Insights

Team Up with Appalachian Trail Peers to Expand Reach & Impact

If you’ve wanted to raise more conservation funds and engage with a more diverse group of people but your staff is already stretched thin, consider working with your Northern Appalachian Trail Landscape Partnership (NATLP) peers. 

Highstead and the Appalachian Trail Conservancy recently hired a coordinator to lead collaborations between Regional Conservation Partnerships (RCPs) and their partners to meet common goals within the Northern Appalachian region from the Hudson River to Katahdin in Maine. The coordinator, Max Olsen, is working with a new steering committee to boost three areas identified as priorities by NATLP members: conservation; justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion; and communications. 

Image courtesy of the NATLP

“Whether you’re looking for more funding, partners, and expertise for your projects, or to contribute what you can while having a greater impact on shared objectives like biodiversity, climate change, and land justice, joining the Northern A.T. Landscape Partnership may prove to be a force multiplier for you, your organization, and your RCP,” says Bill Labich, RCP Network coordinator. 

When RCPs work together and share expertise, connections, and ideas, they see their capacity and reach grow. There’s more federal funding available now than in recent years, such as through the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF). 

The LWCF is now permanently financed and, along with two recently passed bills that bring “billions more dollars than the conservation community had access to before,” Olsen says. “We’re faced with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. We have the tools and the will.” Network partners, from land trusts to large environmental nonprofits, can look to the NATLP as one avenue to leverage and access this funding. 

By working collaboratively with groups representing multiple constituencies and regions, Network members can secure larger grants. Large tasks can be broken down into smaller pieces to make the conservation projects and grant applications more manageable for organizations and more appealing to private and federal funders. 

Another priority area, increasing diverse involvement and representation, has begun making inroads. “We need to have a much broader vision of what conservation is and can be,” Olsen says. The partnership is growing and, with guidance from the steering committee, it is creating a more welcoming environment for communities typically ignored or excluded from decision-making processes.

The working group focusing on diversity and inclusion has access to grant funding to pursue how the partnership can more effectively engage and serve Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities throughout the region toward achieving shared conservation goals.

An essential first step in forging these relationships is building trust. Trust begins with an acknowledgment of past mistakes and exclusionary practices. “Our partners have established connections and are building relationships,” Olsen says. “We want to be able to pursue conservation efforts that effectively and honestly represent everyone’s values, and we can’t do that unless under-engaged communities are involved.” 

Relationship building takes time, especially when the folks involved come from such different backgrounds, but conservation is a common throughline that can bring diverse peoples and perspectives together, he says.

Regardless of your organization’s capacity, whether you want a staff member to serve in a leadership role on a steering committee, as a member of a working group, or as a contributor to a group effort, the NATLP can use your help, Labich says. Raising your hand to join the partnership doesn’t mean falling into a deep hole of commitment. You decide how much or how little time you can give. With three different working groups, Network partners choose where they can best contribute expertise and time.  

“There’s new capacity where there wasn’t before,” Labich says. “You’re going to make an impact and access resources you might not otherwise get.” 

Plans call for an internal communications committee and the launch this quarter of the conservation and justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion working groups. With the first meetings on the horizon, there is still time to join these working groups, help set an agenda, and contribute ideas about how to advance shared objectives, Olsen says. 

“We want to help you succeed in your mission,” Olsen says. “Let’s work together so we can all succeed.”

Reach out to Max Olsen to learn more and see how you can get involved at molsen@appalachiantrail.org. Even if you’re not ready to be a participant in a working group, you can be added to the email list for quarterly updates about partnership work and invitations to bi-annual gatherings. 

