Conserv, under a contract with the Virginia Department of Forestry, has launched a new website to support the South Fork Rivanna Forests to Faucets (F2F) Initiative. The website will contain a library of resources to support meetings of an F2F Advisory Council and ad-hoc Technical Sessions for deliverables such as an ecosystem services cost benefits [...]
Conserv welcomes Nick Evans, PhD, as the first Director of Research. Nick is a graduate of the Sorensen Institute and Chairman of the Thomas Jefferson Soil and Water Conservation District and is a Principal with Virginia Groundwater, LLC and The Center for Sustainable Groundwater. Nick will be taking responsibility for several of the technical components [...]
Since the day after the December 9, 2009 Rappahannock River Basin Symposium, Incentivizing Restoration through a Chesapeake Bay Economy, during which 130 citizens concerned about the health of the Rappahannock River and Chesapeake Bay examined a proposal to create a “Chesapeake Bay Economy” via a “Rappahannock Exchange”, Conserv has been busy working with parties on [...]
This morning, a diverse group of about 25 persons gathered at the Virginia Department of Forestry (VDOF) in Charlottesville to discuss the South Fork Rivanna Reservoir (SFRR) Forests to Faucets (F2F) Initiative. Posted below is Conserv Executive Director Michael Collins’ Presentation (with minor edits) along with that of Director of Forestland Conservation Buck Kline. More [...]
Conserv: Marketplace for Ecosystem Restoration, working with The Center for Sustainable Groundwater, and Virginia Groundwater, LLC, have completed the study Underground Albemarle Revisited: The Role of Groundwater Ecosystem Services in Determining an Optimal Sustainable Population Size for the Charlottesville/Albemarle Community. The study was prepared for the non-profit organization, Advocates for a Sustainable Albemarle Population (ASAP).
The [...]
Conserv-Marketplace for Ecosystem Restoration has been awarded a contract with the Virginia Department of Forestry (VDOF) to provide project support for the South Fork Rivanna Reservoir (SFRR) Forests to Faucets (F2F) Initiative in Charlottesville, Virginia. The primary mission of this groundbreaking program is to create a new model process to financially link urban water consumers [...]
Conserv congratulates Pam Sunderland of Atlanta, Georgia as the first American Conservation Broker in the state of Georgia. Pam is interested in scaling Conserv’s national conservation broker platform down to a statewide or bioregional scale. Pam has already begun working in Georgia to create a new certification initiative based on Conserv’s curriculum. In addition, Pam [...]
As a result of the symposium Incentivizing Restoration through a Chesapeake Bay Economy held in December, 2009, Conserv, working with a grassroots consortium of business, government, and NGO partners, will facilitate the launch of the Rappahannock Marketplace Business Council to create the Business Plan for the Rappahannock Marketplace - also known as the Rappahannock Exchange.
More [...]
More information forthcoming….
Forests to Faucets (F2F) Advisory Council
Meeting Announcement and Agenda
Meeting Announcement
The Virginia Department of Forestry and Conserv invites you to attend a meeting of the new Forests to Faucets (F2F) Advisory Council. The Council will advise the Department on issues and processes related to implementation of the Rivanna South Fork Reservoir Forests to [...]
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 [...]
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.
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.
[...]
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 [...]
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 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 [...]
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 [...]
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.
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 [...]
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
[...]
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.
[...]
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 [...]
Rappahannock River Basin Commission staff, working with Conserv, and The Virginia Department of Forestry, have actively begun the process to create the Rappahannock River Basin Ecosystem Services Council (ESC). The Council, to consist of approximately 30 members, with a majority from business and industry interests working within the basin, will likely convene for a symposium [...]
The World Business Council for Sustainable Development has recently released some reports helpful to creation of bioregional sustainable economies such as The Rappahannock Exchange. These include the following:
The WBCSD’s Cement Sustainability Initiative (CSI), representing the collective effort of 18 leading cement companies from around the world, today released the report “Cement Industry Energy [...]
New hunting, birding/kayaking leasing opportunity just in….
250 acres on Barren Creek in Nanticoke River watershed near Mardela Springs, Maryland.
Contact Barrencreekfarms@hughes.net
Duck Hunting Lease:
Lighted boat ramp with 2 duck blinds.
Depending on season, teal, woodies, mallard.
Full or partial seasons, lease terms negotiable.
Hunting liability insurance available.
Deer Hunting Lease
Mixed hardwood/softwood forest.
4 fixed deer stands.
Multiple points available for tree stands.
Bow [...]