Growing Returns

Selected tag(s): habitat exchange

Setting the table for more sustainable food in 2015

By EDF Staff / Published: December 29, 2014

2014 was a milestone year for sustainable agriculture across the United States and around the world. In the U.S., we saw food companies and agribusiness like United Suppliers step up to the plate to meet Walmart’s new demand for sustainable grains, and EDF’s launch of the new Sustainable Sourcing Initiative. We also saw the launch of the United Nations’ Global Alliance for Climate-Smart Agriculture, which aims to enable 500 million farmers worldwide to practice sustainable farming.

On the Colorado River, countless stakeholders including U.S. and Mexican policymakers, conservation organizations and farmers came together to orchestrate and witness the Colorado River Delta pulse flow – the temporary release of water across the United States-Mexico border that brought relief and restoration to the dry, empty river delta ecosystem – an historic accomplishment for people and the environment.

Posted in Carbon Market, Climate Resilience, Habitat Exchange, Supply Chain, Wildlife Protection / Also tagged agriculture, California Air Resources Board, Carbon Offsets, climate change, compost protocol, ecosystems, farms, fertilizer, food security, GHG mitigation, Partnerships, sustainable agriculture, water quality, water use, western water | Comments are closed

Are we giving farmers enough credit for stewardship?

By Sara Kroopf / Bio / Twitter profile / Published: December 3, 2014

Photo credit: EDF/Mathew Grimm

At Environmental Defense Fund, we believe in the power of incentives to drive agricultural sustainability. That’s why we support emerging markets like California’s Central Valley Habitat Exchange and the state’s fledgling cap and trade market, which will soon allow rice growers to earn extra revenue.

Both markets reward farmers for improving the environment in specific ways.

The Central Valley Habitat Exchange, when it becomes operational, will allow farmers who create enhanced habitat for at-risk species to sell credits to businesses and agencies that need to meet conservation goals.

Posted in Carbon Market, Habitat Exchange / Also tagged ACES, agriculture, Carbon Offsets, ecosystems, endangered species, GHG mitigation, rice, wildlife | Comments are closed

California’s new water law a win for agriculture and the environment

By Ann Hayden / Bio / Published: December 3, 2014

Now that voter passage of a $7.5-billion water bond is firmly set in California’s rear-view mirror, it’s time to look forward and map out the road before us. How will the money be spent, and where will it drive change?

Beneficiaries of the new law will be vast, to be sure, but a good chunk of change is slated to support farm communities while restoring habitat and freeing water up for the environment. Here’s how:

$900 million for groundwater sustainability

This funding has the potential to improve the quality and reliability of groundwater resources that many agricultural communities across the state depend on. It is designed to ensure that projects are prioritized based on several criteria, including how the project will prevent the spread of groundwater contamination into storage areas, how the project will impact local water supply reliability, and whether the project can recharge vulnerable and high-use groundwater basins.

Posted in Habitat Exchange / Also tagged agriculture, california, Chinook salmon, conservation, ecosystems, endangered species, groundwater, sustainable agriculture, Swainson's hawk, water bond, water use, Western Farm Press, western water | Comments are closed

A cattleman’s quest to save a bird and help ranchers thrive

By David Wolfe / Bio / Published: October 29, 2014

Terry Fankhauser, Executive Vice President of Colorado Cattelmen’s Association

Terry Fankhauser is a rancher and executive vice president of the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. He is also a board member and executive director of Partners for Western Conservation, which seeks to implement market-based conservation services that benefit wildlife and the economy.

Terry joined me and other conservation colleagues last week in Washington, D.C., to discuss habitat exchanges at the National Workshop on Large Landscape Conservation. I asked him to give us a recap of the discussion and to tell us why he got involved in the development of exchanges.

Why were you in D.C. last week?

I took the opportunity to travel to Washington to convey the message that agriculture producers are investing time and resources into developing conservation markets like the Colorado Habitat Exchange. We are just as interested as other parties in addressing conservation concerns, regulatory challenges and the ongoing need for viable businesses that drive our economies.

New federal framework provides path forward for landowners and sage-grouse

By Eric Holst / Bio / Twitter profile / Published: October 3, 2014

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service faces a difficult decision on the listing of the greater sage-grouse. On the one hand, populations are in steady decline across the range and the Service has already indicated that the bird’s condition will likely warrant protection under the Endangered Species Act. On the other hand, a listing would pit the Service against powerful economic interests – including energy and agriculture – and against most of the political apparatus of the 11 Western states that harbor the imperiled bird.

But the Service just did itself and all sage-grouse stakeholders a big favor.

Earlier this month, the Service released the Greater Sage-Grouse Range-Wide Mitigation Framework – a guidance document intended to help states and private sector interests design solutions for the bird that, if implemented quickly and effectively, would be taken into account when the Service makes its final listing determination in 2016.

Posted in Habitat Exchange, Wildlife Protection / Also tagged agriculture, ecosystems, endangered species, ESA, federal policy, greater sage-grouse, mitigation heirarchy, Partnerships, ranching, range-wide mitigation framework, sagebrush, USFWS | Read 1 Response

Farmers and ranchers can help bring birds back from the brink

By Stacy Small-Lorenz / Bio / Published: September 9, 2014

A raptor adapted to the open grasslands, the Swainson's hawk has become increasingly dependent on agriculture, especially alfalfa crops, as native communities are converted to agricultural lands.

A raptor adapted to the open grasslands, the Swainson’s hawk has become increasingly dependent on agriculture in California, especially alfalfa crops, as native communities are converted to agricultural lands.

The 2014 State of the Birds report, released this week, sends a message that is both somber and hopeful: we can bring vulnerable bird species back from the brink of extinction, but there is a lot of work to be done.

While some once-abundant species have rebounded in response to habitat restoration and management, others continue to decline. If we want to put our nation’s birds on a path to recovery, farmers and ranchers have a critical role to play.

Success stories show the way

Iconic bird species like bald eagles, brown pelicans and peregrine falcons that were once teetering on the edge of extinction are thriving again. California condors, with their spectacular 10-foot wingspans, went extinct in the wild in 1987. Today, 225 individuals soar once again over several western states.

We don’t have to pit wildlife against the economy

By David Festa / Bio / Twitter profile / Published: July 14, 2014

Greater sage grouse. Photo credit: Steven Nehl

This post was co-written by Terry Fankhauser, executive vice president of the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association and executive director of Partners for Western Conservation.

Stop us if you’ve heard this one before: A rancher, an environmentalist, and an oil company exec walk into a bar. The bartender looks up and asks, “Is this a joke?”

On the surface we may seem like an odd group, but ranchers, energy companies and environmentalists are finding each other willing partners in solving big conservation problems.

Colorado is one of 11 Western states where an iconic rangeland bird, the greater sage grouse, nests in high desert topography that’s also perfect ground for cattle ranching. And in recent years, Colorado’s booming oil and gas industry has encroached on the bird’s habitat.

That puts the bird’s future on a collision course with the state’s two largest economic drivers: agriculture and energy. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service faces a 2015 deadline to decide if the greater sage grouse should be protected by an Endangered Species Act listing. Listing could severely crimp both energy production and ranching across a vast territory.

Posted in Habitat Exchange, Wildlife Protection / Also tagged agriculture, Colorado Cattlemen's Association, ecosystems, energy, greater sage-grouse, mitigation banking, Partnerships, ranching, rangeland, sage grouse, Terry Fankhauser, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | Comments are closed