In 2019 Austin was named America’s Top City for Wildlife by the National Wildlife Federation. The city of Austin currently has a total of 2,616 Certified Wildlife Habitats, more than any other city in the country, and 121 of those are Schoolyard Habitats. The city is a signatory of the Mayors’ Monarch Pledge and a national leader in its efforts to restore habitat and improve city landscapes for the declining monarch butterfly. Austin is also a certified Community Wildlife Habitat and the city promotes the creation and conservation of wildlife habitats through the Wildlife Austin program. 

“Austin’s progressive values and beautiful natural environment make it the best city to live in for our people AND our wildlife.”

- Mayor Steve Adler

One challenge faced by City staff is internal coordination and communication regarding the diverse array of land management activities performed at the City. The interdepartmental Public Land Management sub-team (PLM) of the Green Infrastructure Priority Program consists of land managers, program coordinators, landscape architects, arborists, foresters, planners, and environmental scientists that meet quarterly to coordinate land management issues that transcend departmental and technical boundaries. These meetings act as a clearinghouse for staff to share information and address issues other groups may not be aware of, and collaborate on potential solutions. This has helped address a diverse array of challenges related to contracting, public outreach, use of City GIS resources, compliance with City policy on pesticide usage, and many other issues.

Through PLM’s annual work plan, the group proposes tasks and projects to address broader land management issues at the City. Some recent projects include:

• Creating a framework for developing volunteer stewardship plans for community members interested in participating in park improvements and natural areas management

• Coordinating the City’s Emerald Ash Borer Preparedness Plan

• Agreeing on a framework for a land management classification system to characterize properties in the City’s database of City-owned real estate

The PLM sub-team is one of the most active Imagine Austin working groups. However, there are still many barriers to effectively meeting the Imagine Austin Priority Action to “Develop and implement unified, comprehensive land management of all City of Austin lands…” (CE A16).  The 2016 City of Austin Land Management Programs Survey Responses and Report produced by PLM identified 20 distinct land management programs across 8 different departments. The managers and coordinators of each of these programs must meet the expectations of their management and the community members they serve.  This can limit the time they have available to contribute to problem-solving on a broader scale.  Additionally, staff or their management may consider interdepartmental coordination to be outside of their purview.

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Funding for land management planning is generally limited, especially for planning activities that extend outside of the purview of a single department. Departments primarily utilizing General Funds often have difficulty budgeting their core activities, much less contributing to projects that integrate activities across departments. Similarly, rate- and fee-assessing (enterprise) departments can be constrained in their abilities to fund activities that fall outside of their department charters, even when funds are available.

One element that has contributed to the success of the PLM working group has been consistent support by departmental executives. While executives cannot offer panaceas to funding and coordination issues, they can greatly contribute to creating a culture of interdepartmental communication and goal-setting, as well as provide the vision and continuity needed to keep staff engaged and focused on problem solving. Ongoing support for public land management coordination activities at the executive level is essential to the continued success of this program.

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