Morgan Lommele's blog

The University of Denver, host to the ACR EPP Section 2009 Conference, recently posted its latest newsletter.

The newsletter is available online (in keeping with our sustainability goals!): http://www.du.edu/con-res/documents/Summer2009Newsletter-Small11-23-09.pdf

Some have stated that transmission line siting is one of the biggest obstacles to the deployment of commercial-scale clean and renewable energy. It certainly is a big deal – not only do many of the transmission lines need to cross publicly-held lands, they might also interfere with existing state- or federal-agency land management plans, they might face competition from other up-and-coming uses for sheer physical space, and the existing rights of way could be already too crowded to accommodate new lines. Add to that an increasingly informed, organized and involved group of stakeholders that is as wide ranging as could be, and you might have trouble siting a line.

ACR’s spring 2010 issue of ACResolution magazine will focus on the topic of the Preparing for Practice with Heart. The editors seek proposals from people who would like to write articles on any aspect of this topic. They seek diversity in authors and subject matter; authors do not have to be ACR members.

If interested, please:

• write a half-page (150-300 word) description of your proposed article,
• include a title/headline for your article,
• include your name and complete contact information,
• include one to three lines of biographical information, and
• specify if you would like to write a major (2,700 words) or minor (1,300 words) feature.

Send your proposal via e-mail with the subject heading Spring Proposal to ACResolution at publications@ACRnet.org as soon as possible, but no later than Tuesday, December 8, 2009.

Many of you attended the ACR’s 9th Annual Conference, which was held on October 7 – 10, 2009 in Atlanta, GA.

We’d love to hear your thoughts and experiences on the conference.

Wallace Warfield was the keynote speaker, with a keynote entitled “Challenging Conventional Identities.” What did he address and how did he do? What struck you as the biggest takeaway point?

Some of the sessions included “Arguing For Resolving Conflicts,” “Collaborative Advocacy: Is Conflict Resolution and Advocacy a Healthy Mix?” and “Managing Climate Change Through Collaborative Decision Making and Governance: Addressing Policy Challenges Globally and Locally.” Which sessions did you attend and what did you enjoy learning about?

There’s a land management controversy in Colorado that presents a conflict between what would have traditionally been considered parties aligned in their interests.

The ACR EPP section is now up and at ‘em on Twitter! Our twitter handle (otherwise known as username) is @ACR_EPP.

For those of you who are familiar with Twitter, you’ll know to follow us for the latest news on the ACR EPP blog, to be the first to know of a new blog posting, and to check out links, news and stories from the web that we’d like to share.

If you’re new to Twitter, consider it a cross between a mini-blog and an RSS feed. In 140 characters or less, it’s a great way to get news, information, thoughts, and notes out to your “followers” (other twitter users who choose to follow your updates), and creates a strong community of folks with similar interests.

If you’re on Twitter, find us: @ACR_EPP.

I am the newest addition to the acrepp.org blogging team.  I look forward to building this online community with all of you.

Morgan