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Learn from the 2023 Conservation Finance Learning Lab Panelists – Part IV

IV: Partnering with Companies: How to Find Alignment and Sharpen Your Partner Introduction – March 14, 2023 at 2 PM ET
Chris Adamo
VP Public Affairs & Regenerative Agriculture
Danone North America

Chris Adamo is Vice President at Danone North America for public affairs & regenerative agriculture policy, assisting Danone to create social and environmental impact through its business. Chris helps Danone build strategies for implementing regenerative agriculture with farming partners across its supply chain and engages key stakeholders with advocacy and public policy efforts. Prior to joining Danone, Chris spent over a decade at the highest levels of the federal government working on issues related to agriculture, environment and climate change. He served as chief of staff for the White House Council on Environmental Quality from 2015.

Alissa Hauser
Project Manager
Dr. Bronner’s

Alissa Hauser is a former nonprofit and foundation executive working in the Constructive Capital Department at Dr. Bronner’s, a values-driven natural products company. Alissa also is the Managing Director of Circle of Life, an organization that provides fiscal sponsorship support to a handful of projects, primarily in the food and farming space. Alissa advises nonprofit organizations on fund development and constituent and donor engagement strategies.

Lisa Shibata
Director, Sustainability
Chipotle Mexican Grill

Lisa is the Director of Sustainability at Chipotle Mexican Grill. She leads Chipotle’s sustainability ambitions to cultivate a better world overseeing strategic planning over a wide array of issues, including climate action, sustainable materials, water stewardship, and responsible sourcing. Prior to joining Chipotle, Lisa was at Disney, where she was responsible for investments in nature-based projects and water stewardship. She also led supplier engagement efforts for the paper sourcing policy and assessing value chain impacts to inform Scope 3 ambitions. Lisa has over 20 years of experience developing sustainability programs.

Jena Thompson
Founder and CEO
Ocelot Company

As founder and CEO of Ocelot Co., Jena Thompson has expertise in land conservation, nature-based climate solutions, sustainability, and strategic partnerships. She is a senior fellow with Future 500 and a certified leadership coach for conservation and sustainability teams. Jena has worked with executives from Apple, Dell, Delta, Disney, The North Face, U-Haul, UPS, and more to inspire employees, engage customers, increase visibility, and make a lasting difference for land, water, wildlife, and communities. Jena believes that access to capital and expertise are privileges that must be equalized across the conservation movement.

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Affordable Housing & Land Conservation Leaders Work Toward Shared Goals

In New York’s Hudson Valley, five affordable housing nonprofits and five land conservation trusts are collaborating to increase access to affordable housing and conserve land. While these two sectors may appear to have conflicting goals, the co-leaders of the effort are working to build trust, identify their shared values, map areas with the greatest chance for cross-sector collaboration, and develop policy recommendations.

At a Connecticut Land Conservation Council summit on affordable housing and land conservation in February, keynote speakers Rebecca Gillman Crimmins and Steve Rosenberg, co-conveners of the Hudson Valley Affordable Housing and Conservation Strategy, shared how the groups participating in the effort are developing a regional collaborative approach to advance shared goals.

Affordable housing shortages are increasingly acute, Crimmins said. Wages are not keeping up with the rising cost of housing. Many low-wage earners can’t live and work remotely, so access to public transportation and jobs is essential. In New York, all newly built, state-funded affordable housing has to meet net-zero electric standards by 2027.  Sustainability is a shared value of the two sectors, and healthy communities need access to open space, fresh food, and affordable housing to thrive.

Land trusts and affordable housing organizations can work together to identify the best places where both goals can be achieved in harmony.

The goal is to figure out ways to work together instead of housing and the environment being pitted against one another, as is commonplace, the presenters said.

The collaboration between the land conservation community and affordable housing advocates is in its infancy. These two sectors can learn about each other, reduce conflicts, and advance land justice to help people from marginalized communities attain housing that is safe, affordable, and accessible to open space and nature.

These common values provide Regional Conservation Partnerships and other conservation groups an opportunity to bring people from these and other sectors together to identify their shared priorities. RCPs could support regional planning agencies and councils of government in their efforts to help residents and town officials identify, learn about, and dismantle policies that continue to marginalize Black, Indigenous, and People of Color and keep them from owning the housing of their choice and enjoying access to safe, welcoming, open space. RCPs could provide a forum for advocates from these two sectors to work with community members to increase understanding, build trust, and decrease tensions.

