Update My Project Report   Prior Year Projects   Annual Summary   Grant Reports View: 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 All years to 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014   Grantees are expected to submit an initial report describing their project within one month of receiving funds. The report should then be updated as the project produces results and upon it's final completion.   American Farmland Trust Assessing the Economic Factors Driving Agricultural and Point Source Participation in Market-Based Ecosystem Trading Programs With the grant of $35,000 American Farmland Trust (AFT) received from the Alex. C. Walker Foundation in December 2008, AFT conducted two economic and market analyses to inform the design and launch of a private, market-based environmental trading system involving industrial facilities purchasing credits from farmers. The grant was critical for laying the foundation for launching the Conservation Marketplace of Minnesota, a multi-partner water quality trading market that brings together corporations, municipalities, and private landowners to protect water quality and restore wildlife habitat on agricultural land. Walker Foundation funding supported: 1) An analysis of the private market demand for ecosystem service credits in the watershed (i.e., the economic factors influencing industry's motivation to purchase environment credits from farmers); and 2) An analysis of the supply side for ecosystem service credits (i.e. the ability and inclination of farmers to produce sell credits). Investigates the causes of economic imbalances. Explores and develops market-based solutions. Setting Uniform Baselines for Water Quality Trading Markets As the 8-state Ohio River Basin Water Quality Trading Project – the first interstate water quality trading market of its kind in the United States – is about to begin launching pilot trades between point sources and farmers in the region, there is an imminent need to establish a uniform baseline to support interstate trades. AFT proposes to analyze the impacts of different approaches to baseline issues in water quality trading markets from the standpoint of agriculture (the nonpoint source credit sellers) and then use this analysis to develop and reach consensus on a defensible, uniform baseline for the Ohio River Basin Water Quality Trading Market to support interstate trades. The work AFT proposes and its analysis will provide clarity and conformity concerning the required level of conservation that a farmer must meet in order to be able to generate a tradable conservation credit in this large-scale regional market. Investigates causes tending to destroy or impair the free-market system. Explores and develops market-based solutions.   American Forest Foundation Conservation Incentives (CI): Increasing the use of market-based approaches to conserve and enhance ecosystem services on private lands. Under a grant from the Walker Foundation to the American Forest Foundation (AFF) in 2010, project lead Todd Gartner conducted three market-based efforts: 1) convening an Ecosystem Markets Conference; 2) developing an ecosystem market pilot for the Gopher Tortoise in the southeast US; and 3) creating a payment for watershed services program in New England. In 2010, Todd moved on to lead the conservation incentives and markets program at the World Resources Institute (WRI) www.wri.org but remained lead on the efforts highlighted above. He continues to work in close collaboration with AFF. Explores and develops market-based solutions.   Breakthrough Institute Breakthrough Institute - The Next Generation of Nuclear Policy Next generation nuclear reactors have the potential to lead a nuclear renaissance in the United States that could help power the globe with zero-carbon energy. But the existing policy and regulatory framework is outdated, built during the Cold War for old nuclear reactor designs, and is ill suited to support the development of new reactors that could be sold on the open market. Moreover, nuclear energy faces stiff challenges in terms of cost and politics. The Breakthrough Institute proposes to research and develop a federal policy framework for next generation nuclear energy, based on an assessment of new technologies, economic viability, and political feasibility. Alongside our analysis, we will work with experts from different political perspectives to craft a policy proposal with bipartisan appeal. Explores and develops market-based solutions.   Cape Cod Commercial Hook Fishermen's Association Ensuring Catch Share Implementation in New England's Groundfish Fishery New England’s groundfish fishery, which includes cod, haddock, pollock, & flounders, has been struggling to rebuild depleted fish populations for decades. Current management measures have proved ineffective. CCCHFA, in partnership with other Walker Foundation grantees, is leading a regional shift to market-based catch share management. The unexpected level of regional demand for catch share management has immobilized the regulators as they face resource limitations. The emerging political issues related to the timely implementation of catch shares require CCCHFA to be flexible in working with the regulators to develop solutions that will continue making progress. Discretionary support from the Walker Foundation has allowed CCCHFA to convene and mobilize stakeholders, program partners, Council members and staff, and government employees as needed to re-mobilize the adaptation of catch shares. Explores and develops market-based solutions. Integrated Catch-Based Management of Northeast Fisheries to Reduce Wasteful At-Sea Discarding This 'Fisheries Integration Initiative' seeks to promote effective fisheries management solutions for New England. Recent changes to the management of New England’s groundfish fishery have been well-documented. However, among the most important and widely overlooked consequences of the new groundfish management plan is its unintended impacts on other demersal (bottom-living) fish stocks, including monkfish, skates and dogfish. Without quick action, these issues threaten to undermine the primary goal of this initiative, which is to end overfishing and protect our region’s fisheries resources. The most effective solution is to integrate the management of all demersal stocks with the groundfish plan (an approach similar to British Columbia’s multispecies groundfish fishery). The longer the management of these over-lapping fisheries remains segregated, the more risk there is to currently healthy stocks and the harder it will ultimately be to transition to ecosystem-based management. Investigates causes tending to destroy or impair the free-market system. Explores and develops market-based solutions.   Center for Climate and Energy Solutions (Strategies for the Global Environment) A Carbon Tax in the U.S.: Design and Distributional Issues The objective of this project is to develop a high-level report outlining key considerations for policymakers for designing and implementing a carbon tax policy in the United States. Investigates the causes of economic imbalances. Explores and develops market-based solutions.   