Working not Where the Light is Best; Rather, Where the Gains are Greatest PART 2 of 3

“What are you looking for?,” asks a man seeing his friend  frantically searching for something under a street light.  
“My car keys,” comes the response. 
The friend, offering  to help says, “Where did you loose them?” 
“Over there,” the response.
To which the friend, logically replies, “Then why are you looking for them here?”
“Because, the light is better here!”

Great Gains are Indeed Possible
In Part 1 of this Blog we noted that the Endowment and North Star Renewable Energy had intentionally decided to look at Jefferson County, Georgia, as the site of a national trial for a new ownership model for a domestic, green energy facility.  We did so, not because the light was better in Jefferson County, but because it is a place where we think a sound investment can make a real difference.

With high unemployment and a much greater than average proportion of families living in poverty, even the planned 25 direct jobs that will provide family-supporting wages offer great hope to a significant number of families.  Add that to wages that will circulate in the community – both from direct and perhaps 50-75 indirect jobs -- to the taxes that will be paid, and to the millions that will be spent annually for woody biomass and other supplies needed for the facility, and the gains begin to mount. 

But, our plan goes even farther.  Yes, sawmills and landowners will have additional markets for low-value wood, allowing them to enhance management and productivity of their forests,  But we also plan to take up-to 40% of the profits that will be derived from the facility – the Endowment’s ownership via “Community Wealth through Forestry, Inc” (a wholly-owned subsidiary) – and plow them right back into the community.

Generating Assets that will Grow in and with the Community
Therein lies the potential of a national model.  Most current private-sector businesses, take the majority of the wealth created and “export” them to their home location.  In this case, under the planned joint-venture model, the facility will have deep roots that will ultimately be “owned” in some form by the community.  One would expect those dollars to circulate many times within the local economy and help craft a future Jefferson County that exceeds national averages in new, and more positive, ways.


Carlton N. Owen 

Working not Where the Light is Best; Rather, Where the Gains are Greatest PART 1 of 3

Look out the Window

Darla Moore is known for her straight talk and ability to "dust it up" with the best of the good-old-boy network. In giving a talk to a group of citizens in a rural county in South Carolina, she asked those present where they thought their economic future lay.   Answers ranged from aviation to high tech. Not limited by an overabundance of patience, Moore implored the group to "Look out the window!   You build first on your primary asset.   See those trees? That’s your future."

Philanthropist and economic develop advocate, Moore of tiny Lake City, SC (population 6500) stands apart from the crowd in many ways.   First, she left "the backwoods" to do exceptionally well on Wall Street.   Then, defying all expectations, Moore – and her riches -- moved back to Lake City where she directs her Palmetto Institute and works tirelessly to help her home town, county, and state craft a positive vision and actions for the future.

Jefferson County, Georgia:   A National Model

As the Endowment has begun to work on a project to advance "asset creation" for under served and disadvantage populations (read poor and often of color), I’ve reflected on the comment attributed to Darla.   We are in the early stages of working with the residents of Jefferson County, Georgia, where – if we are successful – this off-the-beaten-path area could ultimately host what best selling authors Chip and Dan Heath call a "bright spot."   In short, our hope is to develop a shining light of positive progress resulting from a new business model.

Before getting into the basics of the plan, first visualize with me Jefferson County.   The total population is just over 17,000.   Trees – even whole acres of trees --outnumber people by nearly 15-to-1.   Fully three-quarters of the rural landscape is cloaked in forest cover.

The hardworking people of this east-central Georgia area exceed not only state, but also national averages in several categories.   It is a majority-minority county with fully 56% of the population being African-American.   Poverty and unemployment are all-too-common with both far exceeding the national average.   Families living below the poverty line are half-again more common than the rest of the nation and unemployment, anticipating another plant closure that has already been announced, will double that of the nation – expected to surpass 17% in the next few months.

Dumping vs. Investing

Some have questioned the Endowment’s plans to partner with for-profit alternative energy developer, North Star Renewable Power.   The most cynical say that the county was targeted because its population is poor and heavily minority.   The odd thing is the critics are right.   The difference is intent.   We, indeed, "targeted" Jefferson County, but not to "take advantage" of its people and its plight; rather, our hope is to try some tangible things designed to help reverse the downward trend.

Jefferson County is first and foremost a "forest rich" place.   Even current private employment is heavily rooted in the forest.   Among the most important businesses are family-owned Battle Lumber Company that produces hardwood lumber and flooring for global markets.    Just up the road is Fulghum Industries working with international customers in the wood handling business, both paper and lumber.   And , there is Cooper Machine which makes equipment for the sawmill industry.   An outside expert might look at these three businesses, and the ubiquitous forests, and suggest that Jefferson County already has the makings of a "business cluster" – one tied to forests.

Enter the Endowment and North Star.   Our plan is to develop a right-sized (scaled to fit the community and the forest resource) wood-to-energy facility that not only provides additional markets for waste wood and low-value timber, but also, that showcases the potential of linking a for-profit business with the long-term needs of the community through a significant equity investment designed to accrue financial gains that will stay within the community.   The Endowment’s interests will be represented by its first-ever for-profit subsidiary – Community Wealth through Forestry, Inc. (CWF).

Carlton N. Owen

Dollars for Water and Water Quality Keep Forests as Forests

A key component of the Endowment’s Theory of Change is to provide new value streams to forest landowners. One way we approach this is through our Healthy Watersheds through Healthy Forests Initiative. A path that we are pursuing in this arena is developing "payments for ecosystem services," and more specifically, payments for watershed services.

In this scenario, forested landowners who maintain a healthy, working, sustainable forest that protects water quality and that helps moderate water flow, such as flood protection, would be paid for those services, preferably by downstream water users.

