$2 Million Awarded to Advance Conservation Efforts with Private Land Owners

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
 
Contact:
Eric Holst, Managing Director, (916) 492-7080, eholst@edf.org
 
(New York, NY – May 28, 2009)  The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation (DDCF) today announced a grant of $2 million over four years to Environmental Defense Fund’s Center for Conservation Incentives (CCI).  The grant will enable CCI to expand efforts aimed at offering private landowners economic incentives to conserve the farms and ranches, forests and other natural areas that are critical for the nation’s wildlife and the American way of life.  CCI’s efforts will be guided by the priorities outlined by each of the 50 states in their State Wildlife Action Plans.
 
“Environmental Defense Fund understands the connections between our environment and our economy, and the way that the two are intertwined,” said Dr. Mark Shaffer, director of DDCF’s Environment Program.  “Over the last seven years, the CCI has proven itself a leader in developing and using incentives that help private landowners be good stewards of wildlife and wildlife habitat.  After all, it is our farmers, ranchers and forest owners who hold the key to conserving wildlife across much of our national landscape.”
 
“By combining economic incentives with the priorities laid out in State Wildlife Action Plans, we can help landowners in their efforts to take action now, before more species become endangered or more habitats are lost,” said Eric Holst, managing director of CCI. 
 
The state wildlife action plans were first conceived in 2000, when Congress mandated that each state develop a comprehensive strategy for conserving its wildlife. The plans were developed by the state wildlife agencies, working together with local scientists, sportsmen, conservationists and other members of the public. The plans were submitted to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in the fall of 2005, and they were all approved by February of 2007. More information about the plans, as well as copies of each of the plans, can be found at www.wildlifeactionplans.org.
 
With support from DDCF, CCI will explore options for integrating the established priorities of the state wildlife action plans into many conservation programs already in place, looking for opportunities for synergy and cost savings.  Examples include the billions of dollars for conservation incentives that were provided in the 2008 Farm Bill, as well as sources within the Department of Interior and various states to help support the conservation of wildlife corridors in the Rocky Mountain West, Southern forests, Texas grasslands and shrublands, and rare species in the Northeast.
 
CCI often relies on partnerships with landowner organizations to deliver conservation results, such as the American Forest Foundation, which represents the families that own more than 60% of the nation’s forests.  “Environmental Defense Fund’s Center for Conservation Incentives has been an invaluable partner for the American Forest Foundation in encouraging greater application of conservation incentives on America’s family forests.  We applaud the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation for recognizing the innovative role that CCI has played,” said Drue DeBerry, Senior Vice President of Conservation at the American Forest Foundation.  
 
For more information about the Center for Conservation Incentives, visit www.edf.org/cci or contact Eric Holst, Managing Director at 916-492-7080 or eholst@edf.org

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