Cook Inletkeeper Internalizing the Hidden Costs of Coal: A Case Study of the Proposed Chuitna Coal Project, Cook Inlet, Alaska Alaska possesses roughly half the nation's coal reserves, and with rising energy demand, Asian countries increasingly look to Alaska coal reserves for "cheap" and abundant fuel sources. The Chuitna coal mine in Southcentral Alaska, if approved, will secure the markets and install the infrastructure that will transform Alaska into a major coal export province. Yet Cook Inlet fisheries generate over $1 billion a year in economic activity, and the Chuitna coal mine would mine through 11 miles of salmon streams and discharge nearly 2 billion gallons a year of mine waste into fish habitat. Investigates the causes of economic imbalances. Leveling the Playing Field for Oil & Gas Development in Alaska: An Economic Study on the Subsidies Provided by Dismantlement, Removal and Restoration (DR&R) Rules for Industry Infrastructure. This project will address specific economic imbalances found in oil and gas development by highlighting the externalities surrounding bonding and removal costs for industry infrastructure (e.g., offshore platforms, pipelines, etc.) in Alaska’s Cook Inlet. This innovative pilot project will serve as model for internalizing DR&R costs in the Alaska Artic and elsewhere. Investigates the causes of economic imbalances.   Coral Restoration Foundation, Inc Community Based Coral Reef Restoration in Bonaire, NA This is a community-based coral reef restoration project in Bonaire, Netherlands Antilles. The project is initially being funded by voluntary “bed taxes” collected from visiting guests by local dive resorts. Additional funding is provided through this grant from the Walker Foundation. The project is supporting the establishment of an offshore coral nursery program to grow corals for use in coastal coral reef restoration projects. The Coral Restoration Foundation (CRF) staff will provide education and hands-on training for local scientists and dive operators on how to grow corals in offshore nurseries, how to transplant them to the nearby degraded reefs, and how to care for them after they have been planted. CRF will also assist local groups to set up training programs for visiting divers and university students to help with all aspects of maintaining the nursery, outplanting nursery-grown corals to the reef, and restoration maintenance operations. Explores and develops market-based solutions.   Critical Review Foundation Conference on Political Ignorance and Dogmatism Through its scholarly journal, Critical Review, the Critical Review Foundation has pioneered a new approach to understanding modern politics, in which ignorance is treated as the default position of voters, political activists, media personnel, and policy makers; and unintentional bias in politics and policy is hypothesized to be a common result. A cohort of seven young scholars who have been influenced by this approach engaged in six hours of public dialogue with ten eminent scholars from political science and other fields at a Conference on Political Ignorance and Dogmatism, held in Boston on August 31, 2008, with the assistance of the Walker Foundation. The comments of Scott Althaus, author of Collective Preferences in Democratic Politics (Cambridge University Press), were representative: “What a wonderful experience! It was among the very best scholarly interchanges that I’ve ever attended….All in all, I consider this to have been a smashing success.” Investigates causes tending to destroy or impair the free-market system. Causes of the Financial Crisis Critical Review published a special double issue, republished as a book, in which scholars examined the causes of the financial crisis from a wide variety of perspectives. The issue treated different causes, ranging from monetary and housing policy to bank-capital regulations, and produced a comprehensive theory of the crisis as being due to regulatory failure of a new sort: the interaction of different regulations, originating as far back as 1936 and covering different industries. This failure was thus totally unpredictable, but has ominous implications for the future, given the immense proliferation of regulations in every industry. Investigates the causes of economic imbalances. Investigates the effect of the global financial system and/or the monetary system in fostering a sustainable economy. Investigates causes tending to destroy or impair the free-market system. Explores and develops market-based solutions.   Defenders of Wildlife “Stakeholder Meeting on Red Wolf Ecotourism in North Carolina” Defenders of Wildlife (Defenders) hosted a stakeholder meeting to develop a red wolf-based ecotourism plan for communities located in rural northeastern North Carolina. The one-day meeting focused on formulating strategies to initiate the next steps the local community must take to make ecotourism a viable means of economic development. Investigates the causes of economic imbalances. Explores and develops market-based solutions. The Application of Ecosystem Service Markets to the Conservation of Red Wolf Habitat in North Carolina: A Local Effort with National Implications The project centers on exploring and developing private market solutions to public wildlife conservation goods. Key project objectives are to (1) identify specific ecosystem services associated with the conservation of red wolves and their habitat; (2) quantify the economic market and non-market benefits that may flow from the continued provision of these services; (3) identify private and/or public incentive or income transfer mechanisms that would allow landowners to capture the benefits of services provided from their land; (4) begin to link protection of red wolf habitat to national or state resource conservation programs that promote market approaches to conservation; and (5) provide a model for implementing ecosystem service payments for wildlife habitat that can be replicated in other areas of the country. Investigates the causes of economic imbalances. Investigates the effect of the global financial system and/or the monetary system in fostering a sustainable economy. Explores and develops market-based solutions. The Application of Ecosystem Service Markets to the Conservation of Red Wolf Habitat in North Carolina: A Local Effort with National Implications This two part project is in Phase II consisting of the following three tasks: 1) Quantifying the economic value of selected ecosystem service benefits associated with conserving red wolf habitat, including carbon storage on agricultural and undeveloped lands; 2) quantifying the economic value of open space property value premiums and recreation; 3) conducting a cash flow analysis associated with the provision of these services from private agricultural lands, and identifying and promoting policy proposals for the implementation of market-based