The Roosevelt Conservation Foundation (RCF), which is part of the ConservAmerica family, hosted a lunch briefing on Friday, Dec. 6 for Congressional staff on innovative, market-oriented land management strategies in the agriculture and forestry sectors to address conservation and environmental challenges.
Land conservation is crucial to our ecological and public health. Among other things, healthy ecosystems protect against flooding, wildfires, invasive species and disease; provide clean water and air; and, because soil, grasses and trees represent one of our greatest potential carbon sinks, preservation strategies can help mitigate the impacts of climate change. At the same time, land use – in the form of agriculture, forestry, and other natural resource-based industries – provides the essential building blocks of a modern, healthy society. Effective land use is essential for balancing economic development and social progress with a healthy environment. In an era of tightening government budgets and increasingly local land conservation decisions, land management strategies should embrace market-driven, innovative funding mechanisms and a greater role for state and local governments, as well as the private sector.
Guest speakers who made presentations at the briefing, included James Hubbard, US Department of Agriculture Undersecretary for Natural Resource and Environment; Bruce Knight, Ecosystem Services Market Consortium; Andrew Walmsley, Director of Congressional Affairs, American Farm Bureau Federation and Chris Adamo, Vice President for Federal and Industry Affairs, Danone.