FCC BENEFITS:

Why is FCC a value-added experience?

The FCC has been chartered since 1994 as the DOI organization charged with connecting field units and headquarters on issues and opportunities along the US/Mexico border.   At its Fall 2007 meeting, FCC members re-visited what FCC offers its members and participants.  Why is the FCC a worthwhile expenditure of time and resources?

 ▪  Participation in FCC assists in border partnership building.  FCC members have long-standing relationships with their Mexican counterparts, both institutions and individuals, and with emerging partnerships within Mexico. Projects such as shared heritage trails and newer efforts in “sister” areas result from these DOI partnerships.

▪ Bi-annual FCC meetings at various locations along the SW border provide information and links to local DOI agencies.  FCC members plan these meetings to ensure that attendees receive the latest findings, mapping efforts, management practices, and contacts.  Mexican participants are encouraged to attend and translation is provided.  Managers take home immediate information about  regional topics ranging from tamarisk control to disease and health along the border.

▪ Managers and scientists work together on transboundary subjects.  FCC work groups (issue teams) have an established record having taken serious looks at a range of topics: watersheds, health, habitat conservation, and training. Current work groups are focused on groundwater, climate change and border infrastructure.   

▪ FCC member agencies have long pursued collaborative efforts such as “sister” protected areas, cross-border projects, shared grants, and interagency forums. . FCC members work directly with other federal and state agencies in the US and in Mexico--- such as the Institute for the Environment and Sustainable Development of the State of Sonora, (IMADES) and Mexico’s federal Secretariat of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT).  Managers and scientists have direct connections to their counterparts and other potential partners through FCC members.

▪ The FCC is a forum and has organized conferences, published papers, sponsored research, and worked with federal, tribal, state, and local government partners in all border states on a variety of projects.

▪  FCC members assist managers and partners in land use analysis and approval processes for various land uses affected by the international border. The FCC also assists in implementing best management practices, and mitigating impacts on natural and cultural resources. The FCC website maintains information ranging from how to obtain maps to issue papers on watersheds.

▪  The FCC maintains a strategic plan that provides priorities for border natural and cultural resources issues.  The strategic plan ties FCC agency performance to the DOI strategic plan.  The FCC provides direct field input to DOI on border topics.

▪ DOI bureaus are all represented in the FCC.  The FCC not only enables bureaus to focus on a significant area for the future of the US Southwest, but it contains the institutional knowledge of the past DOI and bureau US-Mexico programs, contacts, partnerships, etc.

▪ Access to interdisciplinary, interagency teams for issues resolution through the FCC can jumpstart new DOI land managers. FCC members have already demonstrated how cooperative management can be used to achieve a sustainable border region and have established networks ranging from mapping to weeds.

▪ Sharing information and resources through the FCC avoids duplication of efforts for bureaus with scarce resources.  FCC members not only share resources such as databases and mapping services, but have encouraged the development of standards for data and GIS used in border work to ensure compatibility among DOI bureaus, other agencies, and to the extent possible, with Mexico. 

▪ FCC--which represents a group of agencies---increases the likelihood of grant funding to any one agency. For example, the current climate change grant proposal by FCC/USGS that will benefit all DOI agencies.  Multiple sources of resources can be a key to resolving an issue or to attracting further monies.

 ▪ The FCC maintains tangible products, but this requires an active membership to ensure that the availability and quality of information remains high for bureaus to use.  These products include the FCC website and a Newsletter with current projects.  These products provide bureau managers and specialists with a tremendous resource.  Certain features, such as border safety, are provided for the benefits of DOI employees.

 ▪ Participating in FCC improves DOI manager understanding of binational cultural perspectives, social values and governmental processes.  Through biannual meetings, managers can interact with Mexican managers and scientists.