Conservation Leaders Network

Below is the letter the Conservation Leaders Network sent out to commissioners in seven targeted states (IA, IL, IN, MI, PA, TN and WI) urging that they write to their Senators supporting reform of the 1872 Mining Act. Even if you aren’t in one of those states, it would be helpful if you contacted your Senators as well.

I am writing to you today as a former county commissioner who remains concerned about America’s national parks and other irreplaceable public lands. The ongoing threat that outdated mining policies poses to those areas and to taxpayers is a cause for action.

If you caught even a part of the recent PBS series on the national parks, I’m sure you appreciate the fact that Americans today enjoy the unmarred splendor of natural wonders like the Grand Canyon and Yosemite, not by chance, but thanks to the hard work of conservation leaders. “America’s Best Idea”—protected public places belonging to Americans across the country and through the generations—is both a gift and an obligation. And today, I believe our obligation is to protect our public lands from mining policies that run counter to any reasonable notion of stewardship and sound environmental management.

Please send a letter to your US Senators to urge them to support special protections for important public landscapes like the Grand Canyon and environmentally and fiscally sound policies for mining on all our federal public lands.

The Reno Gazette-Journal says, “there is no question that the time has come for a serious update of a law that dates from a day when the pickaxe was the most important tool of a miner.” The New York Times explains the situation succinctly: Federal mining law “is among the last statutory survivors of the boisterous era of westward expansion. Essentially unchanged since Ulysses S. Grant signed it into law, it sets the basic rules for mining hard-rock minerals like gold, copper and uranium on public lands. Useful in its day, it is a disaster now. It requires no royalties from the mining companies and contains no environmental safeguards, allowing mines to wreak havoc on water supplies and landscapes.”

The long survival of this 19^th century law, as the Salt Lake Tribune editorialized earlier this year, has had “appalling consequences for the people, the environment and the public lands of the West, as well as for the nation’s taxpayers.” This is because, as they go on to write, “the 1872 law ensures that mining is rated ‘the highest and best use’ of public lands where there are minerals present, never mind its impacts on public health, wildlife, and the West’s most scenic and sensitive splendors. And it gives this wealth of public resources tax-free to the mining companies. . . .Hardrock minerals worth roughly $1 billion are pulled from public lands each year, tax-free.”

Over the years, these outdated policies have created plenty of conflicts and costly problems. The Associated Press states that the General Mining Act of 1872 “which gives mining preference over other uses on much of the nations’ public lands, has left a legacy of hundreds of thousands of abandoned mines that are polluting rivers and streams throughout the West.”

Just last month, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported that, “the National Park Service has closed one of Death Valley's most well-known abandoned mines because of mounting safety concerns.”

As a collaboration of Montana state legislators wrote in June, “harmful metals and acids are steadily degrading drinking water supplies, fish and wildlife habitat, our national parks and agricultural lands.”

The Environmental Protection Agency warns that cleanup costs could readily top $24 billion.

Please send a letter to your US Senators to urge them to stand up for protection of public lands, supporting 21st century mining policies that protect public lands and American taxpayers.

New York Counties Establish Carbon Credit Program

By Bev Schlotterbeck

Washington may be generating more hot air than substance just yet about climate change, but in New York, counties aren’t waiting for a federal solution.

The New York State Association of Counties (NYSAC) has launched a carbon credit program for counties, the first of its kind in the nation. The new program, dubbed the Avoided Deforestation Carbon Credit Program, will reward New York counties for controlling carbon emissions in their communities.

It is the second level of a three-tiered Renewable Energy Portfolio developed by the association in response to member requests for programs to deal with renewable energy. “We’re confident that it’s a novel, innovative program here — very progressive,” said NYSAC Executive Director Stephen Acquario. It is designed to curb greenhouse carbon pollution, considered by many to be the leading cause of global warming.

Carbon credits are a measure of the amount of greenhouse gas emissions that have been reduced or avoided, and are certified and registered under the various cap and trade programs. Carbon credits can be sold or traded on exchanges such as the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.

