In March, EnviroIssues planned and facilitated the first-ever 2012 National Landscape Conservation Cooperatives workshop, held in Denver, Colorado.

As an initiative within the U.S. Department of the Interior, Landscape Conservation Cooperatives are tasked with linking science to management and coordinating efforts to respond to climate change at a landscape level.

The City of Portland is finding innovative ways to preserve urban environments, developing an ambitious program of “green streets” that manage stormwater on site through the use of vegetated facilities such as planters and swales. EnviroIssues has been working with the Bureau of Environmental Services and nine other city entities to identify challenges and opportunities related to green streets construction. We facilitate a cross-bureau green streets team, steering committee, and multiple technical subcommittees.

The Snohomish River Basin is one of the most urbanized and diverse watersheds in the Puget Sound region. Developing a plan to save salmon is no easy task. EnviroIssues helped King and Snohomish Counties develop a salmon conservation plan to comply with the Endangered Species Act listing as well as engaging the broader community in salmon recovery efforts.

With the goal of achieving and maintaining healthy conditions and ecological functions in its urban watersheds and waterways, the City of Portland has tackled a citywide watershed plan. We integrated with the city teams as we convened a broad-based watershed science policy advisory group to provide input to the city’s watershed approach, process, products, and strategies. The city asked EnviroIssues to continue to provide strategy, facilitation and administrative support for the group, based on our technical expertise and facilitation skills as well as familiarity with Portland-area watershed issues and Oregon water quality issues.