appalachian
BioRegion
The Southern Appalachian Forest Coalition consists of a core
staff representing and coordinating the efforts of national and
grassroots environmental organizations throughout the Southern
Appalachian Bioregion. SAFC is devoted to the development and
implementationof a common vision for protection of the native
biodiversity of the Southern Appalachians. Brooks is allied with
SAFC consultant in GIS and planning.
- Our goals resonate with Initiative 19s conceptual issue
four, which reads:
- What possibilities and limitations are associated with
using GIS as a participatory tool for more democratic
resolution of social and environmental conflicts?
In terms of Initiative 19 research themes, there is no doubt
that we are concerned with the political ecology of natural
resource access and use -- Our GIS efforts aim to influence the
disposition and exploitation of public and private lands across
the entire S. Appalachian bioregion.
Below, we highlight our issues relating to participatory use
of GIS in the context of natural resource conservation.
Action Goals
- Access to Federal (US Forest Service and others) spatial
datasets in a timely and effective manner;
- Develop alternative, locally based spatial data by
grassroots organizations;
- Develop alternative interpretations of Federal datasets
by grassroots organizations;
- Pinpoint inadequacies and false assumptions in Federal
datasets and analyses;
- Propose alternative datasets and techniques addressing
these inadequacies;
- Distribute 'raw' and 'enhanced' Federal data amongst
local groups, and share locally developed data amongst
member groups;
- Use these datasets in a GIS environment to propose and
affect USFS and local land planing and allocation. (As
put so well by Denis Wood, we make our own maps);
- Meet Federal GIS activities head-on; Match or exceed
Federal analytic and technical GIS capabilities;
Issues and Impediments We Face
- Limitations to free and easy data exchange and
distribution. What method is least burdensome in
technological and financial terms?
- How can SAFC facilitate local GIS expertise? We seek the
most effective and empowering way to assist local groups
to develop self-reliant, expert GIS capabilities;
- Even with technical parity, how do we physically and
politically integrate our spatial proposals into National
Forest (and other) planning processes?
So Far We Have
- Established a viable organization in SAFC, with
foundation backing;
- Developed core membership, allies and assembled needed
expertise;
- We were the major 'public' participant in the
now-concluding Southern Appalachian Assessment. We
influenced its direction, process, and GIS data
development and analysis in major, positive ways. We will
now use and supplement the SAA datasets (5 CD-ROMS) to
advantage;
- We developed a prototype Conservation Plan for the
Chattooga River Watershed, working for and with the
Chattooga River Watershed Coalition;
- We now extend this methodology to the Black Mountains,
and soon to all areas of the SAA;
- We begin development of methods to address the issues we
noted, including outreach, partnerships, and prototype,
'glass-box' GIS land planning system;
We Plan Also to
- Engage in further training, outreach, software
development and data development as needed and desired by
our partners;
- Work with our partners to assemble a Bioregional
Conservation Plan, evolved from the grassroots -up to the
region, and back; We relate micro-meso- micro scales;
- Use GIS in a participatory and political manner to
achieve the grassroots agenda;
- Continue to interact with and counter the Federal
activities in the Bioregion;
Discussion
Although environmental groups are typically not members of the
urban underclass, they are in many ways excluded from current
technological developments like GIS. Age or personal predilection
have excluded them from such participation. The playing field has
evolved, though, and now includes this technology. With the USFS
615 program and other Federal GIS investments, there is a total
strategic necessity to understand and employ GIS;
We know the enemy (Sun Tsu), and although the enemy may also
to a certain extent know us, the enemy in this case is required
to provide for us their data; As long as we can read and
understand it, we have the advantage; We may provide them data as
we see fit.
The importance of grassroots activity like ours was
underscored in a recent Clemson University lecture by Leo Marx
(MIT emeritus professor; author of Machine in the Garden). He
reiterated the postmodern domination and abstraction of nature
and space by the modern mega-organization. Wise GIS use by the
grassroots is truly the only way in which GIS and space will not
be dictated and dominated totally by these forces;
We seek to work with and ally ourselves with like minds to
mutually evolve solutions to our needs. Our solutions are likely
to be others' solutions.
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