The Endowment is funding four pilot projects in the East to better develop this concept, with an eye toward making payments for watershed services a commonplace activity. If successful this approach could potentially:

• help conserve millions of acres of forested watersheds (an estimated 180 million American’s drink water that originates in a forested watershed);
• generate new sources of income for owners of forested watersheds, helping them maintain and better manage their properties); and
• reduce drinking water costs for the public (the cleaner the water coming into treatment facilities, the cheaper it is to treat it.)

One pilot project is underway right in the watershed where the Endowment’s headquarters is located. To tell you more about this program, we asked John Tynan, Deputy Director, Upstate Forever, and the Endowment’s grantee, to describe their efforts.

Peter Stangel, Senior Vice President, the Endowment

Saluda-Reedy River Watershed
In early 2011, the Endowment committed to match a $6,000 grant that Upstate Forever
(www.upstateforever) received through the Land Trust Alliance (LTA) to explore the feasibility of establishing a Clean Water Credit program in the Saluda-Reedy Watershed. 　The overall objective of our efforts was to assess if water and wastewater utilities in the watershed would compensate owners of forest and agricultural properties for conservation efforts or improved management practices because of the nutrient reductions that these activities provide.

The Saluda-Reedy is well positioned for this type of pilot project as it is at risk for forest cover loss, is facing increased regulation for nutrients, has been the focus of significant research and conservation implementation, and is an EPA priority watershed. 　Upstate Forever began by estimating the amount of phosphorus (the critical nutrient in the watershed) that may enter the watershed from each property. 　This will serve as a prioritization tool for the implementation phase of the project.

Finding Partners Support from the Endowment and LTA also allowed us to facilitate discussions with the core stakeholders in a Credit program. 　The largest wastewater discharger, one of the significant water utilities, and the state permitting agency, have all been supportive of the concept and committed to working through an iterative process to develop a functional system that will result in funding for conservation or improved land management and, in turn, reduced nutrient inputs to the watershed. 　

We are now researching existing nutrient trading program protocols throughout the country and plan to propose a project framework to the stakeholders in early 2012. 　We have also initiated a related project to identify possible pilot phase landowners. 　This related project is a 319 grant awarded from South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control that involves　outreach to and one-on-one work with local landowners to implement practices that will reduce nutrient runoff into Walnut Creek, a tributary to the Reedy River.

Small Grant Leverage Bigger Pots of Money The grant provides $370,000 in cash and is matched with $250,000 of private contributions (through cost-share or "payment for ecosystem service" funds). An integral and innovative component to the $620,000 project is the incorporation of payments for ecosystem services. 　Current cost-share models, such as the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) Program offered through the Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resource Conservation Service, only provide funds to agricultural landowners for the initial cost to establish a Best Management Practice (BMP) on site.　

Traditional programs do not compensate landowners for lost revenue from the land placed into a BMP (for example, revenue might be lost because trees in a riparian buffer are not cu, to preserve their ability to hold soil and filter nutrients) despite the fact that the lands set aside continue to provide water quality benefits to the watershed.　 One component included in our 319 grant will allow us to provide yearly payments for ecosystem services to landowners to compensate for lost revenue as a result of BMP installation as well as for the ongoing ecosystem benefit that the BMP provides.　

It is Upstate Forever's hope that successful, on-the-ground improvements will result both from the 319 grant and the ongoing Clean Water Credit program funded by the Endowment and LTA, providing significant funds for improvement of the watershed and protection and improved management of workings forest and agricultural lands.

Written by: Peter Stangel and John Tynan
Approved by: Carlton Owen, the Endowment

The Convergence of National Security and Working Forests

How might working forests contribute to national security?  Providing "buffers" around military installations is one important opportunity that simultaneously supports the military’s training needs and that might also provide a much-needed revenue source to private forest landowners.
 

A Changing Landscape
When the military’s large training facilities were created decades ago, they were typically placed in rural areas with low population density, so that training operations would minimize the impact to local communities of the noise, fire, smoke, and other by-products of maneuvers.  Over time, however, urban sprawl has increasingly brought people closer to bases.  In some areas, housing developments extend literally to the edge of the fence.  At the same time, new technology and weaponry is requiring even more space for the military’s training activities.  This clash of needs has stimulated the Department of Defense to seek cost-effective ways to expand the area around their bases where training activities may safely be executed.

Private Forest Owners and the Military -- Cooperating for National Security
Given the prohibitively high cost of land acquisition, conservation easements and similar tools are becoming increasingly important to military planners.  Because of the still rural nature of land around many bases, using easements to prevent development in these "buffers" is cost-effective and also provides income to the land owners.  For many bases, particularly those in the South, this means working with corporate or family forest owners.  The Endowment is helping bring together both the Department of Defense and forest land owners to explore mutual benefits. 

The Endowment’s Partnership for Southern Forestland Conservation (ww.pfsfc.org),  a group of more than 30 landowners, agencies, and non-profits, is now working with the Southeast Regional Partnership for Planning and Sustainability (www.serppas.org), a group of federal and state agencies, including the military services, on this issue.  A Working Forest Task Force was created to study opportunities. This draft strategy is being reviewed and was presented to the SERPPAS leadership on November 9.

Watch this blog site for updates on the strategy and the Endowment’s plans to keep working forests an important part of the military’s base buffering strategy.

Submitted by:  Peter Stangel, Senior Vice President, the Endowment
Approved by:  Carlton Owen, President, the Endowment 

A New Tree Grows in Greenville

While we've been in our new "organizational home" since late May (with construction still going on), we had a formal dedication of the facility on October 28th in concert with our fall Board of Directors meeting.  Dozens of community leaders, partners, donors, and vendors, joined the Endowment's Board and staff for a reception and tours of the eclectic space. 

