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Photo credit: Pam
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Conservation Leaders Network
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Networker Volume 9, Issue 2 Spring 2007 IN THIS ISSUE:
QUARTERLY FEATURES: If you received this from a friend and would like to become a member of the Conservation Leaders Network and receive this quarterly newsletter please click here. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Backcountry Bounty
Wildlife and the wild lands on which they live have ecological, cultural, recreational, aesthetic and economic value. They often provide a foundation for local prosperity, particularly in the American West. This report discusses the relationship between wild lands and hunting and fishing and their economic impact on the West:
Conservation of public lands in the West is critical to attracting and retaining these revenues. America’s Wildlife Conservation Heritage During the 19th century, the American West saw a rapid increase in rural development, significantly impacting fish and wildlife resources in the region. In the late 1800s, sportsmen began public and private efforts to protect and conserve wildlife. Hunting and fishing associations were born and game preserves were established. Sportsmen and America’s conservation movement found a champion at the turn of the century when Theodore Roosevelt became president. During his tenure, this avid hunter and outdoorsman expanded the National Forest system, designated 18 national monuments, created five national parks and dedicated 54 federal game and bird preserves. The Roosevelt presidency solidified the bond between sportsmen and habitat conservation. By 1928 every state had laws on the books requiring hunters to purchase licenses, which still fund wildlife management today. In 1937 the Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act created a tax on ammunition and sporting arms, which funded a special trust fund for state wildlife restoration projects that has generated more than $5 billion. This tax was supported by the very people to be taxed — America’s hunters and anglers. The Federal Aid in Sport Fish Restoration Act passed in 1950 created a parallel program for management, conservation and restoration of fishery resources, which has also generated more than $5 billion. Funds from the Migratory Bird Hunting Stamp Act (the federal duck stamp) contributed to the purchase of more than 4 million acres of wetland habitat. The National Survey of Fishing, Hunting and Wildlife-Associated Recreation showed that the contribution made by licenses and taxes associated with hunting and angling for the year 2000 was more than $3.7 billion.7 Every year, almost $200 million in federal excise taxes are distributed to state agencies to support hunter education and safety classes, land purchases and wildlife management. American sportsmen have a long history of advocating for better stewardship of natural resources. They back up their conservation ethic with conservation money, a significant contribution to the economy of the new American West. Permission to reprint, The Sonoran Institute and the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership. For more information go to: The Sonoran Institute (www.sonoran.org) and The Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership (www.trcp.org) -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Commissioner of the Month Speaks—Bill Hall, Lincoln County OR
by Commissioner Bill Hall, April 2007 I am proud to call myself a conservationist. I think anyone who grew up in Oregon during the days of Tom McCall’s governorship, and who is a steward of one of the most beautiful places on this earth, would be foolish not to wear that title. McCall’s governorship (1969-1975) established Oregon as a place that cherished its natural beauty and diversity and believed in careful use of its resources. The list of achievements is impressive: laws establishing public ownership of the beaches, the first bottle bill in the nation, the first statewide land-use planning system and a major cleanup of the Willamette River. In retrospect, the McCall record on the environment wasn’t perfect. He supported levels of logging, for instance, that history has shown were not sustainable. But taken as a whole, his vision and his achievements established this state as a national pacesetter. But for too many years, I believe, Oregon coasted on that reputation while those with a different agenda worked to gain the upper hand. The state land use system was under attack from those more interested in profit than wise stewardship almost from the start. In 1982, when he was dying of cancer, McCall used his last energies to campaign against a ballot measure that would have scrapped the land use system. Finally, in the 2004 general election (the same one where I was elected a Lincoln County Commissioner) the walls fell, and Oregon voters enacted Measure 37, which requires the state and local governments to waive land use laws for long-time property owners or pay compensation. With no funds available for compensation, Lincoln County—and every other Oregon government—has chosen to waive the rules. In most cases, the impacts of proposed developments in our county won’t be great—from one home to a handful—though they do contribute to a creeping sprawl. But we are now processing 64 claims from Plum Creek Timber which involve about 12,000 acres of timber lands in our county. The company has given