June 19, 2012 New York City

Transcription

1 Landscapes Practice Conservation Improving in the Northeast Megaregion June 19, 2012 New York City

2 Why Landscape Conservation? Buying land isn t enough. Building parks won t get it done. Restoring forests and wetlands by themselves is not an answer. Successful conservation requires a comprehensive, regional approach. Landscape conservation means looking beyond property boundaries and political jurisdictions. A holistic perspective is vital for managing watersheds and habitats and addressing long-term issues such as climate change. With funding scarce, it s also crucial to build partnerships that can set mutual priorities, share resources and collaborate effectively. As the population grows and development expands, conservation needs to help shape and not simply react to decisions about land use and urban infrastructure. This is especially true for complex geographies like the 13-state Northeast megaregion. This densely developed area stretching from Maine to West Virginia is now home to about 72 million people. Its cities, suburbs and rural areas are expected to add an additional 15 million people by the year Where these people are housed, and how their transportation and energy needs are met, will dictate whether the region s wildlife, drinking water and other resources, farms and forests, and outdoor recreational opportunities are truly lasting. Landscape Conservation Initiatives in the 13 State Northeast megaregion Initiative Concentration Density (Number of Intiatives) 2

3 Welcome June 19, 2012 Dear Conference Attendees Welcome to Landscapes: Improving Conservation Practice in the Northeast Megaregion. Landscape conservation initiatives can bring together the diverse interests critical for conservation success in the Northeast and elsewhere. These publicly or privately led efforts, which range from thousands to millions of acres, help focus partners on their shared interest in protecting landscapes and landscape processes. Such collaboration can enable the conservation community to align protection and management of individual properties while providing a platform for engaging non-traditional partners in their work. This premier event is intended to: Support local efforts to conserve important landscapes in the northeastern United States, especially those identified in Federal and State resource assessments and plan; Grow professional capacity of the network of landscape conservation practitioners and organizations across the Northeast and nationally, in particular to address challenges posed by land use change, infrastructure investment, climate change adaptation and/or limited funding; and; Foster relationships between organizations working with comparable challenges and opportunities so that the collective knowledge and capacity of this network can be brought to bear on local, regional, and national policy issues. We are delighted to share a day full of collaboration and insight with you. Today s event builds on the research and analysis by the RPA staff and published in the report Landscapes: Improving Conservation Practice in the Northeast Megaregion. To understand the promise and potential of landscape conservation, Regional Plan Association and America 2050, RPA s national-planning program, have conducted an in-depth analysis of landscape conservation in the Northeast megaregion, inventorying and characterizing existing landscape conservation initiatives. The Conference has benefited from the insight and effort of a steering committee including representatives from Open Space Institute, Land Trust Alliance, US Fish and Wildlife Service, Piedmont Environmental Council, Pinelands Preservation Alliance, Highstead, Practitioners Network for Large Landscape Conservation, US Forest Service Northeastern Area, and the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies. The conference is sponsored by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation; the US Forest Service Northeastern Area; and the National Park Service Northeast Office. Co-sponsors include the US Fish and Wildlife Service North Atlantic Landscape Conservation Cooperative, Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies; Piedmont Environmental Council; and Practitioners Network for Large Landscape Conservation. Our goal is to provide participants with access to technical and financial resources that can help accelerate the pace of landscape conservation in the northeast. Plenary presentations and interactive workshops led by national experts will enable you to make connections to other civic leaders, agency officials, and funders interested in this growing field. This conference will feature many opportunities to improve skills while helping advance best practices and policies in collaboration with others. Thank you again for joining us for this special event. We hope you leave with the insight and resources necessary to forward the practice of large landscape conservation. 3

4 Current Land Uses in the Northeast Megaregion Source: The Nature Conservancy (TNC) Eastern Conservation Science, 2005; Woods & Poole Economics, Inc., 2009 In the Northeast megaregion urbanization is concentrated primarily along Interstate 95 from Boston to Washington, D.C Waterways Parks 0-25% 25-50% 51-80% 81-90% % Urbanization 4

5 The Day s Agenda 8:00am - 8:30am Registration and Breakfast 8:30am - 8:40am Welcome Robert Pirani, Vice President Environmental Programs, Regional Plan Association 8:40am - 9:45am Opening Plenary Why Landscape Conservation Now? Conservation leaders and federal officials will provide an overview of landscape conservation and current federal initiatives supporting this system approach to conservation. Robert Bendick, Director of U.S. Government Relations, The Nature Conservancy and Co-Chair, Practitioners Network for Large Landscape Conservation Mary Wagner, Associate Chief, US Forest Service Michael Creasey, Superintendent, Marsh- Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park and Executive Director of the Conservation Study Institute Kenneth Elowe, Assistant Regional Director - Science Applications, USFWS Northeast Region 9:45am - 10:45am Panel Presentation Understanding the Challenges National experts will showcase how landscape conservation can address key conservation challenges in the Northeast. Mark Anderson, Director of Conservation Sciences, Eastern North America Division, The Nature Conservancy Chris Miller, Executive Director, Piedmont Environmental Council Eileen Swan, former Executive Director, New Jersey Highlands Council Thomas Wright, Executive Director, Regional Plan Association 10:45am 11:15am Break 5