With funding from all 10 of the participating organizations, a variety of individuals and small foundations, and major support from The Nature Conservancy / New York, the Hudson Valley groups identified shared values. These include creating transit-oriented development; developing proposals between affordable housing organizations and conservation land trusts; and sharing knowledge to identify the best places to achieve both open space and affordable housing objectives.

The Consensus Building Institute facilitates monthly meetings to help foster relationships and trust, share information and expertise, and discuss what projects groups may be able to undertake together. Their shared purpose statement captures the values and goals that bind them to this work. Regional Plan Association is helping the groups identify geographic areas that may be well-suited to collaborative projects.

Desired outcomes of this initial phase include:

  • Collaboration among stakeholders to advance projects in areas with the greatest potential for success;
  • Generation of ideas for state and local policies that propose new approaches to program design, project funding, and permitting; and
  • Fostering a mutually supportive environment for both interests to advance their shared goals with their boards, constituents, elected officials, and the public.

The ultimate goals include:

  • Building appropriately scaled and designed, energy-efficient housing adjacent to village and hamlet centers, surrounded by conserved and accessible land;
  • Redeveloping former industrial and commercial sites into a mix of housing, conservation land, and renewable energy;
  • Redeveloping urban buildings with affordable housing, easy access to parks, jobs, and locally grown food.

Reaching these goals means overcoming challenges, including getting decision-makers, staff, and volunteers from both affordable housing and conservation groups involved. Tensions over the process and outcomes will arise.

Rosenberg and Crimmins recommendation to land trusts: Jump right in. Build relationships with affordable housing and other allied groups, look for opportunities to collaborate, and don’t be afraid to make mistakes.

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Listening, Patience, & Collaboration Yields Land for Immigrant Growers

When people with different skills and experiences approach collaboration with a willingness to listen and learn, farmland conservation work can benefit migrant and immigrant farm workers from a variety of cultures. This is the conclusion Mark Wamsley, who manages the Forever Farmland Initiative (FFI), a Regional Conservation Partnership (RCP), has come to as he is nearing the end of a long project that he hopes has a bright future. Coordinated by Kestrel Land Trust, FFI was established in 2009 with a mission to accelerate the pace of farmland conservation in Western Masssachusett’s Connecticut River Valley. The partnership has since expanded its work into improving access to farmland for farmers, increasing the region’s food security, and partnering with migrant, immigrant, and refugee farming communities.

“Many of the farmers had previously worked on high-end, local, organic farms, but they weren’t able to afford the crops they worked so hard to produce.” – Mark Wamsley, Forever Farmland Initiative manager

Starting in 2017, representatives from All Farmers, an organization founded with a goal to provide land, training, and representation for refugee and immigrant farmers, began attending FFI meetings. All Farmers works with farmers from various African and Asian countries like Somalia, Kenya, Bhutan, and Vietnam, and wanted to find points of synergy with the land trust community. As she attended the meetings, Hannah Spare, executive director of All Farmers, noted that land trusts were skilled in land transactions and searching for and conserving farmland. Realizing these were essential services that could help secure land for the farmers they represented, All Farmers began a working relationship with FFI. This newly formed partnership challenged FFI to shift its perspective and look at land and collaboration in new ways. They reached out to new communities, connected with local colleges to enlist GIS-mapping students in helping with land searches, and more. Initially, FFI had trouble finding and securing the type of property All Farmers needed in suitable locations, but the setbacks allowed the two groups to look at a number of other properties they hadn’t previously considered.