us an extra six months to process their claims, but I’m concerned that we may face no choice but to ultimately approve them. This is particularly troubling in light of Plum Creek’s development record in places like Maine and Washington State. I doubt that the voters who endorsed Measure 37 expected an out-of-state corporation to be the prime beneficiary. There are a few signs that offer encouragement that the pendulum is starting to swing back. A statewide poll shows the same Oregonians who approved Measure 37 with 61 percent of the vote now stand ready to repeal it by the same margin. And our legislature, which has failed in efforts to expand our bottle bill for years, now appears poised to do so. In my home community of Newport, a grass-roots outcry last year stopped the efforts of the state’s economic development department and the local port to bring a ship-breaking operation into Yaquina Bay. Governor Ted Kulongoski stepped in to call a halt, and the legislature has now approved a bill to require any ship dismantling in Oregon waters be done in dry dock. As a commissioner, I have advocated for continuing protection of our forests and for establishment of a system of marine reserves in the Oregon ocean. I believe that a properly-chosen and managed system of reserves can benefit the health of both our resource-dependent industries, such as fishing, and the environment as a whole. I have appreciated the support of the Conservation Leaders Network in these efforts. Just recently, our board of commissioners approved a county sustainability initiative, and we are asking the cities in the county to join us in this effort. We want to serve as a bridge between the multiple sustainability efforts already in motion in our county, as well as leading by example. Although the majority of Lincoln County residents and all Oregonians still cherish our natural splendor, there will always be those who seek to despoil it. Whenever I have to contend with those forces, I try to hold fast to these words of Tom McCall’s: “Oregon is demure, and lovely, and it ought to play a little hard to get.”
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Small Category: Pitkin County, CO; Pitkin County Open Space and Trails Medium Category: Sonoma County, CA; Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District Large Category: Lake County, IL; The Lake County Forest Preserve District The next issue of Networker will feature a description of the winning counties. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Local Governments: Many Opportunities to Save Energy and Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions Improving Energy Efficiency in Buildings and Equipment
Using Green Power
Lowering Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Reducing Waste and Recycling
Courtesy of the EPA website. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Volunteers needed!! We need a couple of volunteers to work in our office in Gold Beach OR or who have internet access to work from home. Please get in touch with Karim at 541 247-8079. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1000 Friends of Wisconsin
Transportation and Global Warming
By Steve Hiniker, Executive Director 1000 Friends of Wisconsin was created to protect and enhance Wisconsin’s urban and rural landscapes by providing citizens with the tools they need to effectively participate decisions that impact community health: where we live, work, learn, play and how we get from one place to another. We help communities make the connection between our everyday land use and transportation decisions and our state's economic, environmental and cultural health. For more information: www.1Kfriends.org. Record warm winters, melting glaciers and closed ski resorts have brought home the message that our climate is changing. Polls show that the deep skepticism that once greeted reports of global warming have been replaced with a public demanding action. That public demand for action has translated into a serious discussion about cleaning up our dirty coal fired power plants that contribute to nearly one third of our climate changing carbon dioxide emissions. While that attention is good news, we cannot hope to address our problems by simply cleaning up the sources of our power generation. Much closer to home (in our driveways, actually) is a global warming machine that we need to tame. Our cars and our driving habits are the fastest growing source of carbon dioxide emissions in the country. Having auto manufacturers engineer cars that get better gas mileage – rather than better 0-60 performance – will help us reduce emissions painlessly. We can also focus on the development of alternative fuels to reduce the amount of oil we import – and the amount of carbon we exhaust. However, we can only get so far with technological fixes. We need to admit that we are addicted to driving. While we can search for a “fix” such as a car that runs on hydrogen, we need to understand that any technological fix is really like using methadone to address an addiction problem. We need to drive less. The good news is that almost all of us can drive less if we make it a priority. While cars are a true necessity, it is hard to argue that we couldn’t curtail our driving if we simply made it a priority. Saving a planet for our children should be enough of an incentive to go on a driving diet. However, if that isn’t enough of a reason, perhaps $4 or $5 a gallon gas in the next couple of years will do the trick. While there are