Executive Summary

Civic Environmentalism in Action: A Field Guide to Regional and Local Initiatives is designed to help policymakers at all levels of government create innovative, place-based solutions to local and regional environmental problems. It examines five successful case studies--two each in the policy areas of estuary restoration and endangered species protection, and one brownfields redevelopment case--to illustrate civic-environmental approaches to stewardship. These cases provide good models for decision-makers to use when creating policy solutions to environmental problems in their communities.

Civic environmentalism uses the power of place--a citizen's love for a certain place, be it where she lives, where she hikes, or simply where she goes to sit quietly and find some peace--as a foundation for innovative, dynamic collaborations among governments, citizens, and private companies. Because they are site-specific, civic environmental policies are better suited than command-and-control regulations to deal with certain issues, such as polluted runoff, habitat protection, and reuse of contaminated land.

Yet civic environmental policies also depend heavily on the foundation of federal and state environmental standards. These federal laws provide either a legal framework on which to build a consensus, as in the Chesapeake Bay Program, or a "stick" which can be avoided through local and state action, as the Wichita brownfields case illustrates. In addition, federal funding can be essential to the success of a project.

Civic Environmentalism in Action is organized to provide useful information clearly and concisely. Each case study lists the governmental innovation, the environmental results, and the lessons learned from the project. At the end of each of the main sections, "Actions for Decision-Makers" suggests ways in which federal, state, and local officials can use these lessons to craft solutions to local or regional environmental problems. A list of resources and contacts gives policy-makers some leads for more information. A list of general resources appears at the end of the report. Finally, for those who want more detail, the full case studies of each project are at the end of the guide. Some of the major lessons learned from the case studies include:

Partnerships:
Watershed Restoration

The Chesapeake Bay Program has gathered federal, state, and local policymakers together with the nonprofit and business communities to find cooperative, long-term solutions to the environmental stresses on the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries.

• Strong public support is the program's best asset.
• The program has identified clear and attainable goals.
• States and localities have flexibility in how to attain these goals.
• The federal Clean Water Act provides a statutory framework and funding mechanism.

The CALFED Bay-Delta Program was originally a task force of federal, state, and local officials to resolve water-allocation disputes. It now is a broader, publicly accountable collaborative effort to craft a long-term solution to the Sacramento/San Joaquin Bay-Delta's water-allocation and water-quality problems.

• Some water users have been willing to trade some of their allocations for more certainty in their overall supply.
• The state has regained its primacy in water quality decisions.
• Federal laws on endangered species, water quality, and water supply are being used as levers to promote compromise.
• A consensus decision is possible even in the face of scientific uncertainty.

Private Incentives/Public Interest:
Endangered Species Protection

The Coles Levee Ecosystem Preserve in California balances ecosystem conservation with resource extraction. ARCO has divided the preserve into conservation credits which it can sell to other developers needing conservation mitigation for their projects.

• Species conservation is made profitable for landowners.
• Industry and the state are cooperating to implement a solution.
• The preserve is self-sustaining.

The Sandhills Safe Harbor is an agreement between private landowners, the State of North Carolina, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service which allows property owners to continue economic activity as long as the population of red-cockaded woodpeckers on their land remains stable.

• Safe Harbor reduces property owners' fear of unfair government intervention.
• State government is a partner with landowners in habitat protection.
• Regulatory certainty translates into market advantage.

Community Involvement:
Brownfields Redevelopment

The Gilbert-Mosley Brownfield Program in Wichita, Kansas, is cleaning up contaminated areas of the city, shoring up the tax base, and redeveloping tainted lands.

• The city used a federal hazardous-waste liability law as leverage.
• Stakeholders within the city have been involved from the beginning.
• The city is keeping the public informed of progress on site clean-up and has the public's trust.
• The city is working constructively with state and federal agencies and the private sector to forge site-specific clean-up plans.

Read the full report. (Adobe Acrobat.)

Marc K. Landy is a Professor of Political Science at Boston College and a Senior Fellow of the Gordon Public Policy Center at Brandeis University. Megan M. Susman is the policy analyst for the Progressive Policy Institute's Center for Innovation & the Environment. Debra S. Knopman is the Director of the Progressive Policy Institute's Center for Innovation & the Environment.