NYSAC’s Carbon Credit program would issue carbon credits to counties that choose to reduce the release of carbon into the atmosphere by preventing deforestation or the removal of vegetation for the sake of development.

“We think there’s a lot of applicability out there with forest preserves and rangelands that are county-owned and forever wild,” Acquario said.

NYSAC’s venture will be rolled out in two stages. In stage one, the association will survey counties for land parcels that hold the highest value of carbon credits, or highest potential revenue. Environmental Capital LLC, a financial consulting firm specializing in environmental assets and NYSAC partner, will evaluate the parcels for their value. The evaluation is known in the trade as a “carbon stock analysis.” The initial survey is expected to take 60 days.

Acquario said they would be using U.S.-developed standards to assess the parcels, not measurements from the Kyoto Protocol.

The most valuable parcels are those that have been “saved from the bulldozer,” said Denise Farrell with Environmental Capital LLC. They rate higher on risk-conversion protocols.

Stage two, which Farrell expects to be completed in the second quarter of 2010, would identify the appropriate registry on which to list carbon credits generated from the avoided deforestation and rangeland projects. The identified parcels would be listed on the registry and the carbon credits offered for sale at a verifiable value to potential carbon credit buyers.

“This novel pollution control program, designed by county leaders for local governments across the state, will both protect and preserve our natural treasures — our forests, rangelands and atmosphere by reducing global warming — and provide a structured program to reward governments for their pollution control-efforts,” Acquario said.

There would be no upfront fees to participate in the program. Any fees would be contingent upon the sale of a county’s credits.

The Oct. 2 announcement came on the heels of the introduction of “Cap and Trade” legislation in the U.S. Senate, where the issue has been under considerable debate.

“Limiting greenhouse gas pollution must be addressed if we are to confront the growing effects of global warming,” said NYSAC President Thomas J. Santulli, Chemung County executive.

The economic downturn that has impacted nonprofits across the country has finally started to hit the Conservation Leaders Network too. Last year was the first year we didn’t raise more money than the year before (but only by a little); this year is worse. This year we’ve had to trim expenses significantly and reduce staffing. Next year looks dismal. We know from prior downturns that it takes foundations about three years to recover and return to their normal level of giving. As an organization, we’ve always been too dependent on foundation support. We’d planned to start a regular membership recruitment effort, using a company I met at the National Association of Counties’ annual conference in Kansas City in 2008. But that was before the economy went south. Then the advice from current and former board members was to hold off until the economy improved—that people were having a hard time giving to the groups they were already members of and weren’t adding to those commitments by joining new groups. And though once in a while we will hear brief reports of improvements in the national economy, it hasn’t translated into increased discretionary spending for most households.

Since our last newsletter, we have been busy advocating for hard rock mining reform (see page one), moving the Cool Counties website from King County to the Conservation Leaders Network, supporting the marine reserves process in Oregon and working with our board to plan for the future.

Let us know how you like this new online newsletter. We hope you do, not only because it saves us time, reams of paper, ink and postage but because it allows us to send you more news than we could fit in the paper version and lets you see color photos and have access to live web links.

I’d like to encourage you to forward the newsletter to five people you don’t think are likely to see it otherwise. Not only will that help share the valuable information that is in each newsletter, but it can help expand our membership as others see what we offer and decide to be part of it.

Finally, I’d like to wish you happy holidays and hope for a prosperous and joyful new year!

Every workday, the charming, historic town of Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, approximately 12 miles outside of Madison, shamelessly trucks around 1,000 of its 24,000 residents individually packaged in their own vehicles, to four work locations within a couple miles of each other in Madison. This practice reminds some of driving an entire large parking lot from Sun Prairie to Madison and back each day. Soon, this will likely no longer be necessary thanks to the creation of Wisconsin’s Regional Transit Authorities (RTAs). Wisconsin’s state budget recently included long-anticipated language allowing local governments to create Regional Transit Authorities in several areas, including Dane County, home to Wisconsin’s Capital, Madison. The budget allows citizens and policymakers in Dane County to decide soon on whether or not to create an RTA, an entity that will fund, build, and/or operate transit across municipal boundaries. By making transit planning regional and systematic rather than piecemeal, RTAs are an important progressive step for counties across the United States.