very few people who couldn’t trim several miles a week off of our driving routines, all of us would benefit from a sound transportation policy that invested in a truly balanced transportation system. While we have one of the best highways systems in the world, it has come at a great expense to our communities and to the environment. We need to put our economy back to work building a transit system for the 21st century and beyond. The benefits of transit are enormous. According to the American Public Transit Association, if Americans used transit at the same level as Europeans (roughly for 10% of all trips), we could save the amount of oil equivalent to all of our annual imports from Saudi Arabia. That is both environmentally beneficial and patriotic. By reinvesting in transit, we can help urban neighborhoods thrive – and we can develop new communities that would be less auto-dependent. Those transit oriented communities of houses built closer together also provides opportunities for more pedestrian oriented activities. Schools can be sited within walking distance of homes. Neighborhood stores can become a reality when enough people live close enough to the market to walk. The opportunities afforded by transit oriented development are tremendous: better neighborhoods, higher quality of life and less natural areas and farmland lost to sprawl-like development. The costs of avoiding transit investments include more gridlock, more global warming and more land lost to poorly planned development. The economic and environmental repercussions of that approach are devastating. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------NACo Launches Green Government Initiative Through the new Green Government Initiative, NACo will serve as a catalyst between local governments and the private sector to facilitate green government practices, products and policies that result in financial and environmental savings. The Initiative draws upon the support of eleven founding corporate members to create a program that will assist counties in “going green.” The Initiative will serve as a comprehensive resource for local governments on all things “green,” including energy efficiency, renewable and alternative energy, green building, air quality, water quality, and land use. Through trainings, publications workshops, exhibits, online databases and a green yellow pages, NACo will seek to:
Printed with permission, the National Association of Counties. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------From the Director . . .
Peg Reagan, Executive Director I’d like to welcome Commissioner Barry Jacobs of Orange County NC to the Conservation Leaders Network’s Board of Directors. He has been a member of the Orange County NC Board of Commissioners since 1998. Now in his third term, he has served as Chair and Vice-chair a total of six times. Mr. Jacobs also served on the North Carolina Commission on Smart Growth, Growth Management and Development. He has worked as the Caretaker at Moorefields, a house and grounds on the National Register of Historic Places since 1978, as a self-employed journalist, primarily covering sports but also history, environment, and politics for 30 years, and is the author of several books. He holds a Bachelors Degree in history from Duke University. I’d also like to express our thanks to Steve Holmer of the American Bird Conservancy, who regretfully had to leave the board. We have appreciated his active involvement and support; he will be missed. And I would like to welcome Supervisor Byng Hunt, Mono County CA and Commissioner Paul Ferguson, Arlington County VA to our Advisory Committee. As you know, the Conservation Leaders Network helps county officials protect America’s natural resources. It has become clear that as important as the many individual resource protection issues are, they pale in comparison to the effect global warming will have on America’s natural resources. We were pleased to be instrumental in the success of the Global Warming resolution at the National Association of Counties’ Legislative Conference. At last, the National Association of Counties recognizes global warming and will be able to help counties work to lessen its impacts. We are now in the process of creating a Global Warming Committee within the Conservation Leaders Network. John Woolley (Humboldt County CA), Brett Hulsey (Dane County WI), Will Toor (Boulder County CO), Paul Ferguson (Arlington County VA), Byng Hunt (Mono County CA), Cheryl Thorp (former commissioner, Curry County OR) and Dave Somers (Snohomish County WA) have all agreed to serve. They will be helping to shape our work on this important issue. If any of you are interested in joining, please let me know. You can also see the results of our Global Warming Survey beginning on page eight. We are now working to bring our “Conservation Makes $ense” booth to the National Association of Counties’ annual conference in Richmond VA in July. You know that we work with pro-environment county commissioners in almost every state, from Alabama to Wyoming. Our largest numbers are in California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin. In only two states—Iowa and Georgia—are the statewide county associations and environmental advocates usually on the same side on natural resource protection issues. And at the national level, particularly on public lands issues—federal forests, wilderness, roadless areas, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, the Endangered Species Act—we find that too