Private Sector Interest in Wetland Restoration
May 31, 2007
Prepared by John Perrecone, USEPA,
312-353-1149; perrecone.john@epa.gov
Background:
At the last two MNRG meetings (Omaha in July '06 and Chicago in November '06), we discussed how to involve the private sector in assisting the federal agencies in wetland restoration. I suggested that the MNRG investigate if the Corporate Wetland Restoration Partnership (CWRP) can assist or if there were any other approaches that could be used. I was asked to talk to a number of private sector entities to understand what would motivate them to work with the federal agencies and to find those opportunities to initiate projects here in the Midwest.
Progress:
Since the meeting, I have completed the following:
- Contacted Daniel Goldfarb of the Northwest Indiana Wildlife Habitat Council (WHC) in order to have a third party assist me when meeting with private sector companies:
- Visited the Eli Lilly Manufacturing Facility, West LaFayette, IN—this is an example of lands own and restored by Lilly that are open to the public;
- Visited the Midewin Tall Grass Prairie and Dow Chemical plant, Joliet, IL—this is an example of a facility that has restored land near federal lands;
- Visited the USS Steel Facility, Gary, IN—this is an example of restored land on the company's property—they have partnered with the Gary school district and they allow children to visit their property to conduct stewardship work;
- Met with Jim Jerizol of the Chicago Wilderness Corporate Council to discuss how this group could provide wetland restoration funds in the Chicago region—I also conducted a follow-up discussion with Judy Beck of EPA and the Joel Brammeir of the Lake Michigan Alliance to identify potential wetland projects to submit to them;
- Met with White River, MI AOC Remedial Action Plan group and initiated conversations on how to engage private sector to restore wetlands, and
- With Coastal America, initiated the CWRP concept with Baxter Healthcare, Deerfield, IL.—Baxter is very interested in this concept and they may form the basis for our first CWRP partnership.
Message:
Since EPA regulates the companies that we want to perform restoration work, I visited with Daniel of the WHC in order to reduce any concern that EPA was visiting them with another motive. Once there, we often met with their environmental restoration staff and we received a short overview of their work followed by a tour of the actual restoration. At the same time, I emphasized that we were seeking to create sustainable partnerships with industry in order to help achieve the 200,000 acre wetland restoration goal of the Great Lakes Regional Collaboration (GLRC). I stated that if industry did participate with the agencies that they would be recognized in some way, shape or form—perhaps by a visit from one of the federal Regional Managers as well as prominent signs stating their contribution. Since it has not yet been devised, their efforts would also be formally tracked in the GLRC inventory. Finally, I introduced the CWRP concept to them as another approach to achieve wetland gains with a broader set of partners.
Findings:
- Companies with WHC programs actively support restoration actions on their own properties but that does not carry-over to the broader watershed;
- However, these companies may participate in watershed planning groups but have a much harder time supporting them with significant resources;
- Company budgets vary from company to company but most operate at under $10,000 and the employee time is collateral duty with their other duties taking precedence;
- Companies were interested in the CWRP concept but only wanted to do the work in a local area—that is, they did not want to fund a state-wide project but they were open to working locally with other industries;
- Industry and others are always eager to tap into the expertise and passion of federal employees to assist them their projects;
- There is an opportunity in West LaFayette and in the Prairie Parkland area near Midewin to create a local CWRP—I will be asked to speak to the local groups to provide more details, and
- Other opportunities exist such as creating a partnership between willing Northwest Indiana industry with the local School Districts who have open space that can be converted to wetlands—this is a good example of how projects can evolve once you start talking to partners.
Recommendations:
Based upon my short survey of the private sector, I feel that the private sector will work with the MNRG to achieve wetland gains as long as they feel it is a "safe" for them to participate. In that regard, we must have a transparent system that allows both sides of this partnership to participate in a meaningful way. I recommend:
- The MNRG should form a small team of interested staff/managers to further explore this concept—I would hope that FWS, USFS, and the Corps participate;
- This team should actively identify a location for a CWRP project and work with Coastal America to complete it--once completed; we should evaluate that experience to determine if we should continue working on CWRP.
- This team should cooperate with the GLRC Wetlands Initiative to track any wetland gains with the private sector.
- This team should continue to utilize the WHC contacts in IL, IN and MI to identify additional restoration projects.
- This team should also be available to industry to assist them on restoration projects as needed.
- This team should develop a short implementation strategy which takes into account their desired goal, the time required to complete the goal, the resources needed and the desired outcome. The Team should also be re-visited every three years to insure that it is achieving their desired outcomes.