incentives that link protection of red wolf habitat to national or state resource conservation programs. Investigates the causes of economic imbalances. Investigates the effect of the global financial system and/or the monetary system in fostering a sustainable economy. Explores and develops market-based solutions. Facilitating the Development of a Private Voluntary Market for Red Wolf Habitat Credits: Identifying Buyers and Designing a Trading Platform This project will build upon Defenders’ previous ecosystem services and marketing work in areas supporting red wolf habitat by identifying potential buyers of red wolf habitat credits within a voluntary market framework. The project will also help identify and facilitate the development of a market structure for such transactions within which local landowners as the suppliers of credits can participate and generate income from their habitat and species conservation efforts. This project will leverage, complement and expand the private market-oriented habitat conservation incentive mechanisms that Defenders developed or is developing: ecotourism, and payments for ecosystem services such as carbon sequestration and water quality. The project effort to identify potential buyers of red wolf habitat credits and facilitate market development will benefit from Defenders initiatives in other grant-funded projects at both the regional and national levels. Investigates the causes of economic imbalances. Investigates the effect of the global financial system and/or the monetary system in fostering a sustainable economy. Explores and develops market-based solutions.   Dogwood Alliance Carbon Canopy Dogwood Alliance received a a $15,000 grant from the Alex C. Walker Foundation for its Carbon Canopy Project which is bringing together diverse stakeholders ranging from private landowners and environmental groups to multinational corporations to develop market-based solutions to conserve forests and expand ecosystem services on private lands in the Southern US. Carbon Canopy, is leveraging the greening of the US marketplace into a source of revenue for landowners that commit to manage working forests for long-term carbon sinks under FSC forest management and Climate Action Reserve (CAR) carbon accounting protocols tied to conservation easements. Explores and develops market-based solutions. Carbon Canopy The Carbon Canopy joins together, under a single common umbrella, a diverse collection of stakeholders ranging from private landowners and environmental groups to multi-national corporations working together to develop innovative market-based solutions to conserve and expand ecosystem services on private forest lands in the Southern US. The Carbon Canopy is currently developing working forest carbon projects based on rigorous environmental standards with southern forest landowners to support the expansion of forest restoration, conservation and FSC certification in the Southeastern US, beginning with the Southern Appalachian region. . Explores and develops market-based solutions.   Economics Department, Brown University Experimental Study of Preferences Over the Distribution of Income We conducted twenty decision-making experiments in which 345 undergraduate students and 55 adult subjects participated. Subjects were assigned unequal pre-tax incomes mirroring the distribution of income in the United States, then made decisions about the extent, if any, to which incomes should be redistributed by taxation, under varying tax costs, degrees of efficiency and incentive (administrative) costs, and determinants of initial income. Results suggest willingness to pay to lessen inequality among other individuals, but largely self-interested voting when own income is at stake. Investigates the causes of economic imbalances. Investigates causes tending to destroy or impair the free-market system.   Environmental Defense Fund Creating Economic Incentives for Tropical Forest Preservation: Compensated Reduction Tropical forest destruction contributes to several global environmental problems, including climate change, releasing up to 20% of total global greenhouse gas emissions. Compensated Reduction (CR) is an innovative mechanism enabling nations that reduce deforestation to be compensated through the emerging global carbon market. This project will provide the research and analysis needed to create a successful CR program and assess market design options. Explores and develops market-based solutions. Safeguarding New England's Groundfish Fishery and Marine Ecosystem through Market-based Management Programs New England's groundfish fishery is in dire need of recovery and reform, with many stocks overfished. Environmental Defense, along with partner groups, seeks to secure increased resources and provide expert advice for implementing a market-based management system of catch shares to improve the ecological and economic health of the fishery. Explores and develops market-based solutions. Safeguarding Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish through Market-based Management Many stocks in the Gulf of Mexico's reef fish fishery (including red snapper, grouper, amberjack and vermilion snapper) are in trouble, with some classified as overfished. In January 2007, Walker Foundation support helped implement a new market-based management program of catch shares, called individual fishing quotas (IFQs), for Gulf red snapper, bringing new promise for fishery and fishing industry recovery. An IFQ for grouper/tilefish has now been approved and is set for implementation in January 2010. The Gulf Council has also initiated a process to include all remaining reef fish in the IFQ. Explores and develops market-based solutions. Safeguarding New England's Groundfish Fishery and Marine Ecosystem through Market-based Management Programs Recently published research (Science, 9/18/2008) that looked at data from 11,000 fisheries worldwide from 1950 to 2003 found that fisheries that were managed through “catch share” cap-and-trade systems halted and even reversed steep population declines, while traditionally managed fisheries did not. Environmental Defense Fund, along with partner groups, seeks to replace failed “days-at-sea” regulations for New England’s declining marine fisheries with this proven market-based solution to improve their ecological and economic health and resilience. After more than 2 years of development, a plan known as Amendment 16 is almost ready; it will will give fishermen the option to continue under the current regulatory system or join a market-based sector. Explores and develops market-based solutions. Climate Treasure: Bringing Tropical Forest Credits into the Global Carbon Market Tropical deforestation releases up to 20% of total global greenhouse gas emissions—roughly equivalent to the fossil fuel emissions of the United States. If rainforest nations had economic incentives to protect their forests—if their forests were worth more alive than dead—we could keep more than 300 billion tons of carbon out of the atmosphere, sustain