CASE BRIEFING ~ MARINE CORPS - YUMA COUNTY AIRFIELD ACCESS MEDIATION
Recently, the County of Yuma, Arizona, and the United States Department of the Navy sought the services of the U.S.
Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution to mediate a dispute over the value of a 129-acre parcel owned by
the County adjacent to the Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) in Yuma, Arizona.
The Navy wanted to incorporate the parcel into the air station but could not agree with the County on a price for
the parcel. No lawsuit was pending, but the Navy had signaled that it would file a lawsuit if the parties were unable
to reach an agreement on a selling price.
MCAS is the busiest air station in the Marine Corps and the third busiest in the Naval service. It is also one of the
largest single contributors to the economy of Yuma County. MCAS shares an airfield with the Yuma International
Airport, a commercial service airport owned by the County of Yuma and operated by the Yuma County Airport Authority.
The U.S. Institute, in conjunction with the parties, engaged Joe McMahon of Joseph P. McMahon, Jr., LLC, as the mediator
for the dispute. McMahon worked closely with the parties to:
- Clarify the parties' choices;
- Improve communications and the exchange of needed information;
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Develop and study options for resolution not only of the dispute but other elements of their relationship that
could be effectively addressed in the mediation;
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Encourage open dialogue and a broad approach to both resolving the dispute and improving the parties' working
relationship; and
- Achieve a successful resolution to the dispute.
The parties reported that they worked through the complex land valuation issues with the mediator and came to a
"win-win" resolution that achieved their primary goal. In the process, they also enhanced their ongoing working
relationship. When they reached an agreement, they agreed that the benefits and impacts of the agreement reached resulted
in "better relations among community and military" and "from the government perspective, improved mission capability."
Cherie Shanteau-Wheeler is the U.S. Institute project lead on the Marine Corps - Yuma County Airfield Access Mediation.
She is a Senior Mediator/Senior Program Manager with the U.S. Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution (the
"Institute"). She has been with the Institute since 2001. Prior to that, Cherie practiced law and mediated disputes for
over eighteen years. At the Institute, her program responsibilities include administrative proceedings, escalated
disputes, litigated matters and courts. In addition to case consultation and management, she provides program design,
convening and process management services, mediation and facilitation, as well as environmental conflict resolution and
negotiation training. Her subject matter expertise includes real property and environmental law, Western public lands
issues including NEPA, wilderness, grazing and endangered species. She has designed ADR referral programs, successfully
mediated numerous litigated and non-litigated matters, represented clients in mediation, and facilitated several large
public disputes related to a variety of environmental issues. She teaches mediation, negotiation (including complex
multi-party negotiation), collaborative competencies, conflict prevention and management skills, and communication to
judges, lawyers, law students, state and federal agency personnel and other individuals, corporations and organizations
in the United States and Europe. She is additionally qualified to administer the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator ©
Contact Information:
Cherie Shanteau-Wheeler,
Senior Mediator/Senior Program Manager
Litigation and Administrative Appeals
and Training Programs
Phone: (520) 901-8546; FAX: (520) 901-8547
Email: Shanteau-wheeler@ecr.gov
Website: www.ecr.gov