6 The Day s Agenda continued 11:15am 12:30pm Break Out Session One Conserving the Landscape You Want Concurrent facilitated workshops will involve participants in a collaborative discussion highlighting what s working and what s not to address critical landscape challenges A. Climate Change Peter Howell, Executive Vice President, Open Space Institute Andrew Milliken, North Atlantic LCC Coordinator, USFWS B. Land Use Steven Rosenberg, Senior Vice President and Executive Director of the Scenic Hudson Land Trust, Inc. Scenic Hudson C. Large Scale Infrastructure Michael Catania, President, Conservation Resources, Inc. 12:30pm 1:30pm Lunch 1:30pm 2:45pm Breakout Session Two Improving our Practice Concurrent facilitated workshops will engage participants in a discussion of practical experience in the field and the tools needed to improve the landscape conservation, including steps to provide effective governance and management; finding funding and engaging partners, and building a better toolbox. A. Creating Strategic Conservation Plans and Lessons Learned Wink Hastings, Landscape Architect, Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance, National Park Service Ole M. Amundsen, Strategic Conservation Program Manager, The Conservation Fund B. Establishing Market-based Conservation Programs Al Sample, President, Pinchot Institute for Conservation William Price, Director of Conservation Programs, Pinchot Institute for Conservation Eric Sprague, Program Director, Pinchot Institute for Conservation C. Engaging Local Government David Church, Commissioner, Department of Planning, Orange County (NY) David Kooris, Vice President - Connecticut, Regional Plan Association D. Looking Under the Hood: What Drives Today s Large Landscape Initiatives Bill Labich, Regional Conservationist, Highstead Shawn Johnson, Coordinator, Practitioners Network for Large Landscape Conservation, University of Montana 6

7 The Day s Agenda continued 2:45pm 3:00pm Break 3:00pm - 4:15pm Break Out Session Three Improving our Practice Concurrent facilitated workshops will engage participants in a discussion of practical experience in the field and the tools needed to improve the landscape conservation, including steps to provide effective governance and management; finding funding and engaging partners, and building a better toolbox. A. Can Funders Catalyze Large Landscape Conservation? Andrew Bowman, Program Director for the Environment, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation Jenny Russell, Executive Director, Merck Family Fund Christine O Donnell, Senior Program Officer, Institutional Investments & Philanthropic Solutions, Bank of America Merrill Lynch Margaret Waldock, Environment Program Director, Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation Jim Levitt, Director, Program on Conservation Innovation, Harvard Forest and Fellow, Lincoln Institute of Land Policy B. Measuring Success: Metrics for Large Landscape Conservation Jad Daley, Director of the Climate Conservation Program, The Trust for Public Land Kelley Hart, Associate Director, Conservation Vision, The Trust for Public Land Abigail Weinberg, Conservation Research Manager, Open Space Institute Mary Tyrell, Executive Director, Global Institute of Sustainable Forestry, Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies D. Setting Priorities for Urban Ecosystems Phillip Rodbell, Program Specialist, Urban and Community Forestry, USDA Forest Service Northeastern Area Sarah Charlop Powers, Deputy CEO, Natural Areas Conservancy Ilyssa Manspeizer, Director, Park Development & Conservation, Mount Washington Community Development Corporation, Pittsburg 4:15pm 4:30pm Break 4:30pm 5:30pm Final Plenary Advancing Landscape Conservation in the Northeast Our final interactive plenary discussion will focus on what s needed to improve landscape practice and policy in the Northeast. Robert Pirani, Vice President Environmental Programs, Regional Plan Association Carlton Montgomery, Executive Director, Pinelands Preservation Alliance C. Engaging Private Landowners 7

8 Biographies in alphabetical order Ole M. Amundsen Strategic Conservation Program Manager, The Conservation Fund Ole Amundsen III is seasoned professional with over 20 years of experience in environmental field. Ole focuses on assisting partners achieve their full potential by helping organizations articulate their conservation vision, use their limited resources effectively, negotiate wisely and expand the resource available for conservation. Ole is the author of the Strategic Conservation Planning curriculum for the Land Trust Alliance released in As a reflective practitioner, He has taught conservation planning across the country for the Alliance, graduate level courses at Cornell University and professional trainings as part of the Conservation Leadership Network for The Conservation Fund. Ole leads landscape scale planning projects across the country with a focus on implementation and land conservation deal strategies, most recently completing the Master Plan for Louisiana Department Wildlife and Fisheries and an internal plan for the Nevada Land Conservancy. He holds a BA in Government from Colby College and a MS degree in City Planning, from MIT. Mark Anderson Director of Conservation Sciences, Eastern North America Division, The Nature Conservancy Mark provides science leadership, ecological analysis and landscape assessment tools for conservation efforts across eighteen states. He holds a Ph.D. in Ecology from University of New Hampshire where his researched focused on the viability and spatial assessment of ecological communities. He has worked as an ecologist for over 25 years, 19 with TNC. Mark is co-author of the National Vegetation Classification and has published numerous journal articles on biodiversity conservation and forest dynamics. His current research interests included resilience and adaptation, ecosystem transitions, disturbance processes, biophysical landscape properties and seafloor mapping. He manages a team of six scientists specializing in landscape ecology, aquatic biology, marine spatial planning and regional data management. Robert Bendick Director of U.S. Government Relations, The Nature Conservancy and Co-Chair, Practitioners Network for Large Landscape Conservation Bob Bendick is the Director of U.S. Government Relations of The Nature Conservancy. Prior to taking his current position, he was Vice-President and Managing Director of the ten state Southern U.S. Region of the Conservancy. He has been with The Nature Conservancy since 1995 first as Florida Chapter Director and, then, also as director of previous southeastern U.S. groups of state chapters. Before coming to TNC, he was Deputy Commissioner for Natural Resources of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation ( ) and Director of the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management ( ). From he chaired the Northern Forest Lands Council established by Congress to make recommendations on the future of forest lands across northern New York and New England. He has a graduate degree in Urban and Regional Planning and is a member of the Society of American Foresters and the American Institute of Certified Planners. 8