critical global ecosystems, alleviate poverty in developing nations, and provide early and important value to the world’s carbon markets. We propose to continue our work on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD). The most significant breakthrough with regard to our REDD policy objectives was Brazil’s announcement of a deforestation reduction target of 70% within ten years, below the average annual deforestation of the decade from 1996 – 2005, or 19,500 km² per year. Explores and develops market-based solutions. Safeguarding New England's Groundfish Fishery and Marine Ecosystem through Market-based Management Programs Recently published research (Science, 9/18/2008) that looked at data from 11,000 fisheries worldwide from 1950 to 2003 found that fisheries that were managed through “catch share” cap-and-trade systems halted and even reversed steep population declines, while traditionally managed fisheries did not. Environmental Defense Fund, along with partner groups, seeks to replace failed “days-at-sea” regulations for New England’s declining marine fisheries with this proven market-based solution to improve their ecological and economic health and resilience. Explores and develops market-based solutions. Safeguarding Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish through Market-based Management Many stocks in the Gulf of Mexico's reef fish fishery (including red snapper, grouper, amberjack, grey triggerfish, yellowtail and vermilion snapper) are in trouble, with some classified as overfished. EDF and Gulf fishermen helped design and implement a new market-based management program of catch shares, called individual fishing quotas (IFQs), which was implemented for commercial red snapper in January 2007. The IFQ program has shown significant and immediate ecological and economic benefits. As a result of this success and the efforts of EDF and allies, a new IFQ program will be implemented in January 2010 for several valuable commercial grouper and tilefish species. However, other species in the complex are in need of similar reforms, and until all reef fish are managed under IFQs, needless bycatch and economic waste will impede the full conservation and business benefits that market-based management offer. EDF is working to bring IFQs to the full Gulf reef fish complex. Explores and develops market-based solutions. Regulating the Carbon Market: Designing sound rules to transition to a low carbon economy Passage of climate legislation will mark the beginning, not the end, of the effort to design a sound, market-based system for incentivizing transitioning U.S. to a low-carbon, high efficiency (LCHE) economy. This project will produce the analytic and consultative work needed to design the regulatory framework necessary to oversee and support an effective, transparent national carbon market. Explores and develops market-based solutions. Safeguarding New England's Groundfish Fishery and Marine Ecosystem through Market-based Management Programs Under the Obama Administration, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has embraced "catch share" management as the most profitable, effective way to end overfishing and restore the nation's marine fisheries. Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), in partnership with industry, non-profit partners and NOAA, is working to help New England fishermen successfully transition to catch shares in New England's troubled marine fisheries. Explores and develops market-based solutions. Plugging the generation gap: Developing a proactive national policy for low-carbon electricity generation Any efforts at reducing US greenhouse gases (GHGs) must squarely address the electric power sector, which accounts for over one-third of the nation’s GHG emissions. Nearly half of the nation’s electricity generation—and more than 80% of power sector GHG emissions—comes from coal-fired power plants, many built more than half a century ago. Retiring those plants will be critical to reducing carbon emissions. In addition, half the nation’s nuclear reactors—accounting now for nearly 10% of the country’s electricity — will come up for retirement during the decade 2030-2039. While a number of lower-emitting technologies are available—including natural gas, nuclear, and renewable sources—none is a panacea. EDF will conduct a focused analytical effort to spotlight the coming “generation gap” and to explore options for how to address it, with an emphasis on market-based policies that create economic incentives to accelerate the development and deployment of new low-carbon technologies. Explores and develops market-based solutions. Safeguarding Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish through Market-based Management The Gulf of Mexico commercial reef fishery is a success story for ending overfishing, increasing value by 80% and slashing discards by 70%. The fishery was transformed through catch share management combining conservation incentives with economic viability. But sea turtles captured in the fishery are in decline, and new rules may not save them even as they reduce catch share benefits. EDF proposes to work with the reef fish fleet to create the world’s first market-based model for improving sea turtle conservation while increasing the fishery’s value. Explores and develops market-based solutions.   Environmental Law & Policy Center of the Midwest Environmental Law and Policy Center and Carbon Tax Center - Market-Based Approaches to Reduce Carbon Emissions The Environmental Law and Policy Center (“ELPC”), in conjunction with the Carbon Tax Center (“CTC”), is analyzing the economic impacts and efficacy of the major market-based (carbon-pricing) mechanisms for stabilizing and reducing emissions of greenhouse gases: cap-and-trade systems and revenue-neutral taxes. Our analysis utilizes the nine-state region in ELPC’s charter: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin. This is both large enough to be meaningful in terms of overall U.S. policy and impacts, and small enough to capture impacts and serve as a test case. Investigates the causes of economic imbalances. Investigates the effect of the global financial system and/or the monetary system in fostering a sustainable economy. Investigates causes tending to destroy or impair the free-market system. Explores and develops market-based solutions.   