On Friday, the U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities, Inc. approved the Virginia Department of Forestry’s proposal to pay landowners for ecosystem services in the South Fork Rivanna Reservoir. The three year program will establish a pilot system to provide annual payments to rural landowners to reduce sediment loss and increase watershed resilience. More details [...]
A capacity crowd of approximately 130 persons attended the 2009 Rappahannock Symposium at Mary Washington University in Fredericksburg. Particularly noteworthy was the diversity of attendees, with approximately 30% from the for-profit private sector. Complete findings from the Symposium will be available from the Rappahannock River Basin Commission in the coming weeks. One-half of the day [...]
Yesterday, a capacity crowd attended the Rappahannock River Basin Symposium on commerce-based solutions for ecosystem restoration.
Images, results, and findings will be posted soon.
In this special Thanksgiving broadcast, Dr. Ellen Davis, the Amos Ragan Kearns Distinguished Professor of Bible and Practical Theology at Duke Divinity School, discusses the principles of an agrarian, or ecological economy, as seen by biblical writers of the Old Testament. The approximately hour-long interview also discusses biological diversity, the economics of [...]
Just before Thanksgiving, Conserv will air an Interview with Dr. Ellen Davis, Author of the new book Scripture, Culture, and Agriculture: An Agrarian Reading of The Bible. This book examines the theology and ethics of land use, and explores the biblical writers’ pervasive concern for the care of arable land. She creates a conversation between [...]
In this 40 minute lively interview, Rappahannock River Basin Commission Coordinator Eldon James discusses the Commission’s new initiative to use an economic development platform to restore the Rappahannock River and the Chesapeake Bay with Conserv Executive Director Michael Collins. Details about the agenda for the December 9 Symposium, Incentivizing Restoration through a Chesapeake Bay Economy, [...]
The upcoming economic development symposium, Incentivizing Restoration through a Chesapeake Bay Economy, is generating tremendous interest. Conserv will broadcast an interview with Rappahannock River Basin Commission staff member Eldon James on Saturday, November 14, on the symposium, the Rappahannock Exhange, and issues related to the notion of using economic development to restore the Chesapeake Bay.
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I’m amazed at the sustainability zeitgeist of our times. Thanks to Joe Starinchak for passing along some great journal articles….
From David J. Brunckhorst at the UNESCO Centre for Bioregional Resource Management in Australia….Institutions to Sustain Ecological and Social Systems, an older article (2002) that gets at the need for bioregional thinking. The article however is [...]
The Steering Committee of the Rappahannock River Basin Commission’s 2009 Symposium has finalized the agenda for the December 9 event:
Incentivizing Restoration through a Chesapeake Bay Economy
A Symposium Hosted by the
Rappahannock River Basin Commission (RRBC)
December 9, 2009
University of Mary Washington
Stafford Campus, 121 University Boulevard, Fredericksburg, 22406
This groundbreaking economic development-environmental policy conference will begin with a series [...]
Conserv, working with the Rappahannock River Basin Commission, The Virginia Department of Forestry, and Members of the Commission Non-point Source Workgroup, have completed a Prospectus of the proposed Rappahannock Exchange. The Cover Page and Table of Contents of the Exchange are provided below:
The Rappahannock Exchange
A Bioregional Marketplace to restore the Rappahannock River and [...]
Imagine a day in the not too distant future when the government and private sector work in concert to achieve Chesapeake Bay restoration. Imagine watershed-based marketplaces found in every major river basin transacting products and services, every one of which, contributes to bringing the Bay back to life. Imagine communities, businesses, and landowners interacting [...]
An Invitation signed by more than a dozen “conveners” of the proposed Rappahannock Exchange, and Chairman of the Rappahannock River Basin Commission, Emmett Hanger, will be released this coming Monday. The event is scheduled for December 9 at the University of Mary Washington, Stafford Campus. The event is also open to the public. A “Prospectus” [...]