RTAs can be a huge boon to both local and regional economies and county conservation efforts. With the inevitable expansion of communities, access to jobs, customers, and employees is crucial to economic development by offering an expanded labor pool to companies who find it tough to recruit and retain employees due to transportation boundaries. In tough economic times, access to workforce is extremely attractive to major corporations looking to relocate. For example, developers in cities such as St. Louis and Dallas have invested millions in corporate buildings, sports facilities, and entertainment complexes around transit centers. At an individual level, one family member commuting to work can save $3,000 - $8,000 a year using transit compared to the cost of traveling in a single passenger automobile. In fact about 18 cents to every dollar the average American household spends is for buying, maintaining and operating cars. Already, Joe Goss, a Sun Prairie advocate for the Dane County RTA, saves $3,500 a year by riding in a van pool to his Madison job. He views it fondly as money “not going to some gas or insurance company” but rather being spent locally in the community to build the local economy. Furthermore, in Kansas City, the Urban Mobility Report reported the regions’ labor force is losing $570 million in productivity each year while sitting in traffic, a practice that is far more dangerous—riding public transit is nearly 170 times safer than automobile travel—and well, just more irritating than well-designed regional transit. Regional transit reduces the ever-growing problems of traffic congestion and parking while increasing property values. In an area the size of Kansas City, for example, a driver will lose around 17 hours a year to congestion, translating to an overall cost of $235 million dollars in excess fuel consumption. RTAs also put areas in a much better position to receive federal dollars to expand and maintain their transit networks.

From a conservation standpoint, the benefits of an RTA are clear. A person who commutes 60 miles a day can save an estimated 1,888 gallons of gas each year by using public transportation. RTAs promote cleaner air by reducing smog-producing pollutants, greenhouse gases and runoff from paved surfaces. For each mile traveled, fewer pollutants are emitted by transit vehicles than by single-passenger automobiles, including significantly less carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds, and nitrogen oxides. Herein lies a crucial connection between county environmental protection and economic development. Within the last decade, Dane county has been on the cusp of being in nonattainment with federal standards for fine particulate matter, microscopic matter that can be inhaled and cause respiratory-related health problems especially for children, seniors, and people with asthma. Being on the EPA nonattainment list is not only a health hazard, but also an economic hazard for any county. Nonattainment triggers EPA action under the Clean Air Act which can lead to numerous restrictions on future regional economic growth. Finally, most RTAs are linked to regional greenways and bikeways and are an affordable, relaxing and convenient way to save green space from parking lot development. For all these reasons and more, county conservation staff would be wise to advocate for RTAs in their states.

The plan consists of two major sections; the first section outlines work to be conducted for the two pilot sites (Otter Rock and Redfish Rocks), and the second section outlines work for the four areas for further evaluation (Cape Falcon, Cascade Head, Cape Perpetua) and proposal (Cape Arago region). The plan covers biological, habitat, social and economic, and community outreach work that will occur during 2009-2011. Further information and the work plan can be found on the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Marine Reserves website: http://www.oregonmarinereserves.net/

Launched in 2007, with the support of eleven founding corporate members, the NACo Green Government Initiative provide comprehensive resources for local governments on all things green, including energy, air quality, transportation, water quality, land use, purchasing and recycling. NACo serves as a catalyst between local governments and the private sector to facilitate green government best practices, products and policies that result in financial and environmental savings.

The National Association of Counties (NACo) once again is sponsoring their federal legislative conference. The conference is held annually in Washington, DC and in 2010 it will be held March 6 to March 10. The deadline for early (and lower cost) registration is December 2, 2009.

I'm hoping to encourage those NACo county members who are attending the NACo meetings in Washington, DC to respond to me at Pete.SORENSON@co.lane.or.us. As a member of the Board of Directors of the Conservation Leaders Network (CLN), I'd like to make sure that all conservation-minded commissioners and supervisors get invited to a program or no-host social, held around the location and time of the NACo meetings.

PS Please email me as soon as you can if you're interested in learning more about the "conservation- minded" gathering. I'm at Pete.SORENSON@co.lane.or.us.

