Conservation Leaders Network

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------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Conservation Makes $ense at NACo--Richmond VA

Opening day for our "Conservation Makes $ense booth with Advisory Committee members Mike Murray of Lewis & Clark County MT and Brett Hulsey of Dane County WI.

Some of the attendees of the Conservation Leaders Network’s working dinner with the Board of Directors and Advisory Committee. L to R: Advisory Committee member Robert Downing, Calhoun County AL; guest Tresi Houpt, Garfield County CO; Advisory Committee member Bob Rackleff, Leon County FL; Advisory Committee member Bob Jacobson, Hawaii County HI; Board Chair John Woolley, Humboldt County CA and guest Susan Adams, Marin County CA.

Board Chair John Woolley of Humboldt County CA working the booth with Mike Murray of Lewis & Clark County MT and Bob Rackleff of Leon County FL.

Thanks to the following county officials who worked our “Conservation Makes $ense” booth with Executive Director Peg Reagan:

Calhoun County AL Commissioner Robert Downing
Lewis and Clark County MT Commissioner Mike Murray
Hawaii County HI Commissioner Bob Jacobson
Dane County WI Supervisor Brett Hulsey
Humboldt County CA Supervisor John Woolley
Leon County FL Supervisor Bob Rackleff.

This year’s booth co-sponsors were The Wilderness Society and American Forests.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Commissioner of the Month Speaks—Will Toor, Boulder County CO

Boulder County has a decades-long history of implementing projects that protect our environment, natural resources, air quality and water. However, in 2005 the Board of County Commissioners and staff decided it was time to commit the County to a comprehensive strategy of creating a sustainable community.

The commissioners adopted both a zero waste and a sustainable energy resolution in 2005. These resolutions and their resulting action plans address issues such as energy efficiency, waste reduction, green building and use of renewable energy. Recognizing that is important to model the practices we would like the community to adopt, the plans call for both internal change and external outreach to the community at large.

Also in 2005, the Commissioners turned to the Boulder County community for the financial means to begin turning policy into practice. Voters approved a ballot issue allowing the County to retain and spend tax revenues previously required to be refunded under state law. Boulder County earmarked a minimum of 6.67 percent of those new revenues to fund sustainability efforts - currently generating about $1.5 million/year for sustainability programs.

Since adoption of the sustainability resolutions, Boulder County has implemented numerous programs and is in the planning stages of many other efforts. A new, full-time sustainability coordinator was hired to coordinate internal and external programs and to foster collaborations with community partners such as the municipalities within the county, the University of Colorado, and local power providers.

While the challenge of moving towards sustainability is enormous, we are excited to have started down this path. More information can be found online at www.co.boulder.co.us/.sustain.

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Greening Cook County IL: Greener Wastes

This is part two of a three part article about “Greener Wastes” from the office of Commissioner Mike Quigley.

Perform waste audits and design recycling programs for all facilities within one year.

In 2002, the County Board passed the Recycling Plan Ordinance, which required the County to develop and implement a plan to reduce its waste stream by 25 percent. This plan is not yet complete. The Forest Preserve District has yet to adopt a similar recycling plan ordinance, much less implement it.

However, in 2004, the County Department of Environmental Control began performing waste audits and developing individualized recycling plans for 15 buildings a year. At this pace, all of the County’s 61 facilities will be addressed within four years. The Department of Environmental Control indicated in early 2004 that it would begin to issue quarterly reports on the status of the County’s recycling efforts, though none has been published to date.

Based on the results of a model program designed and implemented in the summer of 2002 by Solid Waste Solutions Corp. (SWS) for the Cook County Administration Building, a comprehensive recycling program should save the County a significant amount. The yearly bill for waste disposal and recycling collection at the County Administration Building prior to the audit was $94,000; after the audit and the development of a recycling plan, however, that cost dropped to $22,000. That represents a savings of $72,000, or nearly 76 percent, for just one building.

SWS has offered to audit and develop recycling plans for all County facilities within a year at no upfront cost to the County. Instead, this proposal employs the shared-savings concept, in which the consultant would be paid out of the savings accrued as a result of its work. SWS estimates that the County could save at least $500,000 annually once waste reduction strategies are in place.

The agreement proposed by SWS stipulates that the County will receive 50 percent of the savings in the first year of the contract, 60 percent in the second year, 70 percent in the third year, and 80 percent in the fourth and fifth years. It is likely that any other potential bidders proposing a performance-based contract would use a similar formula. Based on the conservative $500,000 estimate from SWS, the net savings to the County would be $1.7 million over the first 5 years of the contract.

The County should proceed immediately with a Request for Proposals (RFP) for the development of recycling programs at all County facilities within one year.

The Forest Preserve District should adopt a recycling plan ordinance immediately and then proceed to issue its own RFP for a shared-savings agreement, which should also address public recycling in the preserves.