Sixth in the series on the Pillars of a Bioregional Economy to help restore keystone environmental assets…Conserv Executive Director Michael Collins interviews one of the governmental leaders in Virginia in the emerging area of ecosystem services…Virginia Department of Forestry Director of the Division of Forestland Conservation, Everette “Buck” Kline.
This 20 minute broadcast includes basic concepts [...]
To better understand how the benefits of the urban forest can be quantified, valued and used to influence public policy; and to foster a dialogue on the role cultural differences play in managing community forests.
2009 Urban Forestry Roundtable Brochure
A brief one hour webinar will be held Wednesday, October 21st from 1-2 PM. The session is titled “Exploring Bioenergy Projects - A look at Active Bioenergy Projects Developed Outside of Virginia: Lessons, Examples, and Opportunities”
As the name suggests the goal of this webinar is to take a look beyond [...]
The fifth in a series on the Pillars of A New Bioregional Economy to restore ecosystem health of the Rappahannock River and the Chesapeake Bay…
In August of this year, we ran a commentary titled A New Currency for An Ecological Age and noted that valuation of the ecosystem services we believe are needed to restore [...]
We are working on the following for publication this week:
An update on the Rappahannock Exchange Kickoff and Symposium, to be held in Fredericksburg December 9.
A podcast interview with Buck Kline, Director of Forestland Conservation for the Virginia Department of Forestry and one of the senior statesmen for ecosystem services in Virginia.
Another in the series of [...]
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release October 5, 2009
EXECUTIVE ORDER
FEDERAL LEADERSHIP IN ENVIRONMENTAL, ENERGY,
AND ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE
By the authority vested in me as President by theConstitution and the laws of the United States of America, andto establish an integrated strategy towards sustainability inthe Federal Government and to make reduction of greenhouse gasemissions a [...]
Tuesday, October 27
Please note that we have added a 1-hour short course after this webinar:
A Review of Virginia DCRs Draft Rainwater Harvesting Specification and a Local Case Study from 1:45 pm to 2:45 pm
The Rivanna River Basin Commission, with the Center for Watershed Protection and McKEECARSON and Field [...]
The early operational framework that has been developed for the Rappahannock Exchange, a proposed bioregional marketplace to be located in Central Virginia, to stretch from the Chesapeake Bay to the Blue Ridge Mountains, features the use of an “Environmental Business Indicator”. Exactly how the indicator will be deployed won’t be known until the Ecosystem Services [...]
This just in from Rose River Farm, Madison County, Virginia….
Casting for Recovery
On October 24 Rose River Farm will be the site of the First Annual 2 Fly For Hope “The Pink Fly” fundraising tournament. Casting for Recovery is a program that works with women who have or have had breast cancer. The program uses fly [...]
The third in a series on the Pillars of A New Bioregional Marketplace to restore ecosystem health of the Rappahannock River and the Chesapeake Bay…
I was talking to my friend and old colleague, David Bearinger, on one hot summer morning this past August about sustainability, its pitfalls and promises, and he noted the aging of [...]
The Rappahannock River Basin Symposium Steering Committee welcomes the assistance of Jacquelyn Holley Pogue with design and facilitation of the symposium. Jacqueline has been a university teacher, psychotherapist, partner in a nation wide consulting firm, facilitator/mediator for organizations, consultant to corporations and mentor for executives, in addition to her role as founder of coalitions and a community organizer providing [...]
Just released from the Rappahannock River Basin Commission:
2009 Rappahannock River Basin Symposium
Creating a Bay-friendly Economy
The Rappahannock River Basin Commission, in conjunction with The Virginia Department of Forestry, Conserv, and other partners, will host the 2009 Rappahannock River Symposium called Creating a Bay-friendly Economy. The symposium will be a highly [...]
Yesterday, at the Chesapeake Bay Reathorization Hearing, Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment, amid impressive, heartfelt, bipartisan testimonies and commentaries of folks around the Bay, including Tom Perriello, Secretary Preston Bryant, and Gerry Connolly, were the words of Rob Wittman, and from EPA, Chuck Fox, sowing the seeds of a 21st century Bay-friendly economy:
Excerpt from [...]
