Resolving issues before

Formal Conflict Resolution

“Conflict is inevitable, but combat is optional.”

- Max Lucado

Must build safe roads…must

destroy natural resources…

“Do not think of knocking out another person's brains because he differs in opinion from you. It would be as rational

to knock yourself on the head because you differ from yourself ten years ago.” ― Horace Mann

…must protect Wisconsin’s

natural resources… …must build flat,

straight highways…

DNR

DOT

Different missions = Conflict?

“The thing is, you cannot ask people to coexist by having one side bow their heads and rely on a solution that is only good for

the other side. What you can do is stop blaming each other and engage in dialogue with one person at a time... Instead, I talk

to my patients, to my neighbors and colleagues----and I find out they feel as I do: we are more similar than we are different,

and we are all fed up...” ― Izzeldin Abuelaish

Agencies have the shared responsibility to serve the public interest

DNR/DOT liaison process in lieu of permits Points of contact

PlanningDesignConstruction

Prevent or minimize adverse impacts to the natural environment while building safe, efficient facilities

DNR/DOT Cooperative Agreement

“It’s easy to dodge our responsibilities, but we can’t dodge the consequences of dodging our responsibilities.”- Josiah Stamp

“Its complicated, on one level. On another, its the same old stupid story - we aren't enlightened. We disagree, fall in love, and hate each other, the whole spectrum of human experience. We have differences of opinion, and sometimes, we can't resolve those differences peacefully. If a disagreement goes for long enough, and is important enough, people start to take sides. Once people start to take sides, conflict is inevitable.” ― Zachary Rawlins, The Academy

Interest-Based Relational Approach

• Make sure that good relationships are the first priority

• Keep people and problems separate• Pay attention to the interests that

are being presented• Listen first; talk second• Set out the "Facts"• Explore options together

“Whenever you're in conflict with someone, there is one factor that can make the difference between damaging your relationship and deepening it. That factor is attitude.”

- William James (American Philosopher and Psychologist, leader of the philosophical movement of Pragmatism, 1842-1910)

• Have an open discussion of sensitive areas & potential damage

• Explain the level of resource importance / project needs

• Understand your role & responsibilities• Listen to one another• Keep an open mind• Check environmental commitments

Prevention

“In our evolution language has been the greatest single contribution to our understanding and misunderstanding”

― Rasheed Ogunlaru

• DNR, SWECE (REC) and Project staff review together and agree on the problem

• Jointly determine the extent and severity of the problem

• Identify the quality and significance of the resource

• Discuss with own agency experts to get a deeper understanding

• Brainstorm possible solutions• Communicate frequently and calmly• Willingness to cooperate and compromise

When Disagreement Arises

“Peace is not the absence of conflict but the presence of

creative alternatives for responding to conflict -- alternatives to passive

or aggressive responses” ― Dorothy Thompson

When DNR or DOT finds an issue with the protection of resources on a project there needs to be communication and coordination.•DNR and SWECE coordinate•SWECE coordinates with the project staff and determines whether to involve the REC•The issues of concern & why, need to be clearly communicated to the project staff

Discovering an issue in construction

“Conflicts may be the sources of defeat, lost life and a limitation of our potentiality but they may also lead to greater depth of living and the birth of more far-reaching unities, which flourish in the tensions that engender them” - Karl Jaspers

Cooperation• Starting a dialogue in an antagonistic way is a

sure way to not resolve an issue, speak with respect

• Be calm, be patient, be open to new ideas• Acknowledge where the problems are, only

then can they be addressed

“Resolution, like responsibility, is a product of ownership, and kids can't resolve a conflict until they figure out how they contributed to it.” ― Richard Eyre

Cooperation• Listen to all involved, there may be

viable resolutions that had not occurred to someone

• When there is not agreement understand when to elevate the situation to the official process

People who work together will win, whether it be against complex football defenses, or the problems of modern society. - Vince Lombardi

Formal Conflict Resolution Process

“Both agencies encourage efforts to resolve interagency conflicts before the formal conflict resolution process begins, or to prevent such conflicts from occurring in the first place. If a conflict cannot be resolved by field-level agency personnel, either agency may initiate the conflict resolution process.”Step 1 - DNR and DOT Directors

…and they cooperated happily ever after!

“Few artists thrive in solitude and nothing is more stimulating than the conflict of minds with similar interests.” - Arthur C. Clarke

Creativity comes from a conflict of ideas. - Donatella Versace

None of us is as smart as all of us.- Japanese proverb

Don't let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do. - John Wooden

We're all working together; that's the secret.- Sam Walton