Farmers, board members, and staff at All Farmers’ annual meeting held at the Dewey Property.
Photo Credit: Kestrel Staff

They first succeeded in securing the Dewey Street Property in West Springfield, seven acres of farmland located on a bus line. Though it was small, had some wetlands, and was certainly not the “end-all-be-all” land All Farmers was looking for, Spare realized the land was easily accessible, fairly secluded, primed for small family garden plots, and could be ideal for meeting the needs of some of the farmers. The funds needed to purchase the land were secured when a representative from Eversource Energy reached out to Wamsley to inquire about a mitigation project. Eversource was looking to conserve property with wetlands, and Wamsley informed the representative about All Farmers and the Dewey Street Property. After several conversations between Wamsley and Eversource, the company offered All Farmers the funding needed to acquire and conserve the property. Following this success, FFI and All Farmers were also able to find the type of prime property they had originally set out to secure in a nearby town. Though initially not for sale, persistence brought progress, and they are hoping to close on the land by Summer 2023. 

Wamsley attributed the evolution of the relationship between Kestrel Land Trust and All Farmers – which was forged through FFI – to putting in the effort. “It’s taken a lot of persistence, a lot of hours, a lot of collaboration, and a lot of learning,” he said. Overall, the land trust movement has not equitably and appropriately served urban communities whose landscape and policies can be vastly different from the more suburban and rural communities that many are used to working with, he said. 

PVWC farmers harvesting and gathering vegetables at La Colmena Farm.
Photo Credit: Pioneer Valley Workers Center

During the early stages of their partnership with All Farmers, Kestrel had the opportunity to collaborate with another organization that had similar goals. The land trust was fortunate to acquire a small piece of farmland in Hatfield, Massachusetts through a donation. Hoping to secure land for the food industry and migrant farm workers they serviced, a representative from Pioneer Valley Workers Center (PVWC) reached out to FFI and inquired about the land. PVWC’s mission involves building community and affecting real change in the lives of low-wage and immigrant workers, primarily from Mexico and countries throughout Central America. The organization leased the farmland through Kestrel, which helped them license an adjacent city-owned parcel in Northampton, and together with a group of farmers, called Riquezas del Campo, developed La Colmena Community Farm. This community farm, consisting of a farm co-op, community garden, and more, is used by PVWC to grow more than 30 types of culturally appropriate vegetables, berries, flowers, and perennial native plants. While building a relationship with PVWC, one of the main benefits that stood out to Wamsley was equity and accessibility.  

Farmer planting at La Colmena Farm. Photo Credit: Pioneer Valley Workers Center

“Many of the farmers had previously worked on high-end, local, organic farms, but they weren’t able to afford the crops they worked so hard to produce,” he said. “So having their own farmland where they could grow and harvest their own crops was critical.” With access to this property, at least 20 families will be able to grow the majority of their family’s vegetables for the whole year. As the organization has grown in capacity, Riquezas del Campo is now looking ahead to its own, sustainable future on the land and has begun negotiating to take over as the farm’s lease holder.

Partnering with PVWC, All Farmers, and the diverse communities they serve has been a valuable learning process, Wamsley said. “We are constantly faced with the question of, ‘What are the different needs and abilities of the communities we’re working with?’ Some have cars; some don’t. Some are happy to drive 45 minutes to farmland; others don’t have that type of time available. Some want to grow food to feed themselves and their families; others want to grow a business and build equity,” he said. “There are differences in languages, cultures, perspectives, and goals, and we’re learning what it looks like to take time and learn about the communities we’re serving so we can all do the best work possible.”

While partnering to improve food and farmland security for these communities is still a fairly new endeavor for FFI, Wamsley’s humble advice to RCPs interested in land justice work is to make sure your meetings are welcoming before you reach out. “RCPs provide a great forum for people and groups with a variety of interests to come together, but don’t expect everyone to come to you. Find groups and communities you think could benefit and see if they’re willing to start engaging in conversations with you. Work on pursuing and building those relationships, with listening playing an important role,” he said. “Once you begin understanding the needs and goals of different communities, which is a process, it enables RCPs to begin assessing where common ground exists and how their technical assistance can prove useful.”