The Coastal Counties Restoration Initiative (CCRI) is a partnership between NACo and the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to help counties restore coastal wetlands and remove barriers to fish migration. This grant program provides financial assistance on a competitive basis for innovative high quality county-led or supported projects.

This year, the CCRI program awarded over $350,000 in grants to six coastal counties.

Projects are community centered and work with NOAA`s Community-based Restoration Program which provides technical assistance in all aspects of coastal habitat restoration.

Each project improves habitat for NOAA trust resources including marine, estuarine and diadromous fish.

CCRI seeks to develop the capacity of county governments and their partners to promote community-based stewardship and enhance local watershed-based resource management.

Mendocino County, California. $100,000 for its Ancestor Creek Migration Barrier Removal Project.

Gold Ridge Resource Conservation District of Sonoma County, California. $31,020 for its Dutch Bill Dam Removal Program.

Town of Sandwich Department of Natural Resources of Barnstable County, Massachusetts. $33,600 for its Restoration of Fish Passage to Upper Shawme Pond.

Clackamas County, Oregon Department of Transportation and Development. $94,000 for its Kleinsmith Culvert Replacement project.

Floridan Resource Conservation & Development Council, Inc. of St. Johns County. $50,000 for its North Peninsular State Park Saltmarsh Restoration Project.

Coastal Beach & Bay Foundation, Financial Administrator for Bay Harbor Improvement Association of Galveston County, Texas. $50,000 for its Bay Harbor Habitat Restoration Project.

Marin County, California has a rich history of environmental leadership, spanning more than a hundred years. William Kent’s 1906 purchase of an old growth Redwood forest to prevent its clearing for a reservoir began a century of land preservation while also preserving what we treasure today as Muir Woods National Monument. Since then, over 80% of Marin’s lands have been permanently protected in Federal, State, County, or Water District owned park or open space, or as tightly regulated agriculture.

During that time, Marin has also been a statewide leader in waste reduction, renewable energy, green building practices, and reorganizing our flood control, water quality, and fishery restoration efforts into a comprehensive watershed protection program. Our efforts to preserve viable farming and ranching through creation of the Marin Agricultural Land Trust are nationally recognized, with over 45,000 acres of productive grazing and growing fields permanently protected from development.

On the shoulders of these inspiring achievements, our newest environmental challenge involves bringing the message of climate change and caring for the planet to the Latino, Hispanic, and indigenous populations that live in Marin and surrounding counties. Recently, we hosted the Bay Area’s first Spanish language conference designed to educate and engage Spanish speakers in our campaign to reduce our carbon footprint and conserve our threatened resources. Branded Viviendo Verde (Living Green), this ambitious undertaking drew from the appeal of local Latino celebrities such as musician Carlos Santana, author Isabel Allende, as well as local Spanish media personalities to attract our target audience. However, the real success of the day was generated by the unheralded dedication of Spanish-speaking organizers who recognized the dearth of climate change outreach oriented toward their community.

California and the United States as a whole have a growing Spanish-speaking population who can best be engaged in environmental stewardship when their racial peers, speaking in their native language, and incorporating familiar cultural associations deliver the message. Historically, the U.S. environmental movement has been overwhelmingly Caucasian, well educated, and often economically advantaged. Their message has primarily reached a constituency that is a reflection of themselves. Given the political controversy surrounding race and class, it is no surprise that environmental organizations and public agencies have made limited efforts to engage diverse socio-economic constituencies. Yet, as a result, far too few minority environmental leaders have been prepared to inform and inspire their own communities.

Viviendo Verde is a pioneering effort that seeks to break away from historic environmental education practices in order to reach a constituency whose participation in climate change strategies is critically important and will be increasingly more so in the future. While the vocabulary and science may be new to this audience, the appropriate lifestyle responses are often more familiar to them owing to their native traditions. Many Spanish-speaking persons are experienced transit riders and incorporate walking and bicycling in their daily lives. Many others have a direct connection with locally grown agriculture. Often their homes are modest in size and located in more urbanized settings, producing far less carbon release than their suburban neighbors. Each of these characteristics point in the direction our nation needs to move as we come to terms with what it will take to sufficiently reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Reducing our carbon footprint to afford future generations a planet as supportive and abundant as the one we have enjoyed will require imagination, determination, and collective will to be successful. By building our campaign to include this region’s Spanish-speaking community, Marin County is striving to build on a century of passionate caring for our environment and continue to offer broader leadership on this issue of global proportion.