Foundation for Research on Economics and the Environment (FREE) Environmental Economics for Religious Leaders Economics teaches us how the market process, including voluntary organizations, can help us achieve our environmental goals. It also tells us that choices among competing values are indeed necessary in the environmental arena as they are in every other sector of society. The exploration of trade-off is a fundamental part of economic analysis. This project explores and develops market-based solutions to environmental problems with an important audience: religious leaders. With them we will explore how economic analysis may be used to examine environmental policy alternatives, in a manner that minimizes unintended, negative consequences, while maximizing positive impact on the environment. Explores and develops market-based solutions. Seminar Series on Environmental Economics, Science, and Policy Analysis for Federal Judges and Law Professors FREE’s programs are the only ones for the federal judiciary dealing explicitly with the economic, scientific, and policy implications of environmental issues. September 10–15 The Environmental Consequences of Energy Use: Policies for Progress October 8–13 From Terrorism to Tornados: Mitigating Disruptions to Civil Liberties and the Economy Program agendas are posted on our web site. Investigates the causes of economic imbalances. Investigates causes tending to destroy or impair the free-market system. Explores and develops market-based solutions. Seminar Series on Environmental Economics, Science, and Policy Analysis for Federal Judges and Law Professors. The fundamental objective of this program is to explain to important decision makers and opinion leaders (Article III federal judges and law professors) how the application of economic principles and the market process can foster environmental quality. Explores and develops market-based solutions. Conference Series on Environmental Economics for Federal Judges, State Supreme Court Justices, and Law Professors. In 2008 FREE offered two conferences. The first was Climate Change, Economics, & the Courts. The second is Terrorism, Civil Liberty, & National Security. The fundamental objective of these conferences was to explain how basic economic principles and the free market process can foster environmental quality. Investigates causes tending to destroy or impair the free-market system. Explores and develops market-based solutions. FREE’s conference series in Environmental Stewardship and Economics for Religious Leaders. This year’s offering, “Breakthrough: Ethics, Economics, & the Environment” was held September 8-12. The fundamental objective of this program was to explain to religious leaders how economic analysis and the free market process can help further environmental ends while avoiding unintended, negative consequences. Explores and develops market-based solutions. Conference Series on Environmental Economics for Federal Judges, State Supreme Court Justices, and Law Professors. In 2009 FREE offered two conferences in our series for federal judges, state supreme-court justices, and law professors. The first was, “Science, Health, Nanotechnology” & the Law and the second is “Terrorism, Civil Liberty, & National Security.” Investigates causes tending to destroy or impair the free-market system. Explores and develops market-based solutions. Conference Series on Economics, Science, and Policy Analysis for Federal Judges, State Supreme Court Justices, and Law Professors. In 2010 FREE offered two conferences in our series, "Economics, Science, and Policy Analysis", to federal judges, state supreme-court justices, and law professors. The first was, “Personal Health Care Choices & Public Policy” and the second was “Terrorism, Civil Liberty, & National Security.” FREE brought economic and ethical perspectives on each of these troublesome topics to an important audience. Investigates causes tending to destroy or impair the free-market system. Explores and develops market-based solutions.   Georgia Aquarium Walker Conservation Fellow The Walker Conservation Fellow will perform all of the steps required to develop a Marine Payment for Ecosystem Services (MPES) scheme in the Upper Florida Keys, allowing reef restoration activities to become financially self sustaining. This model has the potential to be replicated in the competitive marketplace restoring reefs to their former conditions as havens of biodiversity. The fellow will work with state and local authorities, non-profit organizations, area businesses and other interested parties to perform a MPES feasibility assessment for coral restoration in the Florida Keys. Additionally, Georgia Aquarium will amplify its current Tropical Diver display to inform our guests of the importance of protecting and restoring coral, based upon the work of our project partner, CRF. The fellow’s work will be shared through educational programs school students and presented through a blog, website, Facebook, Twitter, and other educational components of the Georgia Aquarium. Investigates the causes of economic imbalances. Investigates the effect of the global financial system and/or the monetary system in fostering a sustainable economy. Investigates causes tending to destroy or impair the free-market system. Explores and develops market-based solutions.   Gulf of Maine Research Institute FISHTANK: Designing A New Model for Groundfish Management FishTank is an effort to bring together the New England’s ground fishing community to develop a common understanding of alternative management strategies (including the use of market incentives) and collectively articulate one or more preferred options to the New England Fisheries Management Council for consideration as the Council develops a new management plan for the region. This is a stakeholder-driven initiative that grows out of a monthly discussion forum hosted by the Gulf of Maine Research Institute over the past year. Investigates the causes of economic imbalances. Explores and develops market-based solutions. Designing a Monitoring and Reporting System to Support Market-Based Approaches to Fishery Management in New England Support from the Alex C. Walker Foundation in 2008 enabled the Gulf of Maine Research Institute to take a lead role in supporting the transition of the New England groundfish fishery to harvesting cooperatives called sectors (a type of catch share management). GMRI provided sector members and policymakers with a clear analysis of the options and costs of phasing in a new system to enable timely and accurate monitoring of each group’s catch. In June 2009, the New England Fishery Management Council authorized the creation of 16 new sectors, marking a significant shift toward a market-based approach to managing fisheries. The new rules will take effect in May 2010. Explores and develops market-based solutions. Improving Fishing Profitability Through Sustainable Fishing In 2009 the Gulf of Maine Research Institute (GMRI) received funding from the Alex C. Walker Foundation to demonstrate the novel application of an Environmental Management System (EMS) in a US commercial fishery. This gift matches an unusual challenge grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. Explores and develops market-based solutions. Development of a low-impact semi-pelagic (LISP) trawl The purpose of this project is to support fishermen in New England’s struggling ground fish fishery in the purchase of environmentally friendly semi-pelagic trawl doors and a fuel flow meter. The scope of work has evolved significantly since original proposal submission primarily because the necessary funding was not available. In response, the Alex C Walker foundation granted GMRI permission to redirect available funds toward a novel financing model designed to support uptake of gear modifications by fishermen struggling to survive the dual impacts of reduced landings of cod and other ground fish and increasing fishing costs. The project also creates an opportunity to realize a seldom achieved twin benefit of increased profitability and reduced environmental impact – in a previous study GMRI compared semi-pelagic trawl doors and traditional bottom tending doors and found a fuel saving of 10% and a reduction in seabed contact of 95%. Explores and develops market-based solutions.   