Earlier this year, Gabe Watson and EmmaLi Tsai participated in a workshop hosted by Defenders of Wildlife to help researchers create better maps at the intersection of environmental justice and conservation. Decisions from the workshop resulted in this user guide & website, which walks users through a more collaborate and inclusive approach to conservation that considers biodiversity, climate change, and environmental justice. To put the framework and shared principles into practice, the guide also features a case study using the National Wildlife Refuge System to show where future land acquisition should be prioritized.
At the Environmental Policy Innovation Center (EPIC), our goal is to advance ecological restoration at scale, yet permitting costs consume up to ⅓ of project budgets. We need money to go to nature, not paperwork. Over the past two years, EPIC has quantitatively and qualitatively analyzed policies and processes related to restoration project permitting. Here we provide a case study of adoption of e-permitting technology that ameliorated many permitting bottlenecks.
Tim Male, Executive Director of EPIC, co-wrote an article in Ecosystem Marketplace with Mariana Sarmiento and Charles Bedford on how to close the biodiversity finance gap.
How could Maryland legislators build a sandbox for nature to accelerate restoration?
The US Department of Agriculture has contracted at least seven RCPP projects that used performance-based payments to buy environmental outcomes. This report profiles their challenges and successes.
Sand County Foundation and the Environmental Policy Innovation Center evaluate the successes, challenges, and immediate opportunities for watershed partnerships in the Midwest.
A report on the progress of nine Iowa cities that have signed memoranda of understanding with the state Department of Natural Resources to establish watershed partnerships.
This report describes how to proliferate connections between point and nonpoint sources of nutrients to meet permit requirements and improve water quality.
Outliers in Water Utility Consolidation: A Visualization Tool for Understanding State-Level Drinking Water System Consolidation Opportunities
Analysis of Water Utility Websites Reveals Missed Opportunities
Strengthening Urban-Rural Connections
We have identified 20 ways that cites and water utilities can pay for water quality improvements on farms.
Municipal-Agricultural Watershed Partnerships Project Guide
Develop a partnership in your watershed with this step-by-step guide: Municipal-Agricultural Watershed Partnerships Project Guide.
Watershed Approaches to Meet Permit Compliance
This guide breaks down the process into five clear steps, with examples to follow for each step: Watershed Approaches to Meet Permit Compliance: A Primer in Municipal Agriculture Partnerships.
Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategies
The Iowa League of Cities began a project to create the Nutrient Reduction Exchange (NRE) to enable municipalities and other NPDES permit holders to meet their nutrient reduction obligations through work in watersheds and with other non-point source partners.