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New Paper Suggests Reexamining Young Forest Management

To what extent is it necessary or desirable to cut mature forests to create young forest (aka “early successional”) habitat for wildlife species? This is a complex question that elicits strong and diverging opinions in New England’s conservation science and management community. In a new peer-reviewed paper, published in Frontiers in Forests and Global Change, Highstead’s senior ecologist Ed Faison joins six notable scientists and conservationists (including Highstead board member David Foster) to argue that current widespread management for young forest habitat in the Northeastern and Upper Midwestern U.S. needs to be re-examined.  

Photo Credit: David Foster

The paper, led by Restore the North Woods’ Michael Kellett, asserts that current declines in species and habitats used to justify management need to be reconsidered. These five components should be factored in: 

  1. a longer-term historical baseline; 
  2. recent research suggesting many species require young forest habitat less than previously thought; 
  3. the size of species’ geographical range;
  4. the forests’ habitat diversity that develops naturally over time, particularly with increased natural disturbances such as storms and insect outbreaks from climate change; and 
  5. the need to keep carbon stored in the forest rather than in the atmosphere to mitigate climate change. 

Additionally, the paper argues for greater protection of old forests and their vital habitat and climate benefits, stating, “Public land forest and wildlife management programs must be reevaluated to balance the prioritization and funding of early-successional habitat with strong and lasting protection for old-growth and mature forests.”

One of the signature species of the young forest habitat initiative is the New England Cottontail, a threatened rabbit species believed to require young forest habitat for its survival. Although this species does use young, shrubby habitats, the most recent research shows that New England cottontails use a broader range of wooded habitats than previously known, including mature forest habitat with thick shrub layers. In contrast, the introduced eastern cottontail that it competes with avoids mature forests. This research recommends against clear-cutting forests for habitat because it was found to be more beneficial to the introduced eastern cottontail and “unlikely” to provide high-quality habitat for New England Cottontail.

The hope is that this new paper in Frontiers in Forests and Global Change will generate new and informed discussions about this important forest management topic in New England and beyond.

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RCP Handbook (Step 1) Pulling Out Some Key Elements

The early decisions of an RCP—Who are your members? What’s your region? Who’s the host partner? How and when do members meet as an RCP?—can influence how well your members function together as a partnership later on. Whether you want to build an RCP from scratch or have a team of people for a new partnership already in mind, your objectives and intent for the partnership are critical to long-term outcomes.

Anyone who has coordinated an RCP or other landscape conservation initiative may be rolling their eyes right about now, saying to themselves, “You can’t dictate how a partnership should begin. There are too many variables.”

Indeed, there are many variables that are difficult to impact in the short term, including:

  • Capacity of conservation organizations and land trusts in the prospective region;
  • Level of interest in the region among state and federal agencies, national organizations, and philanthropic foundations and major donors;
  • Average parcel size and development and conservation cost/acre;
  • History of landowners donating conservation easements vs. expecting payment;
  • Capacity of municipalities to bond for open space and collaborate;
  • Diversity of sectors that conservation groups have already engaged;
  • History of collaboration among these entities; and,
  • Knowledge, expertise, leadership, and political connections in the areas of environmental justice, community conservation, philanthropy, conservation finance, communication, and land protection projects.

In the Northeast, only a few RCPs were established in regions well-positioned in terms of these variables. In other less-promising regions, despite challenges, RCPs succeeded because their members shared information and worked together to build the capacity of local groups and communities. And, in most cases, the host partner had the capacity and internal support to administer and coordinate the RCP.