The second meeting of the Virginia 25x’25 State Alliance will be held on the campus of Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, VA on Tuesday, October 6th. A flyer announcing the event has been posted on the Sustainability Blackboard. This session will begin at 2 PM and be held in Moody Hall.
The meeting has [...]
Governor Signs Conservation Markets Legislation
Friday, 28 March 2008
A bill directing the Conservation Commission to study how conservation markets could benefit working farms was signed by the Governor on March 25 in Seattle.
The bill, Substitute Senate Bill 6805, calls for a study of the efficacy of conservation markets and if the study indicates that [...]
The second of seven draft reports issued by federal agencies on the Bay contains a recommendation on Ecosystem Markets:
From page 26 of the draft report, Focusing Resources to Restore and Protect the Chesapeake Bay and its Tributary Waters:
Chesapeake Bay protection and restoration must also involve the private sector in order to reach the level and [...]
Graves Mountain Lodge, Syria, Virginia…
Eldon James, staff member to the Commission, proposed the following framework for the launch of the Rapahannock Exchange Initiative.
The Rappahannock River Basin Commission, working with Conserv, the Virginia Department of Forestry, the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, and the Virginia Ecosystem Services Interagency Team, will sponsor a fall [...]
Tomorrow, Conserv will post the briefing presented today to the Rappahannock River Basin Commission on the kickoff symposium for the Rappahannock Exchange on December 9 in Fredericksburg.
Tomorrow at 9:30, Conserv staff will brief the Rivanna River Basin Commission TAC on ecosystem services in the Rivanna Basin. The outline of the briefing includes:
1. THE BIG VISION - BIOREGIONAL MARKETS TO RESTORE KEYSTONE ENVIRONMENTAL ASSETS
2. The Current Conservation Model
3. Ecosystem Services - Another Conservation Model for the 21st Century
4. Aquatic Ecosystem Services
5. Emerging [...]
A plane ride to the great northwest state of Washington can be a good thing….
The O’Hare bookstore was filled with goodies, and one in particular caught my eye—The World is Curved, by David M. Smick. Picking it up, then putting it down, thinking it was a flip retort to Hot, Flat, and Crowded, by Tom [...]
Yesterday, Richard Price, President of The Folsom Group, a nationally known expert in sustainable design and planning with more than 25 years of experience, offered his time and talents to become Conserv’s newest Board member.
Richards’s work includes the campus planning, sustainable community planning and the design of numerous commercial and residential green buildings. While Director [...]
Legislators, community leaders, farmers, and economic developers are closely watching the progress of bioenergy production in Southern Virginia. In searching for innovative solutions, Southern Virginia Bioenergy: Making Innovation Work conference scheduled for Tuesday, October 6, 2009, will offer all stakeholders an opportunity to focus on Virginia’s renewable energy agenda. [...]
The City of Charlottesville, County of Albemarle, Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority, The Rivanna River Basin Commission, Congressman Tom Perriello, The World Resources Institute, and others have provided letters of support for a Virginia Department of Forestry proposal to undertake a pilot project for payment of regulating ecosystem services (PRES) in the South Fork Rivanna [...]
As reported last month on the Katoomba Group’s Ecosystem Marketplace website, in a post called Building Oregon’s Ecosystem Marketplace by Sara Vickerman, the Oregon Legislature on July 23 drafted a framework that will begin to develop the “circumstances under which providers of ecosystem services can combine different environmental values in one transaction without double-dipping”.
Vickerman goes [...]
Yesterday, the Conserv Board of Directors initiated a search process to expand the size of the Board of Directors from two to approximately eight members. Criteria to be used in the search include entrepreneureal experience, race and gender diversity. More to come in the weeks ahead.
In the August 31 opening post of this series, we propose 10 pillars for the design and creation of new bioregional marketplaces for industrialized nations:
Creation-care ministries of faith and ethics communities
Biomimicry
Ecosystem health goal setting
Ecological footprinting
Holistic health care
Bioregionalism
Currency diversity
Ecosystem services
Sustainable macroeconomic theory
Whole system design and facilitation
In today’s post, we will discuss Pillar 6: Bioregionalism. Conserv is [...]