9 Andrew Bowman Program Director for the Environment, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation Andrew joined the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation in January 2005 after moving from Portland, Oregon, where he practiced law in various capacities, including for the nonprofit Defenders of Wildlife and at the law firm Perkins Coie. Upon arriving at the foundation, he served as Program Officer for the Environment and helped administer program activities related to wildlife habitat conservation. In early 2007, he became the Director of the foundation s Climate Change Initiative a five-year grants program focused on climate change mitigation. Since January 2010, Andrew has been the foundation s Program Director for the Environment. In that capacity, he oversees all of the environmental grant-making of the foundation. In 1995, Andrew earned a master s degree in City and Regional Planning from the University of California at Berkeley as well as a J.D. from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, in San Francisco. In 2003, he also received an LL.M. in Environmental and Natural Resources Law from the Northwestern School of Law of Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon. His undergraduate education was at the University of California at Berkeley, where he was a Truman Scholar. Michael Catania President, Conservation Resources, Inc. Michael Catania is the founder and President of Conservation Resources Inc., a non-profit conservation group which provides financial and technical assistance to the conservation community in New Jersey. Earlier in his career, he served as Deputy Commissioner of the NJ Department of Environmental Protection under three Commissioners and two Governors. Michael began his career with the non-partisan NJ Legislative Services Agency, where he drafted many of New Jersey s landmark environmental laws, including the Pinelands Protection Act, several of the Green Acres Bond Acts, the Conservation and Historic Preservation Restriction Act, and the Spill Compensation and Control Act. Michael also served as inhouse counsel at NJDEP, where he established NJDEP s Division of Regulatory Affairs and oversaw the development and enforcement of all NJDEP rules and regulations. Michael was also the Executive Director of The Nature Conservancy of New Jersey for 12 years. He currently serves as chair of the New Jersey Natural Lands Trust and President of a local land trust, the Schiff Natural Lands Trust, Inc. Michael is also a certified AYO trainer for the Land Trust Alliance, and serves as a consultant to help NJ Land Trusts obtain accreditation. He holds a BA and MA in Political Science from Rutgers University as well as a JD from Rutgers School of Law in Camden. Michael currently resides in Mendham Township, Morris County, New Jersey, where he and his wife Jan Rosenfeld own and operate a permanently preserved farm with their two children. David Church Commissioner, Department of Planning, Orange County (NY) David Church is Commissioner of Planning for Orange County, New York. Appointed to this position in 2002, he oversees land use, planning, open space preservation, tourism, and grant units of County government as well as the County Water Authority, and the County Transportation Council (or MPO). Previously he was Executive Director of the New York Planning Federation. He has also held positions with The Catskill Center and the Conservation Foundation/World Wildlife Fund. Early in his career he was a partner in Landscape Studies specializing in environmental impact assessment. A member of the American Institute of Certified Planners, he is a graduate of Hamilton College. He lives with his wife and two children in the Town of Shawangunk (shon-gum), New York where he served three 9