Gund Institute for Ecological Economics Vermont Green Tax and Common Assets Project-2005 Green taxes involve increasing resource, land, and pollution taxes, and simultaneously decreasing taxes on productive items such as wages, income, and sales. They can also be used to pay dividends to the public. Green taxes create a market incentive for consumers and producers to choose a more environmentally clean product or service, thus fostering environmental accountability. The ultimate goal of this project is to provide detailed research materials and information to policymakers in Vermont in order to implement a green tax program for Vermont. Part of this project also includes development of a Vermont Common Assets Permanent Fund modeled after the Alaska Permanent Fund. Investigates the causes of economic imbalances. Investigates causes tending to destroy or impair the free-market system. Explores and develops market-based solutions. Vermont Green Tax and Common Assets Project-2007 Our overall goal and expected result continues to be the implementation of globally successful market incentive mechanisms such as green taxes and common asset payments to achieve environmental sustainability, economic efficiency, and equity in Vermont. Our primary fourth year goal is to publish and present our finding in conferences, legislative testimony and other forums. We plan to continue research on quantifying common asset and green tax revenue available in Vermont, utilizing a cadre of 10-15 UVM students working on the project. Investigates the causes of economic imbalances. Investigates causes tending to destroy or impair the free-market system. Explores and develops market-based solutions. Vermont Green Tax and Common Assets Project-2009 The Vermont Green Tax and Common Assets Project researches, educates and disseminates information on recovery of unearned income from common assets such as the monetary system, speculation, land, minerals, spectrum and other resources. In addition we investigate green taxes on throughput including depletion, land use, and pollution, which are ignored by market economics. These sources of income are a better alternative to taxing productive activities such as income, wages, excise, sales and building construction that create disincentives to productivity. By taking the profit out of speculation in finance, land, and natural resources, investment is directed towards real production and real goods. Additionally, we investigate the feasibility of redirecting some income from common assets to citizens in the form of a dividend, similar to the Alaska Permanent Fund annual dividend which contributes to Alaska’s standing as the state with the lowest level of wealth inequality in the U.S. Investigates the causes of economic imbalances. Investigates the effect of the global financial system and/or the monetary system in fostering a sustainable economy. Investigates causes tending to destroy or impair the free-market system. Explores and develops market-based solutions. Green Tax and Common Assets Project-2010 The Vermont Green Tax and Common Assets Project researches, educates and disseminates information on recovery of unearned income from common assets such as the monetary system, speculation, land, minerals, spectrum and other resources. In addition we investigate green taxes on throughput including depletion, land use, and pollution, which are ignored by market economics. These sources of income are a better alternative to taxing productive activities such as income, wages, excise, sales and building construction that create disincentives to productivity. By taking the profit out of speculation in finance, land, and natural resources, investment is directed towards real production and real goods. Additionally, we investigate the feasibility of redirecting some income from common assets to citizens in the form of a dividend, similar to the Alaska Permanent Fund annual dividend which contributes to Alaska’s standing as the state with the lowest level of wealth inequality in the U.S. Investigates the causes of economic imbalances. Investigates the effect of the global financial system and/or the monetary system in fostering a sustainable economy. Investigates causes tending to destroy or impair the free-market system. Explores and develops market-based solutions. Green Tax and Common Assets Project The Vermont Green Tax and Common Assets Project researches, educates and disseminates information on recovery of unearned income from common assets such as the monetary system, speculation, land, minerals, spectrum and other resources. In addition we investigate green taxes on throughput including depletion, land use, and pollution, which are ignored by market economics. These sources of income are a better alternative to taxing productive activities such as income, wages, excise, sales and building construction that create disincentives to productivity. By taking the profit out of speculation in finance, land, and natural resources, investment is directed towards real production and real goods. Additionally, we investigate the feasibility of redirecting some income from common assets to citizens in the form of a dividend, similar to the Alaska Permanent Fund annual dividend which contributes to Alaska’s standing as the state with the lowest level of wealth inequality in the U.S. Investigates the causes of economic imbalances. Investigates the effect of the global financial system and/or the monetary system in fostering a sustainable economy. Investigates causes tending to destroy or impair the free-market system. Explores and develops market-based solutions. Green Tax and Common Assets Project The Vermont Green Tax and Common Assets Project researches, educates and disseminates information on recovery of unearned income from common assets such as the monetary system, speculation, land, minerals, spectrum and other resources. In addition we investigate green taxes on throughput including depletion, land use, and pollution, which are ignored by market economics. These sources of income are a better alternative to taxing productive activities such as income, wages, excise, sales and building construction that create disincentives to productivity. By taking the profit out of speculation in finance, land, and natural resources, investment is directed towards real production and real goods. Additionally, we investigate the feasibility of redirecting some income from common assets to citizens in the form of a dividend, similar to the Alaska Permanent Fund annual dividend which contributes to Alaska’s standing as the state with the lowest level of wealth inequality in the U.S. Investigates the causes of economic imbalances. Investigates the effect of the global financial system and/or the monetary system in fostering a sustainable economy. Investigates causes tending to destroy or impair the free-market system. Explores and develops market-based solutions.   