Trouble in Tortuga!
A Rangeland Conflict Simulation Exercise

Confidential Instructions

As an official project coordinator of the Commission, you received a call last week inviting you to attend some sort of discussion meeting regarding a new development planned in Tortuga. Apparently the situation in Tortuga is messy with lawsuits in the wings. The facilitators of the meeting felt that your participation might be important.

Your board has been interested in extending its non-game species protection program, particularly in arid grassland environments. The Gray Hawk has been included in the commission's draft list of wildlife of special concern.

However, the board has been reluctant to spend any of the State Heritage Fund money until a statewide plan prioritizing sites for acquisition is in place. This won't happen until early next year. Nonetheless, several parties from around the state have been asking the Commission to purchase conservation easements with proceeds from the heritage fund.

If there were a plan that adequately protected the critical habitat for the Gray Hawk, there is a good chance that your board would approve funds for easement acquisition in next year's plan. You have worked with the environmental group, Save the Arid Grassland Environment (SAGE), before and have found them pretty reasonable, although there is a radical element in their membership that is a concern, especially if SAGE were to become the enforcer of the easements. You need to talk with Corey Flintlock to be sure the SAGE membership is on board for any collaborative agreement.