Problem:
Topic: Colorado Grey Wolf Reintroduction
As you learned in Week 4, a policy memorandum, also known as an action memorandum, is a concise document that is designed to clearly identify and recommend a course of action. For your completed version of your Memorandum, you should have addressed the feedback you received for the Memo draft. As a reminder, be sure your introductory paragraph has a clear explanation of what issue or problem is and what your decision maker needs from you. You are the environmental policy analyst who is the authority on the topic. You should be presenting intelligent priorities, rational arguments, and reasonable and convincing conclusions.
Instructions:
Your task draft a well-researched action memorandum that makes a recommendation to the federal agency decision-maker choosing the EIS project alternative to approve based on the Environmental Impact Statement you have selected. Your recommendation must be supported by clear, accurate, and persuasive reasoning.
Guiding question: What course of action should your decision maker select from the alternatives presented in the EIS, bearing in mind both the environmental justice and ethical issues raised.
Organizing the Memo
Your memo must have at least eight sections, each with a bolded heading:
Introduction: state the purpose of the memorandum and summarize your recommendation.
Background: explain the nature of the project at issue in the EIS. What is the purpose and need for the proposed action?
Alternatives: what are the alternatives considered in the EIS? How do they differ, what tradeoffs do they make?
Interested and Affected Parties: who are the individuals and communities affected by the project? What are the relevant demographics? Are there historical or cumulative impacts to consider?
Environmental Justice: what environmental justice issues are raised by the project and the alternatives? What outreach or community resources are documented in the EIS?
Ethics: what ethical issues are raised by the project and its alternatives.
Recommendations: what alternative (including the "no-action" alternative) do you recommend based on the environmental justice and ethical issues raised?
Conclusion: Remind the decision maker that you have not only proven your key points/recommendations, but that the matter is important. Use the conclusion to underscore the mission or central goal of your findings or recommendations. Why are they important?
Introductory Paragraph. The opening paragraph should immediately convey the problem or issue. It should tell your reader what your memo is about. WHO is the key stakeholder or target audience? WHAT is the problem? WHY is it a problem? HOW do you approach it? Signpost your conclusions, using the body of the memo to support them. This is not a mystery novel with a surprise ending!
Organize all information logically. Do not present the material in the order you arrived at your conclusions. Start with your conclusions and think backwards to what the decision maker needs to know to understand the value and relevance of those conclusions. Need Assignment Help?
Sources. The memo must include credible sources (in addition to the EIS) that would be persuasive to the decision maker being addressed. Sources should be cited.