Human Arts Association PANDORA'S PROMISE PANDORA'S PROMISE will be a feature-length documentary about the history and development of nuclear power and the current debate surrounding its revival as a means of averting a climate catastrophe. The film will be structured around key interviews with leading environmentalists, energy experts and former anti-nuclear activists who have undergone (or are undergoing) a conversion to nuclear power as a necessary and vital component to our future alternative energy mix. The film aims to use the heated debate surrounding nuclear power as a vehicle for taking a realistic and comprehensive look at the worlds energy dilemma, for examining the true costs of our current addiction to fossil fuels, and relative merits of the alternatives from an economic, technological and environmental perspective. Explores and develops market-based solutions.   Institute for Justice Hands Off My Home! Launched in 2005 in response to the U.S. Supreme Court's heartbreaking 5-4 decision in Kelo v. City of New London, the Hands Off My Home Campaign trains home and small business owners to defend their property from eminent domain abuse. As part of this campaign we assess and monitor the eminent domain situation in each state, draft model legislation, testify before legislative committees, review pending bills, generate media around legislation, and mobilize grassroots support. Investigates causes tending to destroy or impair the free-market system. Hands Off My Home! The Hands Off My Home campaign continued in 2007 to advocate state reform of eminent domain laws. Since the Kelo ruling, 42 states passed new laws aimed at curbing the abuse of eminent domain for private use—11 in 2007 alone. Investigates causes tending to destroy or impair the free-market system. Explores and develops market-based solutions. Hands Off My Home! Since the Kelo decision in 2005, the Hands Off My Home campaign, through our training, public education, and advocacy, has saved over 16,000 homes and businesses from eminent domain abuse. A key component of the campaign is to provide a unique and principled perspective to legislators at every level of government on how to better protect the property rights of Americans. To date, we have successfully advocated for reform in 43 states. Investigates causes tending to destroy or impair the free-market system. Explores and develops market-based solutions. Hands Off My Home! The Hands Off My Home campaign effects significant and substantial reforms of state and local eminent domain laws. While we are not a lobbying firm, we do provide a unique and principled perspective to legislators at every level of government on how to better protect the property rights of Americans. Launched in June 2005—just days after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the federal Constitution allows government to use its power of eminent domain to generate more tax revenue—we employ a strategic approach, using legislative counseling, grassroots organization, social science research, and media relations to increase protections for property owners nationwide. Investigates causes tending to destroy or impair the free-market system. Explores and develops market-based solutions. Taking Private Property for Law Enforcement Profit Civil asset forfeiture threatens the property rights of all Americans. These laws allow the police to seize your home, car, cash, or other property upon the mere suspicion that it has been used or involved in criminal activity. Civil forfeiture is a legal fiction that permits law enforcement to charge property with a crime. Unlike criminal forfeiture, where property is taken away only after its owner has been found guilty in a court of law, with civil forfeiture, owners need not be convicted of any crime to lose their property. The Institute for Justice is challenging this abuse in court and the court of public opinion to take the profit out of civil forfeiture and protect innocent owners caught up in an upside-down legal process that violates fundamental constitutional protections. Investigates causes tending to destroy or impair the free-market system. Taking Private Property for Law Enforcement Profit Civil asset forfeiture threatens the property rights of all Americans. These laws allow the police to seize your home, car, cash, or other property upon the mere suspicion that it has been used or involved in criminal activity. Civil forfeiture is a legal fiction that permits law enforcement to charge property with a crime. Unlike criminal forfeiture, where property is taken away only after its owner has been found guilty in a court of law, with civil forfeiture, owners need not be convicted of any crime to lose their property. The Institute for Justice is challenging this abuse in court and the court of public opinion to take the profit out of civil forfeiture and protect innocent owners caught up in an upside-down legal process that violates fundamental constitutional protections. Investigates causes tending to destroy or impair the free-market system. Preventing law enforcement from profiting by taking private property Civil forfeiture, the power of law enforcement to seize property under the mere suspicion that it has been involved in a criminal activity, is one of the biggest threats to private property rights in the nation today. Owners caught up in civil forfeiture proceedings do not need to be convicted or even accused of a crime to lose their property, and they typically must prove their property’s innocence in court in order for it to be returned. In addition, law enforcement agencies often get to keep a portion or all of the proceeds from these seizures, providing them with incentives to pursue property rather than criminals. The Institute for Justice is working to end this abuse of private property rights in the courts of law and the court of public opinion. Investigates causes tending to destroy or impair the free-market system.   