And, in keeping with the Endowment's "tree-centric" view of the world, instead of a ribbon cutting, we had a tree planting to commemorate the occasion.  Contrary to the song, "we took down a parking lot and put up a tree..."

As reported in our June 3, 2011 Blog, driven by need to find additional space for an expanded staff and hoping to take advantage of the deeply depressed commercial real estate market, the Endowment opted to buy a long-abandoned building and rehab (recycle/repurpose) it for our offices.  We met all of our goals plus some with the decision...

...We now have the space we need to conduct business;
...we were able to bring the project in with only a slight excess over budget but still at a cost that compares very favorably with rent; and,
...the facility which has hard floors and beautiful wood walls has had a noticeable positive impact on our staff members who suffer with allergies.

Here are just a few of the images from that wonderful evening.

Endowment Chairman Mack Hogans thanks Board and Community Leaders for Their Support while  President Owen looks on.  (That's not our building in the background)

Community Leaders Mark Taylor, President of SynTerra Corp (left) and Dr. Walt McPhail (right) Sign In for the Event

Endowment Staffer Florence Colby Leads a Tour for Vendor Partner Michele Perron

President Owen Explains Some of the Office Features

Board Members David Dodson (right) and Mil Duncan (center) Visit with Chairman of The Palmetto Bank, Leon Patterson (left)

Kevin and Becky Hatch (left) Read the Endowment's 2010 Annual Report While Touring

Minor Shaw of the Daniel-Mickel Foundation visits with John Warner of the SC Governor's School for the Arts and Humanities

If you get the chance to visit Greenville, it will be our pleasure to show you our home.  Ya'll come!



National Conservation Easement Database Goes Live!

When the Colorado legislature proposed in 2010 a cut in the tax benefits afforded to landowners looking to offer conservation easements on thier properties, local conservation organizations knew they needed to act fast.  To create an economic foundation for conservation easements, the organizations set out to quantify the financial benefits of the environmental services provided by such easements.  While accepted estimates existed for the economic benefit of various habitats spread across Colorado’s 1.4 million acres currently under conservation easements, the tricky question was how to quickly calculate the total benefit across the state.


A Tool to Support Sound PlanningEnter the National Conservation Easement Database.  With a quick search, economists with the Trust for Public Lands were able to quantify land areas and in turn calculate the total economic contribution of those lands through environmental services.  The total: $3.51 million in public benefits—clean air and water, habitat and wildlife protection, and open space representing a $6 to $1 return on investments made to conserve land, some of which came in the form of state tax credits.

NCED Uses Modern Technology to Advance Cause and Accountability
This result would not have been possible if not for the newly-released National Conservation Easement Database (NCED).  The database, conceived of and funded by the Endowment, represents collaboration between five national conservation organizations in an effort to create a central location for up-to-date data regarding our nation’s conservation easements.  While knowledge of easement size, location, and purpose was rarely available even at the state-level, NCED allows a user full access to a national database of conservation easement data, including spatial maps and GIS overlays.

The Value of Accurate Information
Accessibility of this information has implications spanning conservation, policy, and land management, and will lead agencies, land trusts, and other organizations to plan more strategically, identify opportunities for collaboration, advance public accountability, and raise the profile of what’s happening on-the-ground in the name of conservation.  Of NCED, Endowment President Carlton Owen says, “While we know where public lands are, without comparable information on those lands subject to conservation easements, conservation planners—whether they be from the public or private sectors—are operating without all of the pieces of the puzzle.  Such is like driving blind; it can be done, but it doesn’t offer much potential for getting to the desired location by the best route.”

Building the database involved the collection of physical attributes of individual easements—such as State, County, easement holder, easement purpose, size in acres, and year acquired—creating a multi-layered GIS dataset, searchable by categories.

Screen capture of easement data in Orange County, NC.

As of August 1, 2011, the database has compiled data on 80,756 individual conservation easements, representing nearly 18 millions acres of land.  NCED contributors estimate this to be approximately 60% of all easements in the country.  Easement holders and land trusts can easily add their own land data on the highly interactive website, http://nced.conservationregistry.org/.

Cameron Tommey
Endowment Special Projects Intern

ShadeFund Offers Options for Small Business

ShadeFund is an Internet-based program designed to connect green entrepreneurs with capital from individual and corporate donors.  The start-up investment came from the Endowment and the initiative is managed by The Conservation Fund.

Small Business is the Focus
ShadeFund was recently recognized in the U.S. Green Chamber of Commerce (USGC)'s August 31st e-newsletter as well as in a longer story on the USGC website.  The article, "Searching for Green Capital?,” focused on the importance of financial contributions from governmental and private sectors for small start-up and entrepreneurial companies, particularly green businesses.  Between 1993 and 2009, small businesses created 65 percent (or 9.8 million) of the 15 million net new jobs.  A recent report from The Brookings Institute recognized that “currently the U.S. green economy employs 2.7 million workers across a multitude of industries.”

USGC Puts Spotlight on ShadeFund
With the current state of the economy, grants created through the stimulus package have disappeared.  As a result, many businesses have approached the USGC for help in finding funding sources.  ShadeFund is seen as a beacon of light and hope that there is still money accessible to green entrepreneurs (foresters, farmers, eco-tourist businesses, food and medicine naturalists, and small-scale renewable energy producers).

 “The ShadeFund was designed to help green innovators get the funding they need to move their business forward when their personal resources run out, or when banks fail to support their small business ideas,”  -- Rick Larson, The Conservation Fund.