10 terms as a member of the Planning Board. He has been a board member of Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, and is a current Board member of the Hudson River Watershed Alliance, and the Hudson Valley Agribusiness Development Corporation. Michael Creasey Superintendent, Marsh- Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park and Executive Director of the Conservation Study Institute Mr. Creasey is the Superintendent of Marsh- Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park and the Executive Director of the Conservation Study Institute in Woodstock, Vermont. The park and Institute act as a convener of practitioners to develop best practices on conservation, leadership and civic engagement. He served as Superintendent of Lowell National Historical Park in Massachusetts. Creasey also served as the acting Commissioner for the National Parks of New York Harbor, overseeing ten national parks within the metro region of New York City and New Jersey. Creasey served as the executive director of the Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor, Rhode Island and Massachusetts. Other positions held included managing Los Caminos del Rio Heritage Project, along the lower 200 miles of the Rio Grande River in Mexico and Texas and as a park planner in the Northeast region. Michael was a Loeb Fellow at Harvard University within the Graduate School of Design Jad Daley Director of the Climate Conservation Program, The Trust for Public Land Jad Daley is the Director of The Trust for Public Land s Climate Conservation Program. Jad coordinates TPL s development of landscapescale conservation initiatives targeted to climate change objectives. Jad also leads TPL s climate policy work, including as the founding co-chair of the Forest-Climate Working Group. Jad has a long history in landscape-scale land conservation. From 2000 to 2008, he led the 22-state Eastern Forest Partnership, a joint federal advocacy effort among groups from Mississippi to Maine. In parallel during that period, he helped to lead conservation efforts in the Northern Forest ( ) and Highlands Region ( ). In these roles he helped to author two pieces of enacted federal legislation, the Community Forest and Open Space Conservation Program and the Community Wood Energy Program, led lobbying efforts to enact the Highlands Conservation Act (H.R. 1964), and served as the founding Chair of the Friends of Silvio O. Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge. Jad is a graduate of Peddie School, Brown University, and Vermont Law School where he earned an M.S.E.L. degree summa cum laude. He also has a long history as a competitive athlete, having represented the United States on four occasions in international duathlon (run-bike-run) competitions and twice finishing in the top 150 finishers in the New York City Marathon. Kenneth Elowe Assistant Regional Director - Science Applications, USFWS Northeast Region Ken Elowe joined the Service in 2010 after 23 years with the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. As director of resource management beginning in 1997, he was responsible for fish and wildlife programs. He began his career with the Utah Division of Wildlife working with bears, mountain lions and furbearers. Elowe initiated Maine s Beginning with Habitat program, working with communities and agencies to conserve landscape-scale habitat for all species. Elowe also worked with the United Nations and the Jordanian government on a cooperative landscape-scale rangeland restoration program. 10

11 Elowe coordinates the Northeast Region s work on: landscape-scale conservation and climate impacts to fish and wildlife. Elowe received a bachelor s degree in biology from Bowdoin College. He earned both a master s degree and a doctorate in wildlife biology from the University of Massachusetts for his work on ecological behavior and reproductive physiology of black bears. Kelley Hart Associate Director, Conservation Vision, Trust for Public Lands Kelley Hart is Associate Director for Conservation Vision at The Trust for Public Land. Working in partnership with communities to identify and map priorities for open space and park creation, she has managed more than a dozen conservation planning processes across the country. These projects range from the municipal to the watershed scale. Kelley has also conducted extensive research on the connection between land conservation and water quality protection. She has a B.A. in Government from Dartmouth College, and earned a JD and a Masters in Urban Planning from the University of California, Los Angeles. Kelley worked previously as a staff attorney for the environmental law clinic at UCLA Law School. Wink Hastings Landscape Architect, Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance, National Park Service Wink Hastings is with the National Park Service, Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance Program assigned to the Chesapeake Bay Program in Annapolis, Maryland. In his current position, Mr. Hastings assists citizens, local governments and special interest groups with watershed management and strategic conservation planning; all of which contribute toward the restoration and protection of the Chesapeake Bay. Prior to joining the National Park Service in 1988, Mr. Hastings held positions with the USDA Forest Service, Bureau of Reclamation and Bureau of Land Management in various field locations as well as Washington, D. C. He has a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture from Utah State University and is a registered Landscape Architect. Peter Howell Executive Vice President, Open Space Institute Mr. Howell serves as the Executive Vice President of Conservation Finance and Research at the Open Space Institute. Previously, Mr. Howell was the program director for the environment at the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, where he oversaw the distribution of almost $100 million for land conservation in the United States. He also worked as a program officer at the Wallace Funds, directing an $18 million national initiative focused on creating and improving urban parks. A former awardwinning newspaper reporter at newspapers in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, he was the Associate Director of Public Affairs and Development at SOBRO, an economic development corporation in the South Bronx, and the Assistance Business Manager at Time Magazine. Mr. Howell has a bachelor s degree in political science and comparative literature from Wesleyan University where he was awarded Phi Beta Kappa, and an MBA from Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Among his civic commitments, he has served on the boards of the Westside Montessori School in Manhattan and the LaSalle Adams Foundation, which makes grants for wildlife conservation in the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem and violence prevention in Washington, D.C., and was the Rear and Vice Commodore of the Vineyard Haven Yacht Club in Vineyard Haven, Massachusetts. 11

