FLOOD06155

• County: Statewide
• Community: State
• Stream Name: All
• Basin: Statewide
• Title: Storms Over the Urban Forest: A Community Guide to Disaster Relief
• Date: 1/1/1994
• Prepared For: State of Colorado
• Prepared By: USFWS
• Floodplain - Doc Type: Educational/Technical/Reference Information

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provide assistance all add to the confusion. Local people who have knowledge of the area
impacted should be available to help coordinate activities and keep the lines of communication
open.

2. A management style that incorporates open communication and flexibility can achieve a close
working relationship among all agencies. It also allows close coordination, information and
resource sharing (equipment, personnel, money and technology) in an unrestrained, facilitative
environment. Management styles may vary among different agencies and organizations involved.
For example, law enforcement officials and the military have a very structured, authoritative style
which may lead to conflicts in how decisions are made. These problems should be recognized and
anticipated, if possible.

3. Management should be located at the lowest feasible level, closest to the hazard problem. Key
decision makers should be identified before any disaster ever occurs. These individuals are critical
in obtaining approval and initiating efforts.

4. A committee of local residents should be established to serve as "user representatives" and as a
helpful sounding board for project management. Public needs and concerns should be
recognized. Organized civic groups such as tree boards should be involved, rather than
establishing new groups.

S. Public participation opportunities, such as town meetings, should be available to allow citizens to
participate in planning and recovery efforts.

6. Mitigation efforts must be based on local and regional guidelines, and must be consistently stated
in guidelines produced at all levels.

7. A key to guaranteeing sufficient public involvement and support is media cooperation and
publicity. It is very important to keep the public up-to-date on activities, new initiatives,
advancement, and successesnutilize the media to accomplish this.

8. Preplanning efforts should involve continually updating technical information and identification of
technical resource people that can be called upon to provide advice and information. This
information must be assembled and available when the disaster strikes. During the response
phase, this information must be easily obtainednthere won't be time available to search and
develop information.

8. Public Participation

At par with management, public participation enhanced by public information programs is essential to the
mitigation process. At the user or consumer level, both the array of government levels as well as the
private natural resource sector, should use public information campaigns. These should be geared to
timely, consumer oriented urban forest enhancement and rehabilitation topics.

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