Members of these resourceful RCPs met regularly (in-person pre COVID-19), and their leaders created enough governance (e.g., regular meetings, a steering committee, working groups, partner agreements) to ease sharing of knowledge, experience, and opportunities. These included invitations to collaborate in planning, engaging communities, mapping, and fundraising. In time, some of these RCPs ended up cultivating a new culture of collaboration, resulting in more acres conserved and under stewardship. This involved new mergers, alliances, and innovations. Some RCPs developed new skills as a result. Here are a few examples of changes RCPs made to be more successful:

  • RCP’s boundary: Moved the boundary to include the entire region of the host partner organization to foster stronger internal support for the RCP by the convening organization’s board.
  • Host Partners: With an interstate RCP, members recognized the necessity of having two host partners and co-coordinators to help the new RCP engage members in each state equally.
  • Coordinator: With very few resources, members applied for a grant with another RCP and, with the award, hired a one-day/week coordinator to begin bringing value to all-volunteer land trusts by organizing members to apply for a large federal grant.

Even if the region and prospective members have many positive attributes, members might consider taking a raise-all-boats approach as soon as they can. For example, if opportunities warrant, organize quickly to acquire a timely source of funding. Then go back and build that capacity to collaborate afterward. Sayings that seem to apply here are, “Go slow to go fast;” “Progress at the speed of trust;” and “Everyone moves forward or no one moves forward.”

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Teamwork Leads to Conserving 6K Acres in Great Bay Watershed

Formed with the collaborative vision to promote collective conservation goals, the Great Bay Resource Protection Partnership (GBRPP) is a Regional Conservation Partnership (RCP) with a long history of securing funds for its conservation efforts. Through intentional collaboration, shared priorities, and science-informed decision-making, the Partnership’s transaction grant program has awarded over $620,000 to eligible Principal Partner organizations, land trusts, and conservation organizations, and leveraged over $1.24 million in other funds. As a result, the Partnership protected more than 6,400 acres of land in the last nine years.

Crommet Creek Wetland. Photo Credit: Dea Brickner-Wood

Established in 1994, the Partnership received assistance from land trusts and state and federal agencies to submit its first North American Wetland Conservation Act (NAWCA) grant. This grant helped GBRPP launch its land conservation program, identifying and outlining the Partnership’s goals and actions to protect priority lands in the Great Bay estuary region. The group later expanded its work to the coastal watershed.

Just three years later, GBRPP received its first Environmental Merit Award for its commitment, ingenuity, and success in protecting and preserving New England’s environment. These efforts and achievements gained the attention of then-U.S. Sen. Judd Gregg, who had worked with many of the organizations in the Partnership on conservation initiatives throughout the region. Recognizing GBRPP’s success in protecting ecologically significant lands in the region, Gregg supported the Partnership’s efforts to secure funds through the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) for conservation projects. The combined funding support from municipal funds, private sources, and state and federal grants resulted in the permanent protection of 109 properties totaling more than 6,400 acres.

Dea Brickner-Wood, coordinator of the RCP, attributes much of the Partnership’s initial funding success to being ready when opportunities arose. “As leaders in the conservation world, if you do your homework and are willing to engage people in that process, when opportunities present themselves, you can make the most of them.” This leadership philosophy became a critical pillar in the Partnership’s success during the national financial crisis that began in 2008. When the financial landscape changed, GBRPP re-evaluated its work, and asked, “Where can our partnership be most useful?” After extensive conversations among the nine Principal Partners, GBRPP approached the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation (NHCF), requesting a grant to create a transaction fund to defray the cost of land protection for cash-strapped organizations. In 2014, NHCF granted the Partnership seed money to start the Land Protection Transaction Grant Program. Through this program, the Partnership has provided 98 transaction grants to land trusts and municipalities working to conserve ecologically significant land in coastal watershed communities and has recently finished its 16th grant round.

Bellamy River Valley. Photo Credit: Dea Brickner-Wood

In spite of its results, the Partnership continued to challenge itself, and through this, identified a key component missing in its work. “We redid our internal assessment and had an awakening around stewardship,” Brickner-Wood says.  “We realized we were doing all of this great work around land protection but nothing around the stewardship of these lands.” Partners began to ask questions, such as,  “How do we get more money for stewardship?” and “How do we look at this from a collaborative point of view?”