12 Shawn Johnson Coordinator, Practitioners Network for Large Landscape Conservation, University of Montana Shawn Johnson is a Senior Associate at the Center for Natural Resources and Environmental Policy at the University of Montana. For the past five years, he has helped advance a joint effort between the Center and the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy on regional collaboration and large landscape conservation. The joint effort explores questions of policy, leadership, and governance at regional or landscape scales, where there is often a mismatch between the scale of an existing challenge or opportunity and that of existing organizations and jurisdictions. In May 2011, Shawn helped organize and convene a group of large landscape conservation practitioners that led to a new network of practitioners throughout North America who are working to improve community and conservation outcomes at the large landscape scale. Shawn is co-author, with Matthew McKinney of Working Across Boundaries: People, Nature, and Regions (Lincoln Institute, 2009). David Kooris Vice President- Connecticut, Regional Plan Association David Kooris is Vice President at Regional Plan Association (RPA), the nation s oldest regional planning organization. RPA focuses on improving the economic prosperity, environmental quality, and social equity in the tri-state New York City metropolitan region as well as develops strategies for the Northeast and other megaregions through its national planning initiative, America Mr. Kooris directs RPA s policy research, advocacy campaigns, and consultant planning in Connecticut and in New York s Hudson River Valley. Working to better integrate land use and transportation planning, he focuses on intergovernmental planning for livable communities and transitoriented development. Mr. Kooris is also involved in efforts across the region to better understand the link between built form and climate change. He currently manages several projects and research initiatives throughout the region that combine his background in urban design and sustainability with his devotion to the public process and climate action. Mr. Kooris has participated on international planning teams and worked on planning projects looking at urban regeneration, high-speed rail oriented development, and sustainable communities in Canada, Europe, Asia, South America, North Africa, and Australia. Bill Labich Regional Conservationist, Highstead As the Regional Conservationist at Highstead, Bill facilitates the development and activity of conservation partnerships and networks in regional, state-wide, and New England-wide settings. Bill has 25 years experience in the fields of forest management, land use planning, environmental education, and regional land conservation working with local, state and regional governments, non-profits, and private landowners. He has a Masters in Regional Planning from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and a Bachelors of Science in Forestry from the University of Maine at Orono. Bill has co-authored papers on cross-boundary cooperation among private landowners and on the Wildlands and Woodlands Vision. He recently submitted a manuscript describing regional conservation partnerships in New England. One formative experience in Bill s career involved working as an agroforestry extension agent with the Peace Corps in Haiti from 1985 to Bill lives with his wife and two children in the wilds and woods of Shutesbury, Massachusetts. 12

13 Jim Levitt Director, Program on Conservation Innovation, Harvard Forest and Fellow, Linconln Institute of Land Policy Jim Levitt is director of the Program on Conservation Innovation at the Harvard Forest, Harvard University, and a fellow in the Department of Planning and Urban Form at the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy in Cambridge, Massachusetts. His focus is present-day and historic innovation in the practice of land and biodiversity conservation, with particular emphasis on innovation in large landscape conservation. Levitt is the author of numerous articles and has edited three books: Conservation Capital in the Americas: Exemplary Conservation Finance Initiatives; From Walden to Wall Street: Frontiers of Conservation Finance; and Conservation in the Internet Age: Threats and Opportunities. He is a graduate of Yale College and the Yale School of Management (SOM), and was recently named a Donaldson Fellow by Yale SOM, honoring a career that exemplifies the mission of the school. He and his wife Jane live in Belmont, Massachusetts. With their three children, they love to spend part of each summer on Little Tunk Pond in Sullivan, Maine. Ilyssa Manspeizer Director, Park Development & Conservation, Mount Washington Community Development Corporation, Pittsburg Ilyssa Manspeizer, Ph.D., is Director, Park Development and Conservation of Pittsburgh s Newest Regional Park, Emerald View Park, on behalf of the Mount Washington Community Development Corporation. Ilyssa is an environmental anthropologist with over 20 years of experience in natural resource management and community-based conservation and development. She has managed programs and conducted research on conservation and community development in the United Kingdom, East and Southern Africa, and the United States, including Ethiopian elephant conservation, rural Zambian development, and urban park development. Ilyssa has helped raised $3.8 million for Emerald View Park, expanded its signature habitat and view restoration project six fold, created a 19-mile trail plan which is being built through an innovative green jobs program, and helped thousands of volunteers plant 4,500 trees and remove 80 tons of garbage from this former brownfield. She lives in the Green City of Pittsburgh with her husband and four children. Chris Miller Executive Director, Piedmont Environmental Council Christopher G. Miller has served as Piedmont Environmental Council (PEC) President since January 1, He is an attorney with expertise in environmental and transportation policy. Mr. Miller is responsible for overall management and strategic planning for PEC, including the land conservation program, energy policy, land use policy, smart growth and transportation policies. He is a member of the Steering Committee of the Coalition for Smarter Growth and the Choose Clean Water campaign and serves on the boards of the Virginia League of Conservation Voters, the Virginia Conservation Network, the Chesapeake Crescent initiative, the Journey Through Hallowed Ground Partnership, and the Nonprofit Roundtable of Washington, D.C. Mr. Miller initially worked for PEC as coordinator of the successful campaign that challenged Disney s America development proposal. In recent years, he has also become a leading advocate for a less transmissiondominated approach to energy planning. Prior to joining PEC, he was Assistant Director for Federal Affairs at the Surface Transportation Policy Project, a national non-profit transportation organization 13