The County already does a very good job reusing and disposing of furniture, computer equipment and other large items. The Department of Central Services currently collects these unwanted items from County facilities and stores them in a warehouse at 23rd and California in Chicago until they are needed by another County office. Furniture that is in poor shape and cannot be reused is broken down by material and sold by the County to scrap dealers. Computers are dealt with similarly, with completely unusable equipment going to electronics recyclers who can dispose of it properly.

There are a few additional steps that would make the process even more effective. First, the collection service should be better publicized. Although many employees may be aware that items can be taken away, knowing what is available when additional furniture or computers are needed is more difficult. An online inventory of the contents of the bulk warehouse would remedy this lack of information, particularly if a photograph of each major item were included in the online listings.

In addition, each County facility, department or office (depending on the size) could designate an unused or underused closet or room for unwanted office supplies. Smaller items could accumulate out of the way without each requiring an individual pick-up. Collection trips would be less frequent but more productive and might even be combined with pickups of large items, further reducing unnecessary effort and fuel use.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The Lands Council—WA

The Lands Council (TLC) has undertaken a new strategy of collaboration over the past few years that has forged some important relations in the rural Northwest. A few years ago, when loggers and environmentalists seemed to have nothing in common, a chance conversation by the owner of the Vaagen Brothers mill in Colville, Washington started us thinking that we should try something new. The mill owner’s source of nearby National Forest timber had shrunk and two of his three mills had closed, in part because of supply, in part due to changing economic conditions. He suggested that he might support new Wilderness designation for the Colville National Forest, if we would support some level of logging.

Thus began several years of tentative conversation, leading to a formal coalition and an agreement of how we worked with the Colville National Forest. The Lands Council at the time was educating rural homeowners about how to protect their homes from wildfire and so our attention was focused on that area of forest near communities.

After a few early meetings that were a bit uncomfortable, everyone rolled up their sleeves and got to work trying to find common ground on fuel reduction projects. We have created a memorandum of understanding with the Forest Service about how we communicate and what our expectations are. Now, we are the Northeast Washington Forestry Coalition (NEWFC), a very diverse group of conservation, timber, recreation and rural community interests. Over the past year we worked closely on numerous forest related projects, as well as a forest-wide planning process that was begun because of the collaborative work of NEWFC.

Our commitment to resolve issues, and the ability of the agency to change their projects, has created a good working relationship. We are creating site-specific silvicultural prescriptions as part of NEWFC and the Forest Service is adapting to our approach. So far we have resolved timber management projects on the Colville Forest for the past three years without any appeals or protests.

One NE Washington County Commissioner continues to be skeptical and has gone on record in the media as opposing the collaborative work of NEWFC. However, the other 8 Commissioners in the region are much more supportive and several regularly dialogue about Wilderness and took part in the collaborative forest planning process. On balance we continue to gain allies in the rural communities and we expect to roll out a draft Wilderness bill in early 2008. Our close partner in this effort is Conservation Northwest, who has just produced a stylish coffee table book on the proposed Wilderness. One role that TLC has taken on is informing the forest conservation community about our efforts. Collaboration is still controversial with many conservation groups and we are committed to a transparent process (no surprises!). In effect, our coalition is working on a package that will ensure some level of fuel reduction and logging acres for the rural communities and timber industry in exchange for their support for Wilderness.

Like all good ideas, seeking common ground has caught on in other Forests of our region. The Lands Council helped start a collaborative on the Kootenai National Forest in Montana, in which all three county commissioners are involved, as well as one on the Idaho Panhandle National Forest of north Idaho. As we tell people, ask us in five years how this all worked out, but for now it seems our connections to rural communities are going well and a record of successful collaboration is being built.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------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 541 247-2129.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------From the Director . . .

It’s good to be back from the National Association of Counties’ annual conference.

It was a very successful event for the Conservation Leaders Network. We didn’t see the Sunday rush we used to see but we actually gave away more literature this year than usual.

As you know, our “Conservation Makes $ense” booth focuses on the economic benefits of natural resource conservation. Our “Money for Counties” handout was very popular.

Our website will soon have its NACo 2007 page up, complete with photos of county officials working our booth during the conference. You can also see the breadth of materials we distributed this year. If you are interested in any, give me a call as we may have extra copies.

This year the Conservation Leaders Network purchased carbon credits for the flight through terrapass.com. We recognize that carbon credits aren’t going to solve global warming, but it’s a baby step every flier should take.

Thank you to all the members who made special contributions to help bring our “Conservation Makes $ense” booth to this year’s conference. Thank you to this year’s booth co-sponsors—our long-time supporter, The Wilderness Society, and first-time co-sponsor, American Forests.