In a changing landscape, the Partnership assessed its future role in the endeavors to study, protect, and manage the region’s conservation lands, updating two critical guiding documents. The Partnership’s Strategic Plan guided the group’s role in the region’s conservation work. It updated New Hampshire’s Coastal Watershed Conservation Plan (NHCWC), which helped identify priority conservation areas. These documents positioned the Partnership to be well suited for the Great Bay 2030 initiative, a cohesive strategy to increase collaboration and investment to promote a healthy Great Bay estuary system. Launched in 2022,  $12 million in funding over five years will be available through the NHCF to support five conservation focus areas. The GBRPP, serving as the lead group for the Protect Priority Lands focus area, will receive grant funding in 2023 to support the development of a stewardship grants program, the land transaction grant program, and increased capacity for land conservation and public policy work. The Great Bay 2030 funds will allow the Partnership’s collaboration to accelerate the pace of protection in a rapidly developing region and support the stewardship practices on preserved lands.

Clarity and commitment to a shared mission and conservation goals are vital to GBRPP’s success in securing funds for its RCP, Brickner-Wood says. Another key factor involved being willing to share its resources and make use of other available resources. “Commitment to conservation planning has enabled our Partnership to act swiftly when there are funding opportunities,” she says. “We use the best available science to inform and agree upon our priorities, and we always try to remain willing and nimble to adapt to emerging conservation challenges and opportunities.”

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Learn from the 2023 Conservation Finance Learning Lab Panelists – Part III

Part III: The Art & Science of Borrowing Money: Bridge Loans & State Revolving Funds – February 14, 2023 at 2 PM ET
Kristin DeBoer
Executive Director
Kestrel Land Trust

Kristin DeBoer has served as Executive Director of Kestrel Land Trust since 2006, leading the organization’s growth from a small volunteer-led group to a professionally staffed regional land trust. During this time, Kestrel has more than tripled its rate of land conserved annually. Kristin has a BA in economics and environmental science from Bucknell University and an MS in Environmental Studies from Antioch University. She lives with her family in Pelham, Massachusetts.

Reggie Hall
Director, Conservation Finance
LegacyWorks Group

Reggie works nationwide with land trusts, community partners, and government leaders to save special places outdoors. When not saving land, he is out experiencing it often on a bike, in running shoes, or otherwise suited up for an adventure.

Tee Thomas
Vice President
Quantified Ventures

Tee combines her expertise in the mechanics of public water finance with her passion for natural infrastructure. She’s a strong believer in the potential power of public financing to be the super catalytic investor in this fast-emerging field of nature-based solutions while simultaneously and aggressively advancing equity and resilience agendas across the country.

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Learn from the 2023 Conservation Finance Learning Lab Panelists – Part II

This page will be updated as webinar speakers are confirmed.

Part II: Public Funding: How to Harvest During a Bumper Crop of Federal Funds – January 10, 2023 at 2 PM ET
Kari Cohen (Panelist)
Projects Branch Chief
USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service

Kari Cohen is the Projects Branch Chief at USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). In this position, he provides strategic and operational leadership for four NRCS programs-Regional Conservation Partnership Program, Conservation Innovation Grants, Wetland Mitigation Banking Program, and the Voluntary Public Access-Habitat Incentive Program. Cohen has served over 19 years with NRCS, including stints coordinating NRCS’s Chesapeake Bay watershed activities and serving as NRCS’s Legislative Affairs Director.

Timothy Male (Panelist)
Executive Director
Environmental Policy Innovation Center

Tim founded the Environmental Policy Innovation Center in 2017. Prior to launching this startup, he was an Associate Director at the White House CEQ, and in leadership roles at Defenders of Wildlife, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, and Environmental Defense Fund. He holds degrees from Yale University and the University of Hawaii. His writing has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Science magazine, and peer-reviewed journals. A former elected city official who led the passage of the first 16-year-old voting age in America. A practical optimist and ENFP always willing to help if you ask or just cheer you on.