14 based in Washington, D.C. Until 1993, he was an Associate with the law firm of Beveridge & Diamond, P. C. Mr. Miller also worked for the Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, the Environmental Law Institute, and the American Council on U.S./Soviet Relations. In 2004, Mr. Miller received the Virginia Conservation Network s Blue Ridge Award for outstanding conservation leadership in the Piedmont. He also received, on behalf of PEC, the Quarter Century of Service Award from the Partners for Livable Communities. Andrew Milliken North Atlantic LCC Coordinator, USFWS Andrew Milliken works for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service coordinating the North Atlantic Landscape Conservation Cooperative, a conservation science partnership focused on developing collaborative science to guide conservation to address major threats including climate change in the North Atlantic Region. He previously worked as Atlantic Coast Joint Venture Coordinator focusing on the conservation of habitat for native birds and other wildlife in the Atlantic Flyway of the United States from Maine south to Puerto Rico and prior to that as a biologist for the Service s Coastal Program, the Environmental Protection Agency, New York State Coastal Program and University of Rhode Island Graduate School of Oceanography. Carlton Montgomery Executive Director, Pinelands Preservation Alliance Carleton became the second executive director of the Pinelands Preservation Alliance in An attorney by training, he practiced law at Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson in its Washington, D.C. office for nearly 12 years, the last four years as a partner in the firm s litigation practice. Seeking a change to work for the environment, Carleton was fortunate to persuade the trustees of the Alliance that a corporate lawyer can be a committed environmental advocate and activist. In 11 years at the Alliance, Carleton has worked with his colleagues to strengthen both its advocacy and its education initiatives, with the goal of ensuring the New Jersey Pine Barrens ecosystem will survive, and its regional conservation and sustainable development will succeed, in the nation s most crowded state. Reflecting his interest in spreading the word about regional approaches to land conservation and growth management, Carleton edited the book Regional Planning for a Sustainable America: How Regional Programs Are Promoting Prosperityand Saving the Environment (Rutgers U.P. 2011) and its companion web site, Carleton has a B.A. from Harvard University and an M. Phil. from University College London, both in philosophy, and a J.D. from Harvard Law School. He is a founding board member of the New Jersey League of Conservation Voters, and also serves on the boards of the Woodford Cedar Run Wildlife Refuge, the Coalition for Affordable Housing and the Environment, and New Jersey Future. Christine O Donnell Senior Program Officer, Institutional Investments & Philanthropic Solutions, Bank of America Merrill Lynch Christine O Donnell is a Market Philanthropic Director in the National Philanthropic Solutions division of U.S. Trust, where she serves as a relationship manager for private family foundations and charitable trusts. She advises clients in mission and strategy, grantmaking, governance and best practices. She also manages several trusts where the company serves as trustee and makes grants in the areas of education, the environment, health care, the arts, and social services. Christine is an attorney licensed in New York and New Jersey and prior to joining U.S. Trust, she practiced in the areas of estate administration and real estate law. She earned 14

15 her B.A. in political science from the College of New Jersey and her J.D. from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. Robert Pirani, Vice President for Environmental Programs, Regional Plan Association Robert Pirani is Regional Plan Association s Vice President for Environmental Programs and Executive Director of the Governors Island Alliance. His responsibilities include developing and directing programs in parks and open space advocacy, land use management, water quality protection, and recycling and waste prevention. This includes participation in landscape conservation initiatives in the New York New Jersey Harbor, Appalachian Highlands, Long Island Pine Barrens and Long Island Sound. Mr. Pirani recently co-authored Landscapes: Improving Conservation Practice in the Northeast Megaregion: a survey and assessment landscape conservation initiatives in the 13 state Northeastern United States. Mr. Pirani holds a Master s Degree in Regional Planning from Cornell University and a Bachelor s Degree in Environmental Studies from Hampshire College. He serves on numerous non profit boards and advisory committees, and is currently Chair of the Brooklyn Greenway Initiative. Sarah Charlop Powers Deputy CEO, Natural Areas Conservancy Sarah Charlop-Powers is the Deputy CEO of the Natural Areas Conservancy. She brought her background in land use planning, economics and environmental management to the task of forming this new public/private partnership. While working as a planner at Jonathan Rose Companies, she worked on the creation of a new management entity for the South Bronx Greenway. Ms. Charlop-Powers worked for seven years as the parks manager for Scenic Hudson, where she managed 15 parks. She has also worked as a consultant for NYSERDA, the NYC DOT, and the Mohonk Preserve. She has an undergraduate degree in economics from Binghamton University and a masters in environmental management from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. William Price Director of Conservation Programs, Pinchot Institute for Conservation Will Price has been at the Pinchot Institute since 1999, working on public policy and market-based solutions that improve forest management and advance conservation. His studies on forest certification have included projects with state and federal agencies, companies, and universities. In recent years he has also worked to create and test new approaches to maintain and protect forests for carbon sequestration and water quality services they provide. Prior to the Pinchot Institute he consulted with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation; and worked as a research technician with NASA, and with the Forest Service PNW Research Station in Corvallis, OR. Will graduated from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies with a Master of Forest Science degree, and holds a Bachelor s of Science from University of Notre Dame, where he studied ecology. Phillip Rodbell Program Specialist for Urban and Commuity Forestry, US Forest Service Phillip Rodbell is program specialist for Urban and Community Forestry in the U.S. Forest Service Northeastern Area, located in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania. He provides leadership in federally funded action to plant and improve community trees and forests in the Midwest, New England, and Mid- Atlantic regions of the United States. He has 30 years of experience in federal program management, nonprofit action, state program 15