often the National Association of Counties represents extraction interests rather than the public good. So we have our work cut out for us. Your support of the Conservation Leaders Network and your involvement on the many natural resource conservation issues is invaluable. We strive to earn your continued support. Let us know the issues you think are most important and how we can help. Peg Reagan -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Greening Cook County IL This is part of a multi-part article which began several issues ago Introduction Recycling is the environmental activity with the greatest level of direct participation by the public. Although recycling is today an established, everyday activity for millions of people, many more materials beyond the commonly recycled commodities could be recycled. This increase in recycled materials, along with other waste reduction and reuse measures, will be needed in the future to stem the tidal wave of trash produced by Americans. The United States generated over 229 million tons of municipal solid waste in 2001—roughly four pounds per person per day—and as the population continues to increase, so will the amount of trash, unless something is done to reduce it. The first of many benefits of recycling is perhaps the most obvious: recycling reduced the amount of trash that must be disposed of in landfills or through incineration. Waste disposal is an enormous expense for local governments—the City of Chicago alone spends $157 million a year—so waste reduction has a direct, positive impact on the bottom line. In addition, the less trash generated, the longer the lifespan of existing landfills; this is an important consideration, given that the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency reports that the landfills in the Chicago metropolitan area will reach capacity by 2009. Another commonly recognized benefit of recycling is the conservation of natural resources, like water, minerals, and trees. In addition, recycling saves a great deal of energy. For example, it takes 95 percent less energy to manufacture aluminum cans from recycled aluminum than from virgin aluminum. The energy savings from manufacturing goods with recycled rather than virgin materials is similar for other commodities:
The lower energy usage also means that fewer greenhouse gases and other atmospheric pollutants are emitted during the manufacturing process. In addition, recycled trash does not end up in a landfill or incinerator, both of which emit greenhouse gases. Further, trees that do not have to be cut down to manufacture paper absorb carbon dioxide, a major contributor to global climate change. There are also significant economic impacts from recycling. Recycling is a major industry in the United States and in the state of Illinois more specifically. A report prepared for the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity estimates that 2,400 firms, employing 56,000 people, are engaged in the business of recycling in Illinois. In addition, aluminum, paper and other commodities are valuable commodities and can produce income for recycling programs. One less obvious benefit of recycling is that it contributes to “closing the loop” of the production cycle. Without an adequate, affordable, constant supply of “raw” recyclable materials, manufacturers will find it economically unfeasible to produce competitively-priced goods made of those materials. Manufacturers will either be forced to charge significantly more for recycled-content goods or will return to using cheaper, unsustainable virgin resources. By recycling its waste and purchasing products made from recycled and recyclable materials, the County and Forest Preserve can help to ensure that this more sustainable manufacturing cycle continues to function and expand. This article will be continued in future issues of Networker and will include specific actions Cook County is taking to recycle and reduce their waste. Reprinted with permission. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Results of our Global Warming Survey The Conservation Leaders Network conducted a survey to learn what county officials themselves thought would be most helpful to them to fight global warming. They were asked to rate each item as “very helpful,” “somewhat helpful,” or “not at all helpful.” The Conservation Leaders Network researched both existing services and possible services, using input from a variety of county officials and county staff. The survey was presented as a menu of options. Sent by email to 1,200 county commissioners nationally in March, the response rate was 4%. There were 7 categories:
Of these seven categories, Economic assistance/incentives was rated the highest. County government was second and Natural resources was third. Economic assistance/incentives Economic assistance/incentives received the highest ratings for being “very helpful.” All seven items with the Economic assistance/incentives category received a “very helpful” rating from at least 69% of respondents. It was also the category with the item with the highest rating of all. 83% of respondents rated “information on existing options available to counties now (economic incentives, free services/advice, etc.)” “very helpful.” County government County government offered eight items. One received a 73% “very helpful” rating: purchase energy efficient equipment and appliances for county use. Natural resource management The third highest category contained two items, both of which received a 70% “very helpful” rating. Transportation Although most of the items in this category did not receive high ratings, one item received a 77% “very helpful” rating: “increase the average fuel efficient of fleet vehicles; reduce the number of vehicles; launch an employee education program including fuel-saving driving practices; convert diesel vehicles to bio-diesel or hybrid.” Growth management and the National Association of Counties received mixed scores. No item in Networking received over 50% “very helpful” ratings. Based on these results, from the county perspective, the most helpful things we can do are: Provide economic assistance/ incentive
