New grant incentivizes land conservation

CCI worked with California Rice Commission to improve wildlife habitat.

The Environmental Defense Fund in June announced that Doris Duke Charitable Foundation will give $2 million over four years to its Center for Conservation Incentives (CCI).

The grant makes up a large part of CCI's $3 million annual budget and will enable it to expand its work with private landowners of "working landscapes" such as farms, ranches and forests to help make environmental stewardship a viable option.

CCI's work on behalf of and with landowners includes working to create markets for carbon credits and demonstrating that the U.S. Farm Bill can offer  money to help  landowners meet new environmental regulations. It also helps negotiates Safe Harbor Agreements between the Department of Fish and Wildlife and landowners such as Lange Twins Winery in Lodi, Calif. and other landowners on the Mokelumne River. These agreements assure owners that if their environmental efforts attract protected species, they won't be covered by any further regulations.

CCI focuses on increasing revenue from such projects, reducing the costs associated with them and removing regulatory barriers that may put landowners off taking them on, says Eric Holst, CCI's managing director.

On the West Coast, CCI focuses largely on California's Central Valley where it has worked with wine growers interested in wildlife habitat restoration and water-quality issues and also with the California Rice Commission to help rice farmers find ways to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and be able to sell the resulting credits.

"Wildlife is key, but water quality and greenhouse gas reduction issues are important too," Holts says.

CCI's efforts will be guided by the priorities outlined by each of the 50 states in their State Wildlife Action Plans, he adds.