Loans of $5,000-$50,000
The ShadeFund lends $5,000 - $50,000 to green entrepreneurs across America so they can expand their business and create jobs.  “ShadeFund grew out of the need to invigorate the growing U.S. green economy,” said Larson.  “The future of American business will be green, but only if our entrepreneurs can get the “green” (capital) they need to grow.”

Be a ShadeFund Supporter!
If you’d like to be a ShadeFund supporter and help a green entrepreneur build the economy of the future, visit http://www.shadefund.org/ and make a donation.

Michelle McGee
Endowment 2011 Intern

Two Great Gifts: Wood and Woodworkers

A group of America's hardwood producers have voluntarily come together to develop a tagline designed to promote the tradition, warmth, and value of their products -- "American Hardwoods:  Treasured for Generations."  

America is truly a country built on wood.  The first European-Americans landed to find towering forests comprised on not just mighty oaks but tall pines as well.  What appeared to be an endless store of wood provided shelter, furnishings, heat, food, and more.

Hand-me-downs Everyone Wants
Like most Americans some of my family's most prized possessions are wooden boxes, trunks, and well-worn furniture handed down from generation-to-generation.  Wood and wood products are without peer as inanimate objects that provide fodder for the stories of life.

We at the Endowment were recently granted two new "gifts" of the forest.  We asked the Greenville Woodworkers Guild (www.greenvillewoodworkers.com) to come to our aid so that we could re-purpose some salvage items from our recently remodeled office and to make useful objects from surplus hardwood plywood panels left after panelling some of our walls.

The Results are Outstanding
We couldn't be more pleased with the results!  Among the first of five requested small projects was an attempt to turn a poorly-placed building support column into a useful tool.  The result is a small break table now surrounded by re-purposed fountain stools that once supported patrons at the Little Princess Restaurant's main dining counter (see related Blog of June 3, 2011).  The "gifts" to the Endowment aren't just the "new" heirlooms that adorn our home, but also, the blessings of having talented artisans share their skills.  

Use It or Lose It Applies to Forests Too

Some readers probably thought that the April edition of this Blog -- "Save a Forest: Print Your Emails" -- was an April Fools' joke.  Not so then nor now.

A recent book released by the USDA Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory points to the importance of sound and vibrant markets for wood if forests are to be conserved over the long-term.  The book, Sustainable Development in the Forest Products Industry, notes what appears to be a contradictory conclusion as does our April Blog.

Data Differs from Feelings
"The historical data we examined in this study support the hypothesis that an economically vibrant industrial forest products sector has been key to forest policies and forestry practices that support sustainable timber supply and demand," notes author Dr. Peter Ince.

Drawing from Ince's work, the Summer 2011 Issue of the Forest Products Laboratory's Newsline, notes that "If a forest is providing only low-value wood, such as fuelwood to heat homes or cook meals, there is less incentive for sustainable management.  Such lands are also likely to be converted into a more profitable venture, such as agriculture, grazing, or development."

America's Forests Amazingly Stable in Face of Use
Forests across the United States were once cleared with abandon to supply materials to build homes, railways, or provide places to grow crops.  Those changes drove real deforestation -- permanent conversion of forest to non-forest uses.  Yet, over the past century, even in the face of burgeoning population growth, the overall forest estate has remained remarkably stable.  That in a nation that still relies heavily on forest products.  One need only look at the tens of millions of homes built in recent decades and the mountains of paper-based publications (books, newspapers, etc.) to see that forest use continues while forestland remains. 

Lack of Use is a Bigger Threat than Too Many Uses
In a nation where fully one-third of our lands are covered by trees and more than 300 million citizens depend on them for traditional wood and paper products -- not to mention wildlife habitat and the source of drinking water for more than one-half the population -- it is the lack of markets for forests that should be of concern not the threat of over-harvest.

One need only look to Colorado, a state that has lost dozens of mills and now has millions of acres of dead and dying trees due to a devastating mountain pine beetle epidemic, to see one picture of what a future with limited harvesting and manufacturing infrastructure holds.  There the Forest Service and other landowners must spend hundreds to thousands of dollars per acre to "manage" forestlands that heretofore generated income rather than served as money pits.

Complex Issues Require Complex Solutions
No doubt one can identify a few places where the problem is too much market demand putting too much pressure on forest sustainability.  That said, the most common problem for the nation's forest landowners -- be they public or private -- isn't one of too many markets; it's just the opposite.

Results from Sustainable Development in the Forest Products Industry adds support to the Endowment's belief that our best hope of ensuring healthy working forests and the family-supporting jobs that they provide, is to find more and better ways to support a vibrant forest products sector.  In our view such a vision includes traditional sawmills and pulp and paper production as well as markets for wood-to-energy as well as high-tech chemicals and pharmaceuticals.

The Committed Class

In their best seller, Switch, Chip and Dan Heath talk about making change when change is hard.  In an uncertain world where everything around us seems to be in chaos -- the potential of government default on its financial commitments due to Congressional impasse; protracted wars on three fronts; and an economy that just can't seem to get on track -- how can rural, forest-reliant communities move to a brighter future?

Ingredients Necessary for Successful Change
Many researchers and writers have developed lists of necessary ingredients or steps to successful change.  Among them, clear vision, adequate resources (people and financial) and more.  But, what if we tried to boil it down to that one vital key to successful change?  What would it be?

Richard Florida, author of Rise of the Creative Class, points to the importance of young, educated, creatives as a class needed to advance positive change.  These bright, young, artistic thinkers no doubt help.  But, what if you live in a community that doesn't attract a steady stream of those illusive creatives?  Is all gloom?

