Platte Corridor Initiative

The Platte Corridor Initiative (PCI) is a watershed initiative based on social science principles. It stems from our conviction that long-term progress in solving environmental problems depends on social and cultural approaches rather than solely technical ones. The project involves listening to watershed residents, creating forums for inquiry and discussion and forming working groups of people willing to work on their resource issues. Underlying these efforts is the development of a vision for Platte Corridor sustainability - a populist, environmentally based vision integrating economic, ecological and social concerns. PCI began with assitance from an EPA grant in 1999. Its early development has been a working partnership between Prairie Plains and The Nature Conservancy Platte River Project Office in Aurora.

A variety of working groups have grown from the Platte Corridor Initiative process beginning in in 2003. PACE (Planning, Aggregates, Community and Environment) is a coalition of sand and gravel mining companies, conservation organizations and government agencies working toward comprehensive planning and reclamation of gravel mining sites, and education about mining and land use.

The Platte PEER Group (People, Education, Environment and Recreation) is a new non-profit organization formed to manage and develop two county-owned Parks on the Platte River in Merrick and Hamilton Counties in Nebraska. In both of these examples people agreed to work on common issues despite their differences. In PACE gravel industry people and conservationists defined their issues regarding access to resources, lack of public understanding, rapidly changing land use in the Platte River Valley, costs of doing business and regulation. From this base they set out to create a working group involved with planning, education and outreach, and pro-active self-regulation of the mining industry. The Platte PEER Group issues revolved around building sustainability in two county-owned parks (Merrick and Hamilton Counties) by increasing community involvement and viewing the parks as major community economic development assets.

Link to Platte Corridor Initiative website at www.plattecorridor.org