Endowment Expands Healthy Watersheds Work

In its landmark report, “Private Forests, Public Benefits” the USDA Forest Service identified the 15 watersheds across the nation most threatened by increased housing development.  “When we studied that report we were surprised to find that our own headquarters based in Greenville, SC, sat in the middle of the watershed rated as the 10th most threatened — the Saluda-Reedy watershed,” said U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities (the Endowment) President Carlton Owen.

In keeping with its broader, “Healthy Watersheds through Healthy Forests Initiative,” the Endowment announced a small, but targeted investment matching a grant provided by the Land Trust Alliance to support work at Greenville-based Upstate Forever.  The Clean Water Credits for Conservation project aims to develop and pilot a cost-effective program to protect and enhance private, working forest and agricultural lands while providing sustainable supplies of clean water in the Saluda-Reedy watershed.  Endowment Senior Vice President Peter Stangel, who leads the organization’s watersheds initiatives, notes that meanwhile, the Clean Water Credits project will become a candidate for inclusion in another project under the Endowment’s watersheds initiative — “Scoping Payments for Watershed Services with Agricultural and Forest Landowners in the U.S.”

The “scoping” project, funded by the USDA Office of Environmental Markets and the Endowment is led by Washington, DC-based EcoAgriculture Partners.  It is designed to inventory all payments for watershed services projects nationwide.  EcoAgriculture Partners is entering into the final stages of its work and has requested assistance from anyone aware of payments for watershed services projects anywhere in the U.S.  To learn more see:  Scoping Payment.