Those Who Refuse to Give Up
There is one critical ingredient necessary to success in any significant change.  Simply stated, at least one or more people must be "committed" to making it happen.  It's not enough to have a great idea or hope that someone else will step forward.   It's the presence of what we might call the "committed class" -- those who regardless of age, education, wealth, or talent, simply pour themselves into the task at hand -- that make the difference.

In the Endowment's hometown of Greenville, South Carolina, we recently lost one of the committed class that put a sleepy, southern textile town on the path to renaissance.  Max Heller, an Austrian who fled his Nazi-occupied homeland, was by all accounts someone who didn't include in his vocabulary "can't" or "impossible."  Instead, Heller, would set about often risky steps to change his adopted city for the better.

Across America in villages small and large, there are the Max Heller's -- the committed class -- who refuse to acknowledge barriers.  They don't spend their time on inventories of the risks or assessing what they don't have.  Like John Wayne at his best, they show true grit and just do it.

Giving Aid to the Committed Class
Who are the members of the committed class in your town?  What can you do to help lift them up and spur them on?  Ronald Reagan helped a generation of Americans turn from looking only at problems by instead focusing on a vision and a future -- a bright shining city on a hill.  The committed class don't have to have the charm or sales ability of a Reagan, but they do have to be ready and willing to give their all to their cause.

Endowment Deepens Roots in Greenville

First generation Turkish immigrant Alex Kiriakides opened his Little Princess Restaurant in Greenville in 1975. For more than 15 years it was an icon for the breakfast and lunch crowd in a small city with relatively few eating establishments. What once was an easy-to-access restaurant location became a hard-to-enter site as highways were realigned. In 1990 the Little Princess closed for the last time. The building that had housed a once vibrant eatery sat vacant for more than two decades. Poor access and zoning changes seemed to doom the location to remain just another deteriorating eyesore. But then something changed.

On June 1, 2011, the U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities opened its new headquarters in the repurposed building. The added space – double that of the organization’s previous leased space just a half block away –better meets the needs of Greenville’s largest foundation.

Doing Well While Doing Good
The long-vacant restaurant building sitting on a quarter-acre along the city’s primary gateway offered the Endowment the chance to advance three causes with a single action: 1. Better meet space needs of the growing organization; 2. Live the organization’s values by showcasing sustainably produced wood products and an environmentally-friendly footprint; and 3. Give back to our hometown through rehabilitation of a highly-visible property.

Meeting Space Needs While Stewarding Financial Resources
The Endowment’s leased space served the original three employees well for four years. But, with the addition of two new team members and a continuing commitment to an Internship Program, there was little question that added space was a must. The new plan doubles to 2500 the Endowment’s space. A dedicated conference room, break space, and adequate room for all of the team, is welcome by all.

But what of the decision to purchase versus rent? Is that a good decision for an Endowment that should be focusing its resources on mission? The Endowment’s staff and Board studied and debated that issue long and hard. We believe the decision to purchase is extraordinarily sound on a number of fronts.

First, rented space still costs money and it is rarely configured or flexible enough to meet an organization’s needs. That’s surely been the case for the Endowment. While we looked at many options, few fit well and many came with high per foot price tags and added costs for parking. Too, leased facilities often necessitate fairly frequent moves either to meet the organization’s changing needs or to address plans of the landlord. Moves are highly disruptive and extremely expensive.

Second, the Endowment was able to not only take advantage of deeply depressed real estate prices but to also help pump needed jobs and cash into the local economy as part of the rehab initiative. Low interest rates made a loan even more attractive than using funds from the Endowment’s corpus. In fact, monthly mortgage payments will be less – about 23% less on a square foot equivalent basis – than renting even if the Endowment could have obtained similar sized space at the same attractive rate. But, there is a significant upside. In 15 years the Endowment will own the building free and clear and one would expect that its value would be significantly greater than the purchase price. So, on the numbers side alone, purchase was clearly the better option.

Living Light on the Land
The opportunity to repurpose and bring new and better life to an old building, has been greeted with excitement by staff and the community. Rather than implode the old structure we opted to reuse and recycle all that we could to reduce our overall impact on the environment.

On the “reuse” side after assessing the value of old cooler units and kitchen equipment, we opted to donate most of the fixtures to a family-owned restaurant – Manna Deli – that was relocating and rehabbing its own facility. We retained a few items for our own use. We also opted to retain the original tile floors so as to avoid addition of carpet and associated upkeep and health issues (allergy factories) that follow.

We had a strong commitment to recycling all that we could. After a search we found a facility that would accept the old ceiling tiles and we reclaimed all metal for sale to a scrap yard.

Right-sized heating and cooling systems with high-efficiency ratings along with an upgraded roof and interior insulation will significantly reduce overall energy use. Skylights will enhance employee use while further cutting need for artificial light.

A roof-top rainwater harvesting system will ensure non-potable water for all exterior needs as the impervious surface and parking was cut by more than two-thirds to soften environmental impact. Among the gains will be a “cooler” property – both in terms of look and summer temperatures due to native tree and shrub plantings – and significantly reduced stormwater run-off.

On the materials front the Endowment opted for a very functional look and feel to minimize costs and to offer maximum flexibility. Open ceilings give an eclectic warehouse look but significant use of wood in the form of hardwood panels and a custom front door, add warmth and beauty from the forest. For the few walls that would have been built using steel studs, we opted for locally-grown and milled pine 2x4s.