In the weeks ahead, as we plan for the launch of the Rappahannock Exchange, we will offer up occasional briefings on the pillars of future bioregional markets to enhance ecosystem health of keystone environmental assets. These include:
Creation-care ministries of faith and ethics communities
Biomimicry
Ecosystem health goal setting
Ecological footprinting
Holistic health care
Bioregionalism
Currency diversity
Ecosystem services
Sustainable macroeconomic theory
Whole system design [...]
With the pending launch of the Rappahannock River Exchange this coming December, I tell myself that it is essential to pull myself away from the office to viscerally experience the waters of the basin through the drudgery of fishing the lower Robinson. Hey, it’s a tough job but somebody’s got to do it.
I’m crazy for [...]
We have had some calls recently about the best liability insurance for hunting leases. Troy Langan at Farmer’s National recommends Quality Deer Management Association as one of the most reputable groups.
Some information from their website:
QDMA Hunting Club Insurance
Click here to view an application [...]
Conserv, working with The Virginia Department of Forestry, will submit a proposal to pilot a payment for ecosystem services program in the Rivanna River watershed near Charlottesville, Virginia. The intent of the grant is to reduce sediment and nutrients through a market-based conservation platform. More details forthcoming.
Thanks to Black and White, Photography from the Chesapeake [...]
Today, the Rappahannock Exchange Symposium/Ecosystem Services Council Kick-off Steering Committee set Wednesday, December 9 for the day-long meeting. The agenda for this historic gathering, to be held at a soon-to-be announced location in Fredericksburg, may include:
Goals of a 21st-century marketplace
Mini-briefings on emering Chesapeake Bay and greenhouse gas reduction - friendly market demand opportunities including:
Carbon footprinting [...]
Joe Starinchak, Outreach Coordinator with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently sent to me a copy of a decade old paper authored by George Meyer, the Secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. Titled A Green Tier for Greater Environmental Protection, the work was focused on a new conceptual paradigm for government environmental [...]
Conserv will soon begin work on an overhaul of the 2009 American Conservation Broker curriculum for 2010. American Conservation Broker: 2010, will feature the following new modules designed to prepare brokers and sales agents for the latest emerging environmental challenges, including:
- Alternative septic system design and maintenance awareness training, including companies to call to assist [...]
A story on WVTF public radio today about the plight of Virginia’s private forestlands…
Threat’s to Virginia’s Private Forestlands
These new landowners need to find ways to generate revenue, sustainably, from their inherited family forest lands.
A meeting will be held tomorrow at the Virginia Department of Forestry in
Charlottesville for estate planning for forest landowners….
Estate Planning Workshop
[...]
As energies for the consideration of ecosystem markets gather here in the mid-atlantic, the search for demand drivers for some types of these services intensifies. While there has been significant resources devoted to the creation of supply side models and metrics (which are essential), without robust demand, market-based conservation is a daydream. Although the following [...]
Conserv is working with Virginia Groundwater, LLC to prepare a report titled Underground Albemarle revised: How do groundwater ecosystem services impact optimal sustainable population size for the Charlottesville/Albemarle community? for the organization Advocates for a Sustainable Albemarle Population. Virginia Groundwater is preparing the hydrogeology portion of the study with Conserv focused on groundwater ecosystem services [...]
Teri L. Gordon, with PJ deHaas Properties in Lake Hughes, California recently completed the American Conservation Broker curriculum, and is the first real estate professional to receive the certification in the State of California.
More to come on Teri and her future plans for integrating conservation with her day to day real estate practice.
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Some websites that contain helpful information for those interested in the movement toward ecosystem-based bioregional economies….
Business for Social Responsibility (BSR) resource guide
The Tree Carbon Offsetting Survey 2009
Ecosystem Services by Buck Kline and Vijay Satyal (Powerpoint presentation)
Costa Rica Environmental [...]