Shelby Semmes (Panelist)
Vice President for New England
Trust for Public Land

Shelby Semmes serves as Vice President for New England, leading Trust for Public Land’s teams and mission delivery across Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont. She’s a determined optimist passionate about the foundational role that community-based urban parks and land conservation play in building a livable future.  She lives in Warren, Vermont, with her husband and two sons.

Jackie Rigley
Jackie Rigley (Co-Host)
Conservation Finance Specialist
Highstead Foundation

Jackie Rigley is a Conservation Finance Specialist at Highstead where she focuses on federal conservation funding opportunities and sharing funding and capacity resources with partners throughout New England. Jackie earned a degree in Environmental Studies and Sociology from the University of California Santa Barbara.

Leigh Whelpton
Leigh Whelpton (Co-Host)
Executive Director
The Conservation Finance Network

As Executive Director, Leigh leads the Conservation Finance Network’s (CFN) effort to enable collective impact for the field of conservation finance. Through technical assistance, coaching, and convening programs, CFN helps to increase the amount of capital deployed for social equity and ecological resilience. Prior to CFN, she managed professional training programs and applied conservation initiatives for the Cheetah Conservation Fund in Namibia. Leigh holds an M.E.Sc. from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and a B.S. from the University of California at Berkeley.

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2022 Highstead Highlights: The Year in Review

From collaborative efforts to increase pollinator populations to new partnerships and increased funding opportunities, New England conservationists made significant advancements in 2022. If you find yourself indoors burrowing like a barred owl, why not catch up with our readers’ favorite conservation stories of the year?

Habitats and Biodiversity

Beyond Butterflies: Habitat Restoration and the Rare Northern Metalmark
While invasive plants and increased development continue to threaten the existence of the rare and endangered Northern Metalmark butterfly (Calephis borealis), a collaborative effort is underway to restore the vulnerable and non-migratory butterfly’s specific habitat needs in Fairfield County. 

Endangered Monarch Make the Most of Milkweed
Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) make their summer home at Highstead, where their sole hostplant, native milkweed from the genus Asclepias grow in abundance.

Winter at Work on the Ecotype Seed Project
Highstead is one of several Ecotype Project partners who contribute their capacity and expertise to support the production and distribution of diverse, wild, and native plants, even in the deep New England winter.

People and Communities

Planting the Seeds of Change in an Overlooked New Haven Neighborhood
Learn more about CPEN and its mission to promote health, wellness, ecology, and entrepreneurship in the New Haven neighborhood of Newhallville.

A Q & A with Highstead’s Conservation Interns
Meet Highstead’s 2022 Fall Conservation Intern cohort and learn about their communications and events, policy, and GIS internship activities.

The Big Picture

Practical Solutions to Climate Change
Highstead’s onsite stewardship approach demonstrates sustainable ecological design and management methods for the New England landscape. Learn about the nature-based solutions, conservation methods, and habitat diversity enhancement strategies at Highstead that you can employ at home or in your community.

Taking a Closer Look at Forest Management
Highstead Senior Ecologist Ed Faison shares lessons about how different types of forest management can be used to protect forests for climate and biodiversity with the New Jersey Forest Task Force.

Tracking the Progress and Impact of Federal Climate Legislation
A compilation of articles from Highstead’s Conservation Finance Team on recent federal climate legislation that was most relevant to conservation in the New England region.

New Highstead Report Lays Out Five Ways to Increase the Climate Benefit of Forests
The recent Highstead report demonstrates how New England forests are a major climate solution, currently sequestering the equivalent of 14% of the region’s carbon emissions, and how forests can do more.

New Conservation Mapping Tool Helps Visualize Opportunities
A new interactive mapping tool from the Northeast Bird Habitat Conservation Initiative is designed to aid northeastern conservation practitioners and organizations, including regional conservation partnerships and land trusts, in advancing bird and bird habitat conservation.

Category: News, Perspectives, Uncategorized

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