We can’t thank our wood products friends enough for their generosity. Their donations helped keep down the cost while allowing the Endowment to showcase sustainably produced wood products. In that regard, Columbia Forest Products provided walnut and maple hardwood panels that were used throughout the office space and conference room; Cox Industries provided all softwood lumber for behind the scenes construction and screening; Norbord added oriented strand board (OSB) to support the new façade; and Sweeney Hardwoods/ResDoor and the National Hardwood Lumber Association provided the custom walnut door that serves as our primary entrance. Lowe’s Home Improvement via its Cherrydale location provided miscellaneous wood products to complete the job.

We couldn’t have done the job without support of the Greenville Water System that led to the rainwater harvesting system.

Playing an Active Role with our Community
Greenville is our home and we want to give back where we can – something not likely on the grant front. The once “Textile Capital of the World” has over the last quarter century seen a rebirth that City Manager John Castile calls “the magic of Greenville.” The transition from city in decline to renaissance is founded on vision and a broad public-private partnership.

The Endowment’s decision to purchase what some considered a white elephant and give it new life as an office complex was viewed by some with skepticism but by City leaders with gusto. In fact, the Greenville Local Development Corporation, a non-profit entity working with the City and the private sector, provided a significant financial grant that helped off-set some of the costs for the building’s new face and front yard.

Greenville is a series of stories and events where one action has led others to pick up the cause and aid in the overall rejuvenation. The Endowment‘s decision has already led to one potential spill-over effect on a neighboring property. The Kiriakides family used funds from the sale of the Little Princess to purchase of an adjoining office building that when combined with abutting property that they already owned, offers a parcel large enough for future redevelopment.

Next time you are in Greenville, please stop in. We’ll be happy to show you our “home.”

A Tale of Two Watersheds

Imagine a community that had such foresight as to purchase two entire watersheds so as to have control over the destiny of its water supply.  Imagine now that such decisions were made more than three-quarters of a century before there were serious concerns about water quality or quantity.

If you are with me, you are seeing my adopted home town of the past 21 years -- Greenville, SC.

A Vision for the Future
In 1890 Greenville built a small reservoir on the side of Paris Mountain just north of the City, to supply its-then 8600 residents with water.  A second reservoir was added just nine years later.  But, the breakthrough came in the 1920's when the system's water commissioners had the vision to purchase an entire watershed -- the first wholly-owned public drinking water reservoir/watershed in the nation.  A second reservoir and watershed were added in the 1950s.

Today, Greenville's Water System fully owns 26,000 acres -- protecting two entire watersheds that supply much of the water for nearly 400,000 users.  Greenville is known for having some of the cleanest, sweetest, freshest mountain water in the world!

What were the ingredients that led to Greenville's early success?  Clearly visionary leaders committed to intergenerational thinking. 

A Modern Saga
As Paul Harvey said, "Now, the rest of the story."  In 1985 to meeting growing needs, the system accessed Lake Keowee -- a large mountain reservoir developed by Duke Energy for power production.  While most Greenvillians think that 100% of their water comes from protected forest watersheds that are not only unmanaged but also restricted to all public access, the truth is different.  Only 50% of the water comes from system-owned watersheds.  The remaining one-half -- and growing -- comes from Lake Keowee...a lake with few restrictions on recreational use, home building, and rapid development occurring throughout the watershed.

So, what we have is not the tale of two cities; rather, the tale of two visions and watersheds.  One where the past was assured and a future where the quality and quantity of water is left to chance unless the Greenville Water System and others adopt a forward thinking strategy to ensure that Lake Keowee doesn't become a highly-developed and polluted body of water.

Pay me now or pay me Later
Looking ahead, two things stand out when thinking about trying to change a system that has been in place for decades.  First, we've all been able to obtain clean, safe, potable water in near unlimited quantities at far below its real societal value.  Obviously, we can't expect people to "increase assessments on themselves" in such an anti-tax environment.  But, is that true?

A couple of things give great hope that we can indeed turn the corner toward a brighter future.  First, we draw encouragement from the literally hundreds of local land conservation ballot initiatives that are being adopted across the nation -- in red states as well as blue.  In well over three-quarters of those cases, citizens say on one hand "don't raise taxes/cut public spending," but then they vote for local assessments.

It is the "local" that is perhaps the key.  Most people are skeptical about sending money to the state capital, much less the federal one.  Yet, we remain highly concerned and committed to our own back yards.

Secondly, let's look at consumer spending habits.  While a gallon of some of the best tasting water in the nation goes for about 2.5 cents per gallon when purchased from the Greenville Water System, consumers in Greenville and elsewhere show little restraint in paying significantly more for an inferior product.

For instance, the average consumer will pay between $1.39 and $1.89 for a liter of off-brand water at the average grocer.  Pay tax on that bottle and convert to full gallon price an it is equal to $6.10 -- or almost 250X what the best tap water costs.

But, let's not forget places like Chicago O'Hare Airport.  There water comes at a bit of a premium.  We tested and found it approaches $23.00 per gallon!  Nearly 1000X tap cost!

Final Thoughts
Thus, if we look at "bright spots" across the nation -- places that are working to protect their drinking water, one must ask what we can do to extend those bright spots to more communities to ensure a brighter future for water, watersheds, and Americans everywhere?

We know that there are many different tools and mechanisms that could help, but in the Endowment's approach to its mission, we believe that systemic, transformative and sustainable changes are necessary.

So, together, we hope that we can extend and greatly increase progress of linking every American to their source of water ... and that by so doing we can advance the health of watersheds across the nation.  While our core interest is in the one-third of the nation that is forested, these same ends hold in all watersheds whether they be covered by range or rocks.

Using Dan and Chip Health's "bright spots" approach from their best seller, Switch, if we can connect people with the water in their "backyard," and if we can do so in ways that show real value and gains locally, we can make a difference.