Thank you also to our many “Conservation Contacts,” statewide groups who recognize the value in working with county officials to protect America’s natural resources: Alaska Conservation Alliance; Sierra Club--Grand Canyon Chapter; California League of Conservation Voters; Rocky Mountain Chapter Sierra Club; Florida League of Conservation Voters/Sierra Club Florida Chapter; Environment Georgia; Hawaii’s Thousand Friends; Conservation Voters for Idaho; Illinois Chapter of the Sierra Club; Iowa Environmental Council, Cumberland Chapter; Sierra Club, Michigan Environmental Council; Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy; Missouri Coalition for the Environment; Northern Plains Resource Council; Nevada Conservation League; Ohio League of Conservation Voters; Oregon Wild; Conservation Voters of South Carolina; Lone Star Chapter Sierra Club; Virginia Conservation Network; The Lands Council and the Wyoming Outdoor Council.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------County Success Stories

Do you have a success story you’d like to share with your fellow members of the Conservation Leaders Network?

We’d like to print brief articles of your successful efforts to restore, conserve or protect natural resources in your county. And we would like to include a link for those who want more information. Our next deadline is November 1. Accompanying photos are also welcome.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------2007 Conservation Awards Winners

The Trust for Public Land honored the following counties with their Conservation Awards in 2007.

Small Category: Pitkin County, CO for the Pitkin County Open Space and Trails

Pitkin County is a rural, mountainous region and home to the resort communities of Aspen and Snowmass. Boasting some of the highest real estate prices in the country, development pressures are extreme, making land conservation both costly and daunting.

Pitkin County residents have not been deterred. In 1990, voters passed a ballot measure creating the Open Space and Trails (OST) program. Two subsequent ballot measures have extended a 3.75 mill property tax to 2020, and a total of $38 million in General Obligation bonding authority has been authorized. Grants and partnerships have leveraged significant funds for the program ($.43 for every OST dollar spent). To date, Pitkin County has preserved 14,000 acres of farmland, wildlife habitat, open space, recreational assets, and trails.

The county's success in preserving undeveloped land can be attributed to its strong partnerships with myriad public and private entities, a spectrum of conservation tools, and long-standing relationships of trust with local landowners.

Medium Category: Sonoma County, CA for the Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District

In the late 1980s, Bay Area cities began to merge, losing their individuality and unique character. Fear of this and concern for significant growth patterns led Sonoma County to support an Open Space Element in the update of the County General Plan in 1989. That Open Space Element recommended the creation of the Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District and the voters agreed a few months later.

In 1990, Sonoma County voters authorized a quarter-cent sales tax (for a 20-year period) to fund and create the District, one of the first sales tax-funded open space programs in the country to focus on the preservation of agricultural properties and open space lands. The District has spent $212 million to protect more than 70,000 acres of farmland, open space, wildlife habitat, and recreational lands. The Sonoma County District has leveraged voter-approved funding with an additional $26 million in local, state, federal, and private funds. In addition, the District has received generous endowments from landowners that total over $1.6 million. District staff has saved some $61.5 million in discounted purchase prices.

In November 2006, 75% of the voters overwhelmingly approved an extension of the sales tax through 2031.

One particularly notable achievement the District claimed in 2005 was a partnership with The Trust for Public Land, State Coastal Conservancy and State Parks to protect the 3,373 acre Willow Creek property as an addition to Sonoma Coast State Beach, the third most-visited State Park unit in California. The District also recently completed a yearlong community process to update its Acquisition Plan, "Connecting Communities and the Land." This guiding document responds to changes in the community over time and has an additional focus, that of acquiring lands that connect urban dwellers to open spaces around them.

Large Category: Lake County, IL for the Lake County Forest Preserve District

Lake County is home to more endangered and threatened species than any other county in Illinois. It's also home to a diverse and growing population of nearly 700,000 people, including some of the most rapidly expanding communities in both the Chicago region and also the nation.

Since 1999, Lake County voters and the elected, 23-member Lake County Board of Forest Preserves Commissioners have made commitments to protecting open space and wildlife corridors threatened by this growth. Voters have approved three referenda: two bond measures generating $140 million for acquiring, maintaining, and improving Preserves; and an additional tax increase that generates $3 million annually for managing Preserves. In 2005, the commissioners approved another $85 million in bonds (non-referendum) over the following four-to-five years to purchase an additional 1,400 acres. The Lake County Forest Preserve District has leveraged voter-approved funds with over $20 million in state, federal, and private grants and donations.

Since 1999, the Lake County Forest Preserve District has protected an additional 5,000 acres of land (bringing the total to 25,300 acres), opened 12 entirely new preserves, expanded 17 existing preserves, and reached a total of 125 miles of trails. Each year, some 2.5 million visits occur on preserve lands, allowing the public to learn about nature, interact with wildlife, and participate in outdoor recreation. The District has strong partnerships, thousands of volunteers and considerable community involvement in all facets of its mission.