16 administration, and local government consulting, including three years of international experience with the Peace Corps in Honduras, Central America. Phillip is a Certified Arborist and has a Master of Science degree in Forestry from North Carolina State University and a B.S. in Forest Resources from the University of Washington in Seattle. Steven Rosenberg Senior Vice President and Executive Director of the Scenic Hudson Land Trust, Inc. Scenic Hudson. Steve Rosenberg is Executive Director of the Scenic Hudson Land Trust and Sr. Vice President of Scenic Hudson, Inc. He directs Scenic Hudson s programs, which save the places that define the Hudson Valley as a nationally recognized landscape, and to ensure that riverfront development strengthens, rather than blocks, public connections with the River. The Scenic Hudson Land Trust has protected more than 30,000 acres of natural and scenic areas and productive farmland as part of its campaign to Save the Land That Matters Most, and transformed neglected urban waterfront sites into parks and other public uses. Steve has led Scenic Hudson s efforts to launch its critical mass approach to farmland protection in several Hudson Valley agricultural communities in the New York City Foodshed, which has resulted in the protection of 66 farms totaling 9,500 acres. He also has led the organization s work to create a string of more than three dozen parks and preserves along the Hudson River. Before joining Scenic Hudson in 1990, Steve practiced real estate and land use law in Washington, DC. He graduated with honors from the George Washington University law school and received his B.A. in history and urban studies from Northwestern University. Jenny Russell Executive Director, Merck Family Fund Jenny Russell has been Executive Director of the Merck Family Fund since She directs an annual $4+ million budget primarily related to the environment and sustainability in both urban and rural settings. The Fund has been a leader in funding and initiating collaboratives related to consumption, land protection, urban green space, and youth organizing. In the past few years she has led the Fund s interest in applying a climate lens to all programs and investments. Prior to this position, Jenny headed the Island Foundation, another family foundation based in Marion, MA. During her ten-year tenure there, she helped to start a community foundation in southeastern Massachusetts, a mini grants program in New Bedford, and the New England Grassroots Environment Program. Throughout her philanthropic career, she has been actively involved with the Environmental Grantmakers Association (EGA) serving on the board, as chair and on numerous committees. She currently serves on the boards of the Consultative Group on Biodiversity and Catalog Choice. She has been on the Steering Committee of the Green CDC Initiative of New Ecology Inc. and also served on the Board of the Associated Grant Makers in Boston. Since graduating from the University of Colorado in 1974, Jenny has held positions in non-profits including the Infinite Odyssey where she led high school students on outdoor trips in the Rockies, Women s Action for Nuclear Disarmament, and Earthwatch, where she was Director of Development. Al Sample President, Pinchot Institute for Conservation V. Alaric (Al) Sample has served as President of the Pinchot Institute for Conservation in Washington, DC since He is a Fellow of the Society of 16

17 American Foresters, and a Research Affiliate on the faculty at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. He is author of numerous research papers, articles and books on topics in national and international forest policy. Sample earned his doctorate in resource policy and economics from Yale University. He holds an MBA and a Master of Forestry both from Yale, and a Bachelor of Science in forest resource management from the University of Montana. His professional experience is in both the public and private sector and includes assignments with the U.S. Forest Service, Champion International, The Wilderness Society, and the Prince of Thurn und Taxis in Bavaria, Germany. He specialized in resource economics and forest policy as a Senior Fellow at the Conservation Foundation in Washington, DC, and later as Vice President for Research at the American Forestry Association. Sample has served on numerous national task forces and commissions, including the President s Commission on Environmental Quality task force on biodiversity on private lands, and the National Commission on Science for Sustainable Forestry. Lynn Scarlett Resources for the Future and Co-Chair, Practitioners Network for Large Landscape Conservation Former Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior, Lynn Scarlett is Visiting Scholar and Co-Director of the Center for Management of Ecological Wealth at Resources for the Future working on issues pertaining to ecosystem services, landscape-scale conservation, and climate adaptation. She served as Zurich Financial Services Distinguished Visiting Lecturer at the University of California, Bren School of Environmental Science and Management in October She took her post as Deputy Secretary and Chief Operating Officer of the U.S. Department of the Interior in 2005 after having served 4 years as the Department s Assistant Secretary for Policy, Management and Budget. She served as Acting Secretary of the Department for two months in Ms. Scarlett initiated Interior s Cooperative Conservation Task Force in 2002 and chaired the Department s Climate Change Task Force. She is the author or co-author of recent publications on climate change adaptation; urban greening; large landscape conservation; offshore oil issues; science and decision making, and ecosystem services. She serves on the National Research Council Sustainability Linkages Committee and their U.S. Global Change Research Program Committee. She received her B.A. and M.A. in political science from the University of California, Santa Barbara, where she also completed her Ph.D. coursework and exams in political science. An avid hiker, Scarlett is Chair of the Board of Trustees of the American Hiking Society. Also an avid birder, she serves on the board of the National Wildlife Refuge Association. She also serves on the boards of the nonprofit environmental mediation organizations RESOLVE and the Consensus Building Institute. She is a trustee emeritus of the Udall Foundation. Eric Sprague Program Director, Pinchot Institute for Conservation Eric Sprague is helping the Pinchot Institute investigate opportunities for increasing sustainable management on private forestlands. His current projects include developing the Bay Bank, an online ecosystem service marketplace for private landowners, and the sustainable forestry revolving loan fund, a low-interest loan fund that promotes sustainable management and lessens the need for family land to be sold to pay back short- to mid-term debts. Eric received a Master of Science in Environmental Science and a Master of Public Affairs from Indiana University. Between 2000 and 2004, Eric served as the natural resource and farmland protection expert for the U.S. EPA s smart growth program. From 2004 to 2006, Eric managed The State of Chesapeake Forests project for The Conservation Fund. Synthesizing more than a decade s 17