We and our co-sponsors have asked you to help us think more deeply about actions that we, you, and others can take together to advance the cause of water and its broad benefits to society.  While we don't want to get into the science and politics of climate change, we know that humans can adapt to a hotter planet.  It may be uncomfortable and inconvenient, but we can/will adapt.  But, there are some base needs like water that cut across differences of race, color, creed, or economic status.

We all need clean, safe water.  It is at its best when it is locally available and secure.

Let us end with one of the most often quoted statements from anthropologist Margaret Mead.  "A small group of thoughtful people can change the world.  Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."

Our hope is that this small group, and this time and place, will be the start of one of those important times of change for our world...starting right at home.

This blog is excerpted from opening remarks provided by Endowment President Carlton Owen as he addressed a convening on "Healthy Watersheds through Healthy Forests" in Chicago, April 13-14, 2011.  The convening was sponsored by the Endowment along with the Weyerhaeuser Family Foundation; Kelley Family Foundation; Knoblock Family Foundation; American Forest Foundation; Sand County Foundation Bradley Fund; and the USDA Forest Service.

Save a Forest: Print Your Emails

Well-intentioned email taglines inspired by sincere desire to help the planet have become ubiquitous in recent times: "Please don't print this email," "Save trees: Print only when necessary," or "Please consider the environment before printing this email."

However, the World Wildlife Fund has taken this to the extreme with a new nonprintable electronic document. Patterned after the highly successful PDF (Portable Document Format) that has revolutionized electronic document sharing and storage, the WWF format takes the decision away from you.

This tact is sure to frustrate and increase inefficiency, leaving some saying, "Wait a minute, I really needed to print that document!" What many folks don't realize is that it also may indirectly hasten the conversion of forests to other uses like strip malls, parking lots and housing developments -- because the nation's forest landowners can't keep growing trees without markets for this natural, organic and renewable product.

Chuck's email tagline reads: "Notice: It's OK to print this email. Paper is a biodegradable, renewable, sustainable product made from trees. Growing and harvesting trees provides jobs for millions of Americans. Working forests are good for the environment and provide clean air and water, wildlife habitat and carbon storage. Thanks to improved forest management, we have more trees in America today than we had 100 years ago."

Now, understand that we don't advocate the wanton waste of paper or any other material, but avoiding the print option does absolutely nothing to save the planet or forests. More forests are dying of insect infestation and disease or being pave over across this country right now than could be converted to an email print-out in a thousand years.

Paper is good. Around 105 A.D., man discovered that paper traveled and transcribed better than stone; it became the renewable medium of choice. Frankly, the human eye can only stare at a computer screen for so long.

We appreciate and applaud people who are sensitive to environmental issues. We both love forests and are avid environmentalists. But we are going to continue to print out those necessary emails without guilt.

Honest, it's okay to print. Trees are renewable, recyclable and sustainable.

This Blog originally ran as an Op-Ed in the March 31, 2011 edition of the Wall Street Journal (Page 17). It is co-authored by Mr. Chuck Leavell a musician, tree farmer, environmentalist and author; and Carlton Owen, a forester, wildlife biologist and CEO of the U.S. Endowment.

Routine Emergencies and America's Forests

My recent flight from Indianapolis to Charlotte was capped with extra excitement as the pilot executed a rapid pull-out just prior to landing. With clear weather, most passengers likely assumed as did I, that another plane had inadvertently crossed the active runway. Nearly 10 minutes passed as we continued our climb and then started the turns to take us back into the landing pattern.

The pilot finally came on with, "Folks, we have a 'routine emergency.' We've lost our flaps and will have to land using only brakes and reverse engine thrust." He continued with other less-than-soothing assurances. "We practices this type of landing all the time in the simulators. Don't worry about all of the fire equipment that will be visible as we land."

Other than a few accelerated heart rates and the delays and missed flights that followed, the only lasting legacy of the event was the odd combination of words -- "routine emergency."

Are America's Forests Experiencing Routine Emergencies?
America is blessed with some of the most diverse and productive forests in the world. Yet, those forests are plagued by challenges. It is true that total forest acreage has remained relatively constant over the past several decades -- no small feat in the face of a population that has grown by more than a dozen South Carolina's in just 20 years ... 58 million more people with no added space.

Recent USDA Forest Service projections suggest that as many as 57 million acres -- about 7.5% of the nation's total forested estate -- will be subjected to increased housing densities by 2030. Yet, there are two less visible threats that some would consider routine and others dire emergencies: forest health and the loss of markets for wood and fiber.

Threats to the health of the nation's forests fall well outside of historical norms. The Forest Service reports that nearly 12 million acres -- again almost the total amount of all forests in the State of South Carolina -- were lost to mortality in 2009. And 2009 saw an increase of nearly 3 million acres over 2008. The oxymoronic aspect (aka "routine emergency") facet of these challenges is only exacerbated by the closure of dozens of sawmills and pulp & paper mills from coast-to-coast. Without markets to provide economically-viable tools to manage those forests, losses to pests, diseases and in some cases extraordinary wildfires, are often the unintended result.

Growing Recognition of the Importance of Markets -- Too Little; Too Late?
Many concerned about forests -- environmental groups and average citizens -- have often equated harvesting of trees with forest destruction. No doubt, some practices of the past (over-harvesting and high-grading) contributed reality to that perception. But, today, in the face of enlightened self-interest by forest owners who don't want to slay the goose laying the golden eggs; with all states having active forestry agencies -- some with stringent regulatory authority; with outright forest loss being a far more daunting threat than sound forest management; America's forests face new challenges.