Steve Kinsey is a fourth term County Supervisor, representing rural West Marin County, Corte Madera and San Quentin, as well as portions of San Rafael, Novato, Larkspur and Mill Valley. Steve’s areas of focus include transportation, coast and watershed protection, sustaining agriculture, social equity and children’s health.

Around the turn of the 19th century, proposals to create Glacier National Park met with considerable resistance in the Flathead Valley MT. Opposition was deep and broad, including several Flathead County newspapers that cited lost opportunities for mining, logging, new railroad routes, oil exploration, hunting, and homesteading.

"There may be some local people who favor the park plan," wrote the Kalispell Daily Inter Lake in 1907, "but we know of only two." The Inter Lake and other local papers voiced the concerns of many Flathead residents who feared that establishing the park would take the wind out of the area's economic sails.

Nearly 10 years later, it is clear that these fears were unfounded. In an October 2002 editorial, the Daily Inter Lake called Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park "our region's biggest economic engine." As in the past, the editorial staff voiced the convictions of residents, many of whom believe that the valley's economic vitality depends in large measure upon its spectacular natural surroundings.

In a region replete with extensive wilderness areas, national forests, lakes, streams, and mountains, Glacier National Park holds a special place. It is a landscape of exceptional beauty, known around the world and easily accessible by car, foot, and horseback. Carol Edgar, executive director of the Flathead Convention and Visitor Bureau, expressed a view common among local business leaders: "You can't measure the mark Glacier Park has made on this community. The whole economy is tied to the park."

Across the United States, there is growing recognition of the link between attractive public lands such as national parks, and the well-being of the communities that provide access to them. These "gateway communities" generally provide food, lodging, and other services for visitors. But the parks are more than simple magnets for visitors. Many gateway communities, including Flathead County, have thriving, diverse economies that are not primarily dependent upon tourism and recreation.

Yet the natural appeal of these areas is at the heart of their economic success.

In 2002, NPCA—through its Northern Rockies regional offices located in Whitefish and Helena—commissioned three studies. These studies explore the roots of economic vitality in Flathead County, the primary gateway to Glacier. From three different angles, the studies help to illuminate important relationships among economic vitality, the natural environment, and the quality of life that is valued by both residents and visitors.

These studies overwhelmingly support the assertion that the Flathead Valley's chief economic assets are its friendly communities and the natural environment, which provides recreational opportunities, a wide-open feel, clean water, wildlife, and scenic beauty. Further, the studies support the conclusion that degrading those qualities will, in the long run, slow economic progress and dampen vitality in the Flathead. They point the way toward protecting these valuable assets for the future.

This report synthesizes findings of these three studies into a wide-ranging discussion of economic transition that will help residents and leaders navigate fast-paced changes in the emerging Flathead economy. The full report can be accessed at the NPCA website: http://www.npca.org/northernrockies/gateway/gatewaytoglacier.pdf.

Permission to reprint granted by the National Parks Conservation Association, from their May 2003 report, "Gateway to Glacier: The Emerging Economy of Flathead County."

YES!

I want to join the Conservation Leaders Network, the only nonprofit organization in the country which focuses on providing support to and forging ties between county commissioners and environmental leaders to protect America’s natural resources. Together we must work to encourage ethically and economically responsible decisions that will help protect the natural treasures that complement and complete our communities. Individual and county memberships are now available. Individual memberships start at $45/year; county memberships start at $250/yr. Counties with more than 5 commissioners may inquire about rates.

With my membership, I will get:

* four issues of the Conservation Leaders Network’s quarterly newsletter “Networker”

* priority access to the Conservation Leaders Staff for information and support

* email notification of conservation and restoration funding opportunities for counties.

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