the politics of collaboration

06/24/21 • 34 min

This episode features an entertaining conversation with Vicki Taylor, Executive Coordinator of the Catawba Wateree Initiative, and Tracy Freeman, Director of Government Relations for the Ohio chapter of The Nature Conservancy. Judy A. Takats facilitates. Vicki helps businesses, nonprofits, and community leaders improve their leadership and strategic planning, while Tracy develops and implements policy strategies with government decision-makers to protect our lands and waters. They discuss the importance of collaborations, including some of the more challenging negotiations, along with the ins and outs of compromise and communication. They also touch on the importance of connecting with people individually to find common ground, discover where people's strengths lie and uncover their personal motivations to conserve land and water. Produced by Lee Schneider. Music by Chuck Leavell. Executive Producer: Judy A. Takats.

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State and Federal Funding Sources for Water Protection

In this episode, Holly Welch speaks with Kara Goodwin and James Kilgo about innovative funding options available for Source Water Protection, a proactive approach to safeguard drinking water quality, and the areas through which water travels. Goodwin works with regional, state, and local partners at the EPA to integrate Source Water Protection across environmental programs. Kilgo is a water protection specialist with the South Carolina Rural Water Association, with experience working with water utilities, forest landowners, and watershed-based planning. They discuss the current fiscal challenges facing water utilities and the growing urbanization of forest lands, explaining emerging funds that support greener infrastructure and partnerships to facilitate those projects, including the Clean Water State Revolving Fund. Music by Chuck Leavell. Produced by Lee Schneider. Executive Producer: Judy A. Takats.

Links to a list of funding sources mentioned in the episode are below, provided by the Southeastern Partnership for Forests and Water.

Five General Funding Hubs and Publications

1. Resources for Funding Source Water Protection - https://www.epa.gov/sourcewaterprotection/resources-funding-source-water-protection

2. Environmental Protection Agency Source Water Protection Funding Website - https://www.epa.gov/sourcewaterprotection/source-water-protection-funding

3. Water Finance Clearinghouse (online search tool) - https://ofmpub.epa.gov/apex/wfc/f?p=WFC%3A12

4. Environmental Finance Center - http://efcnetwork.org/

5, The Nature Conservancy Water Funds Research & Field Guide - https://waterfundstoolbox.org/getting-started/key-readings

Eleven Other Funding Links

!, EPA Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) - https://www.epa.gov/drinkingwatersrf

2. Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) - https://www.epa.gov/cwsrf

3. NRCS Funding Programs including RCPP - http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/main/national/programs/financial

4. US Forest Service Funding Programs - Forest Legacy Grant Program - https://www.fs.usda.gov/managing-land/private-land/forest-legacy/program

5. Landscape Scale Restoration Grant Program - https://www.fs.fed.us/managing-land/private-land/landscape-scale-restoration

6. USDA Conservation Funding Programs - https://www.fsa.usda.gov/programs-and-services/conservation-programs/index

7. US Endowment for Forestry and Communities Funding RFP’s - https://www.usendowment.org/grant-rfps/

8. The Conservation Fund - https://www.conservationfund.org/our-work

9. Network for Landscape Conservation Catalyst Fund - http://landscapeconservation.org/catalyst-fund/

10. Sustainable Forestry Initiative - Conservation Grants: https://www.forests.org/conservationgrants/

11. Community Grants - https://www.forests.org/communitygrants/

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To Save a Forest, Use it: A Conversation with Dr. Jennie Stevens, Yvonne Knight Carter, and Brian Brashaw

In this episode, John Mulcahy, Vice President of Sustainability at Georgia-Pacific, speaks with Dr. Jennie Stephens, CEO of the Center for Heirs' Property Preservation, and Yvonne Knight Carter, a landowner and Board Chair of the Center for Heirs' Property Preservation. John also speaks with Brian Brashaw, Assistant Director for the Wood Innovations Program at the USDA Forest Service.

Dr. Stevens heads the Center for Heirs' Property Preservation, which helps ensure low wealth landowners have access to the tools needed to protect and sustainably use their family land. Knight Carter helps the Center forge alliances and collaborations with conservationists, funders, foresters, and community economic development organizations and is a direct recipient of the Center’s services. They emphasize the importance of getting resources to communities that have had limited access to forest protection, which benefits the environment and landowners alike.

Brian talks about USFS's efforts in using market-based approaches to support forest management and rural economies and the importance of both hardwood and softwood markets. Produced by Lee Schneider. Music by Chuck Leavell. Executive Producer: Judy A. Takats