County Government
Natural Resource Management
Transportation
If you would like to know more information on the options offered and the results, contact the Conservation Leaders Network at 541 247-8079 or info@conservationleaders.org. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Community Winds of Winona County MN It’s called Community Winds of Winona County, but don’t expect to hear the sounds of Sousa wafting from the local band shell. These winds are literal. Community Winds is this Minnesota county’s effort to build a publicly owned wind turbine to — in a classic example of “doing good while doing well” — generate both “green” renewable energy and economic development. “I’m interested in both,” said county Commissioner Dwayne Voegeli, one of the project’s supporters. “One of my passions is the environment, but another passion of mine is economic change and growth, but not growth for growth’s sake.” Winona County, along with several partners, plans to build a $3.2-million, 2-megawatt wind turbine on a ridge in Mount Vernon Township, about 15 miles north of Winona, the county seat. The project may be the only one of its kind in the nation being built by a county government, according to Christine Real de Azua, an American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) spokeswoman, who said most of the municipal projects she’s aware of involve cities and towns. The single turbine would generate approximately 6 megawatt-hours — enough to power about 600 homes for a year. “If the wind is as strong as what the preliminary studies indicate, we may actually be able to make a little money beyond paying for the project” over the 20-year life cycle of the turbine, said Linda Grover, who heads the county’s Economic Development Authority, “so that we can reinvest in other renewable energy projects.” In addition to making money, the county hopes to convince some dirt farmers to become wind farmers, who would benefit by leasing their land to allow wind turbine development on their property. Most of Minnesota’s wind energy development has been in the wind-rich southwest part of the state; Winona County is in the southeast. As of Dec. 31, 2006, the state had 895 megawatts of installed wind turbine projects, according to AWEA, ranking Minnesota ninth nationally in wind energy production. “In our part of the state, basically farmers and others are still in kind of a ‘prove it’ mode,” Voegeli explained; “they need to see it up and running, and that’s the whole purpose of this. We don’t want to have the county own everything. We just want to get this one up and running — show folks how to do it.” The county has been working on the project for about a year and a half, and state and federal funding are available. In 2005, Winona County was awarded a $200,000 grant from the Minnesota Department of Commerce for wind turbine projects. Last year, the project was approved to receive up to $3.2 million in no-interest federal bonds under the Clean Renewable Energy Bond (CREB) program, established by the federal Energy Policy Act of 2005. Unlike normal bonds that pay interest, these tax-credit bonds pay the bondholders by providing a credit against their federal income tax — in effect, providing interest-free financing. Grover said the bonds could be paid off with revenue from selling electricity the turbine generates, which would shave off more than $100,000 from the total project cost and provide the financing to build the turbine. The county has until the end of 2008 to issue the bonds, she said. Thus far, the county board has approved $90,000 for consultants and studies. The first-phase funding included $45,000 to conduct a wind study and interconnection studies, and to address site issues, Grover said. Another $45,000 was approved last year for legal services, including hiring a tax attorney, to help structure the partnership that will own the project For more information about Community Winds of Winona County, contact Linda Grover at lgrover@co.winona.mn.us. To learn more about the U.S. wind energy industry, visit the American Wind Energy Association’s website, www.awea.org. Edited and reprinted with permission, Winona 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. With my membership, I will get: · four issues of the Conservation Leaders Network’s quarterly newsletter · “Networker” · access to the Network’s email discussion list, where I can discuss · environmental issues with other county leaders and environmental advocates · priority access to the Conservation Leaders Staff for information and support. · Email notice of natural resource protection and restoration opportunities for counties We hope you will join the Conservation Leaders Network and help us protect America's natural resources. Click here for a mail-in membership form or to join online.
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