{"id":5897,"date":"2016-02-03T14:20:51","date_gmt":"2016-02-03T19:20:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/?p=5897"},"modified":"2025-06-11T12:45:51","modified_gmt":"2025-06-11T16:45:51","slug":"my-quest-to-balance-nature-and-the-agricultural-economy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/2016\/02\/03\/my-quest-to-balance-nature-and-the-agricultural-economy\/","title":{"rendered":"My quest to balance nature and the agricultural economy"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"California's<\/a>
California’s Sutter Buttes are the remnants of a volcano that are sometimes called the “smallest mountain range in the world.”<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On a clear day I can see the\u00a0Sutter Buttes<\/a>, the smallest mountain range in the world, from my office in Sacramento. It\u2019s a landscape that inspires me.<\/p>\n

Although the Sacramento Valley is not without its problems, when I look out my office window, explore the local outdoors with my kids, or catch the woodsy whiff of a pencil made from California incense cedar (yes, I collect those), what I sense in those sights, sounds and smells is balance.<\/p>\n

Striking the right balance in our working landscapes<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Sacramento Valley is a real working landscape. I use that term a lot: \u201cworking landscape.\u201d By that I mean a place where natural resources are used to provide economic benefit \u2013 \u201cworking\u201d to support jobs, industries and economies, both local and of scale \u2013 in a way that strikes a balance between maximizing profits and sustaining the natural resources, or the \u201clandscape.\u201d<\/p>\n

Striking that balance between economic output and environmental protection has been a pillar of my work\u00a0at EDF. I\u2019ve long believed that if we can find and replicate this delicate mix everywhere, we\u2019d be in much better shape.<\/p>\n

Cooperation is key<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"colleagues\"<\/a>
Two former EDF colleagues of mine \u2013 Michael Bean (right), Deputy Assistant Secretary\u00a0at the Department of Interior, and Robert Bonnie (middle), Under Secretary for Natural Resources and Environment at USDA \u2013 are both advocates of\u00a0fostering the mutual appreciation for natural resources\u00a0among farmers, ranchers and environmentalists, and creating policies that benefit all stakeholders. It is a philosophy I wholeheartedly embrace and strive to carry on in their legacies.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The media draw a lot of negative attention to the hostility and disagreements in our culture, pitting environmentalists against farmers and ranchers, for example.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s not my story. Nor is it the story that I have seen unfold over my career.<\/p>\n

EDF\u2019s approach to environmental solutions involves a great deal of collaboration. I can\u2019t tell you the number of times I\u2019ve sat around a table with an industry representative on my left and a rancher on my right. Sure, sometimes the conversation gets a little weedy, but it is always a constructive dialogue \u2013 everyone sensitive to each other\u2019s point of view.<\/p>\n

As one of two environmental representatives on California\u2019s Food & Agriculture Board<\/a>, I appreciate the need for such open discussions. In that role, I wrestle to understand the best ways to enhance the environment in ways that work for farmers, ranchers and foresters, whose economic and ecological contributions to the state are incredibly valuable. I also advise government decision-makers by helping them understand the value to California agriculture of clean air, clean and abundant water, rich soils and thriving wildlife habitat.<\/p>\n

Rallying around our common goals<\/strong><\/p>\n

Agriculture and environmental communities often share the same values, but get tied into knots when forced to takes sides, oftentimes in legal battles.<\/p>\n

Most folks in rural America value abundant wildlife, clean water and fresh air. But they\u00a0also want rules that make sense and that give them the ability to solve problems without complicated prescriptions from regulators who don’t understand their land or their business.<\/p>\n

If we can create social and political consensus around policies that reward people for providing ecological benefits, we\u2019d be more likely to reach our common goals.<\/p>\n

Protecting wildlife, and human life on earth<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"My<\/a>
My colleagues and I are working with key partners in agriculture to develop a conservation tool for the monarch butterfly in the hopes of restoring essential habitat for the butterfly, which has seen a 90 percent population decline in the last two decades. Read my latest blog<\/a> to learn more.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As I look to the future, my focus is on how to prevent the extinction of species, which is a critical indicator of the health of the planet. When you lose wildlife, you\u2019re likely losing the vital natural resources also crucial to human survival.<\/p>\n

Whether it\u2019s making room for the greater sage-grouse<\/a> to strut its stuff, or planting milkweed for the monarch butterfly<\/a> to lay its eggs, we need to find a way to simultaneously protect wildlife and provide enough food, fuel and fiber to support human life on earth.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not a question of the economy or the environment. We need both.<\/p>\n

I will continue working to find that balance for each new species I encounter \u2013 each its own puzzle. Fortunately, I can find inspiration whenever I admire the landscape outside my office window.<\/p>\n

Related:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

From California to Idaho: Protecting rural pit stops on the monarch butterfly’s great migration >><\/a><\/p>\n

New White House mitigation standard opens market opportunities for farmers and ranchers >><\/a><\/p>\n

Ranchers and conservationists step up to avert listing of sage-grouse >><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On a clear day I can see the\u00a0Sutter Buttes, the smallest mountain range in the world, from my office in Sacramento. It\u2019s a landscape that inspires me. Although the Sacramento Valley is not without its problems, when I look out my office window, explore the local outdoors with my kids, or catch the woodsy whiff …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[120554],"tags":[56,71765,71642,75690,42499,84757,71853,75692,29,421,569],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-5897","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-agriculture","tag-conservation","tag-eric-holst","tag-greater-sage-grouse","tag-habitat-exchanges","tag-interior","tag-michael-bean","tag-mitigation","tag-monarch-butterfly","tag-robert-bonnie","tag-usda","tag-wildlife"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5897","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5897"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5897\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15726,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5897\/revisions\/15726"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5897"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5897"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5897"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=5897"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}