18 worth of data, the resulting report presents a comprehensive picture of the status of forestland in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Eileen Swan Former Executive Director, New Jersey Highlands Council Eileen served as the New Jersey Highlands Executive Director from April 5, 2007 to March 30, She led the team that drafted the Highlands Regional Master Plan and started the successful implementation of that plan to protect the water resources for over 5.4 million residents in New Jersey. Eileen previously served as the New Jersey s Executive Director of the Office of Smart Growth. In 2006 she co-chaired Governor Corzine s environmental policy transition team. She worked for the New Jersey Conservation Foundation, managing programs to help coordinate the open space and farmland preservation efforts of private groups and government agencies. Eileen also provided services to municipalities in planning and acquiring parcels for preservation, She was an elected municipal official in Lebanon Township from 1999 to 2004, and was the Township s Mayor in 2000 and She was responsible for all acquisition of Open Space and farmland preservation including the planning, funding and closing of deals with willing landowners. She served on the Board of Directors for the New Jersey Environmental Infrastructure Trust Fund (EIT) for six years, including service as its treasurer. Mary Tyrell Executive Director,Global Institute of Sustainable Forestry, Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies Mary Tyrrell is the Executive Director of the Global Institute of Sustainable Forestry at Yale s School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. Her work focuses on land use change, forest fragmentation, sustainable forest management, and U.S. private lands, with a particular emphasis on review and synthesis of scientific research, and making scientific information available to forest managers and conservationists. She co-leads the Sustaining Family Forests Initiative, a national coalition aimed at improving the effectiveness of outreach, services and programs for family forest owners. She currently serves on the board of the Hamden Land Conservation Trust, the Advisory Board of the New England Forestry Foundation, and the Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts DCR Divison of Water Supply Protection. She received a BA in Mathematics from the University of New Hampshire, a Master of Business Administration from Boston University and a Master of Forest Science from Yale University. Mary Wagner Associate Chief, US Forest Service Mary Wagner assumed her current position as Associate Chief for the Forest Service in January She has spent 28 years with the Forest Service in a variety of positions. Before becoming Associate Chief, Mary served as Regional Forester for the Pacific Northwest Region. In addition, she spent more than 20 years in key leadership positions in the Intermountain West, as deputy regional forester, forest supervisor on the Dixie National Forest; deputy forest supervisor on the Humboldt Toiyabe National Forest; district ranger on the Carson Ranger District, Carson City, NV; and district ranger on the Vernal Ranger District, Vernal, UT. At the national headquarters level, she was the Forest Service s first Director of Wilderness and Wild and Scenic Rivers and served as Assistant Director for Recreation, Heritage, and Wilderness Resources. Mary was born in Monett, Missouri, and raised in southern California, where her love for the outdoors grew in the San Bernardino and San Jacinto Mountains. 18

19 Graduated from Humboldt State University with a degree in Forest Management and received a Masters degree in Public Administration from the University of Utah. Margaret Waldock Environment Program Director, Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation Margaret directs the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation s Environmental grants and identifies opportunities for Dodge to support innovative and creative approaches to advance sustainability and environmental protection in the Garden State. Prior to joining Dodge in 2011, Margaret was Executive Director of the Hunterdon Land Trust for eight years, where she oversaw an expansion of the organization and its land preservation and stewardship programs. She has also worked for the New Jersey office of the Trust for Public Land, facilitating land preservation transactions in the Highlands region of the state, the state of New Jersey Green Acres Program, and the American Farmland Trust. Margaret received a combined Juris Doctor and Masters of Study in Environmental Law from Vermont Law School in from St. John s College. Prior to working at OSI, she worked for the Federal Trade Commission as an economic analyst, the New York Botanical Garden doing ecological research and as a forestry technician in the City of Seattle s 90,000 acre watershed. Thomas K. Wright Executive Director, Regional Plan Association Tom Wright is the Executive Director of Regional Plan Association and a Visiting Lecturer in Public Policy at Princeton University s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. He lectures widely on growth management and regional planning and supervised production of the Draft Vision Plan for the City of Newark (2006), The New Jersey State Development and Redevelopment Plan (2001), and A Region at Risk: The Third Regional Plan for the New York New Jersey Connecticut Metropolitan Area (1996). He received a B.A. in History and a Certificate in American Studies from Princeton University and an M.S.U.P. from Columbia University. Abigail Weinberg Conservation Research Manager, Open Space Institute Abigail Weinberg is the Manager of the Conservation Research Program at the Open Space Institute in New York City. The Program evaluates issues and identifies opportunities for the conservation of critical landscapes in the eastern U.S. Recent reports by the Program have included analysis of forest easements and biodiversity in the Northern Forest, Wildlife Adaptation in the Southern Appalachians, and strategies for working with forest investment organizations across the Southeast. Abigail has a Master of Forestry degree from the Yale School of Forestry and a Bachelors degree in Classics 19