We at the Endowment believe that if we are to retain America's bountiful forests, we must make progress in addressing existing and emerging challenges to forest health exploding in the face of globalization and climate change. Too, we believe that markets -- diverse and vibrant ones for traditional as well as emerging products and services -- are among the best tools in the tool box.

Americans and Open Space Conservation

Want to know what someone's "real" interests and priorities are, just look at their calendar. Or, as the old adage goes, look at their checkbook. Another way of saying it is "follow the investment -- whether time or money."

In the most tumultuous of times in American political history the pundits and those running for political office tell us that Americans won't stand for paying another dollar in taxes. But is that really the case?

In the most recent elections -- November 2010; clearly an anti-tax environment -- according to the Trust for Public Lands, those crazy American voters approved an overwhelming 80% of all ballot proposals in support of conservation funding! Twenty-eight of 35 proposals were passes with votes ranging from 59% in Maine for a statewide bond providing for investments in land conservation and the preservation of working waterfronts and state parks to 71% in very conservative South Carolina where votes in Dorchester County approved $5 million in bonds to buy parkland, trails, and wildlife habitat.

Is this an Aberration?
One might consider the votes of 2010 an aberration but such would be a big mistake. In fact, the numbers differed only in that they were higher than a long-term trend whereby open space conservation initiatives typically are passed at the rate of 3 of 4 considered.

What does this Mean?
Without the benefit of rich and expensive studies, perhaps there are a few conclusions that are warranted. While few voters are supportive of sending more tax dollars to Washington and beyond, they seem to be very concerned about what is going on right in their backyards. In short, people are very concerned AND willing to pay for the quality of life close to home.

It is encouraging to see that a growing number of Americas also are coming to an understanding that conservation doesn't just mean "buy and set it aside." Rather, many of these self-assessed funding initiatives are designed to promote conservation of working farms, forests, and ranches. Perhaps there really is a way to "have your cake and eat it too" by 1) keeping lands on the tax rolls and providing jobs and commodities to meet consumer needs; 2) while also ensuring that those lands will retain their important ecological and broader societal benefits such as open space, wildlife habitat, and clean air and water -- what some call the "natural infrastructure" or environmental "services" that lands provide.

It may be too that many are beginning to look at the future through the eyes of their grandchildren and come to the conclusion that we must do a better job if we are to leave future generations with options and a quality of life. Whatever the real reasons, it is interesting to note that this trend has continued for many years in good economic times and in bad. There must be something there.

2011: The Year of the Rabbit ... and Forests

The Chinese calendar recognizes a dozen animals on a rotating basis each with their special "year." Last year was a very powerful one with the tiger holding the seat of honor. As we approach Chinese New Year 2011 (February 3), the rabbit will take center stage.

Similarly, the United Nations (UN) establishes a cause for annual global recognition and attention for its member countries. With a pre-planning schedule that is the envy of even the most obsessive scheduler, the UN voted in December 2006 to make 2011 "The International Year of Forests."

UN General Assembly Resolution 61/193 set as preamble, "Convinced that concerted efforts should focus on raising awareness at all levels to strengthen the sustainable management, conservation and sustainable development of all types of forests for the benefit of current and future generations,"

1. Decides to declare 2011 the International Year of Forests;

2. Requests the secretariat of the United Nations Forum on Forests of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the Secretariat, to serves as the focal point for the implementation of the Year, in collaboration with Governments, the Collaborative Partnership on Forests and international, regional and subregional organizations and processes as well as relevant major groups;

3. Invites, in particular, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, as the Chair of the Collaborative Partnership on Forests, within its mandate, to support the implementation of the Year;

4. Calls upon Governments, relevant regional and international organizations, and major groups to support activities related to the Year, inter alia, through voluntary contributions, and to link their relevant activities to the Year;

5. Encourages voluntary partnerships among Member States, international organizations and major groups to facilitate and promote activities related to the Year at the local and national levels, including by creating national committees or designating focal points in their respective countries;

6. Requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly at its sixty-fourth session on the state of preparation for the Year.

The Endowment Accepts the Challenge
Not surprisingly, we at the U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities, think that on this issue, the UN is right on target! While forests aren't the only issue in the world, they definitely are among the most important. As sources of the world's greenest of all products (wood and paper), homes to nearly incalculable wildlife, the sources of clean water for hundreds of millions of the world's human residents and places for recreation as well as spiritual re-creation, we think forests are worthy of recognition and honor.

Forests and Americans
As the work of the Endowment centers almost exclusively on those forests that fall within the borders of the United States, with an occasional joint-venture across the border with Canada, we don't have to think long or hard about the importance of forests. North America is indeed a continent of forests with cultures deeply rooted in forests. From the King's Trees (white pines) of New England to the once ubiquitous American chestnut that blanketed the Appalachians to the bald cypress swamps of the deep south to the giant redwoods and sequoias of California, tree cover blankets fully one-third of the nation.

But even where forests were not the natural dominate vegetative cover, wherever our people have gone so too have trees and forests. What American city doesn't have an Elm Street, Oak or Maple? We've learned that urban forests not only make our yards and cities more beautiful, but they make them more livable as well. Trees serves as natural filters for our rain and air, they lessen the blast of heat in the summer and cold winds in the winter.

The Year Ahead for the Endowment
Our work is rooted deeply and daily in forests. That won't change. However, as one of our organizational commitments to the International Year of Forests, we will be more intentional about sharing our approach to forests and the people that they serve through a monthly installment of our Blog to share more about what we are doing to advance sustainable forestry and the needs of those people nested within forest-rich environments.

So, to all Americans everywhere, "Happy Year of Forests!"