Plans also call for a five-year Capital Improvement Program of nearly $50 million. In 1999, the Lake County Forest Preserve District was voted National Gold Medal Winner by the National Recreation and Park Association as the best park, conservation, and recreation agency of its kind in the nation.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------“Cool Counties” Launch Major Global Warming Initiative

Call for 80% Reduction in Carbon Emissions by 2050; Urges Action by the Federal Government on Warming, Fuel Economy

(Richmond, Va.)-Large Counties from across the country today [July 16] joined the Sierra Club in announcing the creation of the Cool Counties Climate Stabilization Declaration, a major new initiative to combat global warming. The counties – led by King County, Washington, Fairfax County, Virginia, and Nassau County, New York – pledge to reduce global warming emissions 80 percent by 2050, an achievable average annual reduction of 2 percent. The Cool Counties Climate Stabilization Declaration also urges the federal government to adopt legislation requiring an 80 percent emissions reduction by 2050 and calls for fuel economy standards to be raised to 35 miles per gallon within a decade.

“I am proud to stand here with the Sierra Club and my fellow county officials to launch a powerful commitment to tackle the most important challenge of our generation,” said Ron Sims, King County Executive. “We no longer have time to waste. We know what it takes to reduce CO2 emissions in our regions and we owe it to our children and grandchildren to make the tough decisions and right investments now.”

In the face of continuing inaction at the federal level to combat some of America’s most pressing problems-global warming and our dangerous addiction to oil, the Sierra Club has been working closely with cities, states, and counties to implement policies that will help fight global warming, save consumers and taxpayers money, and encourage the use of clean, renewable energy.

Over 17,000,000 people across ten states live in the founding counties participating in today’s event. In addition to King, Fairfax, and Nassau the founding counties include Arlington (VA), Montgomery and Queen Anne’s (MD), Miami-Dade (FL), Alameda (CA), Cook (IL), Shelby (TN), Hennepin (MN) and Dane (WI).

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------“Wilderness is our Common Ground”

Excerpts from speech by Ken Rait, Campaigns Director, Campaign for America’s Wilderness, to NACo’s Western Interstate Regional Conference in Fairbanks, AK, May 2007.

I represent Campaign for America’s Wilderness, which works to support and enhance ground-up, locally advocated protections for wilderness where there is support from local elected officials, businesses, user groups, and citizens alike.

I am here today because I believe that by protecting wilderness, we are preserving our connection with the past, as well as creating opportunities for the future. I also believe that there exists much common ground between wilderness advocates and county commissioners and supervisors who are interested in stability and sustainability in your communities.

. . . I believe wilderness designation is an important tool in Americans' shared interest in open space protection, and it’s one of the most economically efficient means of accomplishing this goal. Did you know that in the last 20 years, almost 80% of the local ballot initiatives to raise money for conservation like open space protection passed – that’s more than 1,400 separate measures that have raised more than $40 billion. Americans are putting their money where their mouths are. Wilderness is designated on public lands – lands the American public already owns and does not have to acquire, so protecting the suitable wild lands on the public domain just makes good plain common sense.

Support for wilderness is growing even amongst some constituencies that have historically opposed the concept. The collaborative work towards a shared goal by these diverse interests, including ranchers and developers, underscores the important shift that is occurring.

This shift is occurring in part because businesses, government officials, and citizens are realizing that wilderness protection is a part of the solution – it is a goose that lays a golden egg. Protected landscapes have value. Consider the following recent examples:

Conversely, there can be a real economic cost to positioning that attempts to undermine responsible protections. The Outdoor Retailers’ show, which pumps $24 million annually into Utah’s economy, threatened to pull out of the Salt Lake City convention center because of the state’s position opposing wilderness protection.

In several pieces of recent legislation, we have seen wilderness bundled with some kind of economic development – not because wilderness has an adverse economic impact that must be mitigated, but because wilderness provides a political opportunity for economic development, just as economic development provides a political opportunity for wilderness.

I believe that wilderness is uniquely American, and it’s as American as apple pie. Wilderness reflects Americans’ core values and interests in conservation as an important legacy for future generations which poll after poll, nationwide, state-level, and county-level show to be important to American voters.

Like every other political debate, there will never be total consensus in our society about wilderness and so it will be discussed and debated, which is how things get done in America, but wilderness can provide a political opportunity for economic growth if we can establish a dialogue and forge creative solutions.

Campaign for America’s Wilderness would like to partner with counties to help commissioners to better understand what wilderness is and what is and is not allowed in wilderness. We are happy to facilitate meetings with local wilderness groups so there is a better understanding of the wilderness potential in your regions. We are also here to help you understand the economics of protection.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------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.

· 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.