Mt. Desert Island Biological Laboratory Securing Protection for Eelgrass Beds: Overcoming Economic Imbalances through Submerged Land Leases in Frenchman’s Bay and the Gulf of Maine Eelgrass beds in the subtidal zone along the Atlantic coastline provide vital but undervalued ecosystem services, yet their coverage has declined precipitously over the past twenty years. In areas with good water quality, this decline may be due primarily to dragging by commercial mussel harvesters. Working collaboratively with local community groups and a commercial mussel grower, the Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory (MDIBL) in Bar Harbor, Maine, has been restoring an eelgrass bed in a pilot project over the past three years while conducting scientific research on restoration techniques and the ecological value of eelgrass. MDIBL is now partnering with The Nature Conservancy to create a model for establishing conservation agreements based on a process that explores and develops market-based solutions in collaboration with local fishing communities and regulatory agencies. Investigates the causes of economic imbalances. Explores and develops market-based solutions. Protection for Eelgrass Beds: Overcoming Economic Imbalances through Marine Conservation Agreements and Community Involvement in Frenchman Bay and the Gulf of Maine Eelgrass beds along the coast of Maine provide vital ecosystem services, yet their coverage has declined in recent years. In areas with good water quality, this decline may be due primarily to commercial dragging. Working collaboratively with community partners, including a commercial mussel grower, the Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory (MDIBL) in Bar Harbor, Maine, has been restoring eelgrass beds in Frenchman Bay since 2007 while conducting research on restoration methods and the ecological value of restored eelgrass. Since there is no formal way to establish restoration areas in Maine, informal marine conservation agreements with local mussel harvesters make eelgrass restoration possible. MDIBL is now partnering with multiple stakeholders from the Frenchman Bay area to create a Conservation Action Plan for the bay. As an outcome of the plan, stakeholders will take responsibility for protecting the habitats that sustain the fisheries on which the local economy depends. Investigates the causes of economic imbalances. Explores and develops market-based solutions. Supplement: Protection for eelgrass beds: Overcoming Economic Imbalances through Marine Conservation Agreements and Community Involvement in Frenchman Bay and the Gulf of Maine The supplement amount was be used for outreach and education. After several meetings funded by the Alex C. Walker Foundation and Maine Coastal Program, Frenchman Bay Stakeholders decided to form a partnership~~The mission of the Frenchman Bay Partners is to ensure that the Frenchman Bay area is ecologically, economically and socially healthy and resilient in the face of future challenges. To that end, the FBP is creating an adaptive management plan for the bay. In order for the Frenchman Bay Plan to be a useful tool in managing bay resources, there has to be a lot of local buy-in. We have created a website that links to all partner websites, produced outreach materials for town officials, new partners, and the public, and hosted focus groups to garner feedback on the Frenchman Bay Plan. We are continuing our outreach to new partners through one-on-one interviews and a new Facebook page, and an e-newsletter. Investigates the causes of economic imbalances. Expanding Eelgrass Conservation in Frenchman Bay: Exploring Market-Based Solutions and New Partnerships The purpose of this project is to expand the eelgrass restoration project in Frenchman Bay (see map). We will use improved methods and formalize our conservation agreements with mussel harvesters to protect both restoration sites and areas from which we derive transplants. Eelgrass was identified by Frenchman Bay Partners as one of four conservation targets during a bay planning process in 2011. The Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory (MDIBL) has played a leadership role in the Frenchman Bay Partners since its inception, using our eelgrass restoration effort as a model for the types of collaborative projects that are possible in Frenchman Bay. Having learned about market-based strategies for coral reef restoration at a workshop in Key Largo earlier this year, MDIBL would like to bring one of the workshop participants to Mt. Desert Island to meet with the Frenchman Bay Partners and explore how a market-based approach might help conserve and protect habitats in Frenchman Bay. Investigates the causes of economic imbalances. Explores and develops market-based solutions.   National Wildlife Federation Grazing Retirement Project Our goal is to promote the conservation of wolves, grizzly bears, bison, bighorn sheep and other wildlife in the Yellowstone Ecosystem by eliminating chronic conflicts with domestic livestock. We will accomplish this by providing livestock permittees with an incentive payment in exchange for their agreement to permanently retire grazing allotments. Investigates causes tending to destroy or impair the free-market system. Explores and develops market-based solutions. Wildlife Conflict Resolution Project (Bacon Creek/Fish Creek grazing allotments) In coordination with federal land managers, NWF negotiates with livestock producers to retire livestock grazing allotments on public lands that experience chronic conflict with wildlife, especially wolves and grizzly bears. This market approach recognizes the economic value of livestock grazing permits and fairly compensates producers for retiring their leases. It also addresses the economic imbalance that exists because wildlife conservation interests are not allowed to compete with livestock producers for grazing leases on public lands. This approach establishes an important new national model for resolving conflicts between wildlife and livestock. Investigates the causes of economic imbalances. Investigates causes tending to destroy or impair the free-market system. Explores and develops market-based solutions. 2008 Wildlife Conflict Resolution Project/Dunoir Grazing Allotment NWF resolves conflict between wildlife and livestock through the market approach of compensating ranchers for retiring problematic grazing leases on federal land. Restoring populations of large predators, such as wolves and grizzlies, has been linked to recovering healthy, functioning ecosystems in the Northern Rockies. Thanks to the Walker Foundation and other funders, NWF has been able to retire 30 grazing allotments in the Yellowstone Ecosystem, totaling more than half a million acres. This approach establishes an important new national model for resolving conflicts between wildlife and livestock. Investigates the causes of economic imbalances. Investigates causes tending to destroy or impair the free-market system. Explores and develops market-based solutions. Grazing Retirement Auction on the C.M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge The National Wildlife Federation resolves conflict between wildlife and livestock through the market approach of compensating ranchers for retiring problematic grazing leases on federal land. Restoring populations of large predators, such as wolves and grizzlies, has been linked to recovering healthy, functioning ecosystems in the Northern Rockies. Thanks to the Walker Foundation and other funders, NWF has been able to retire 30 grazing allotments in the Yellowstone Ecosystem, totaling more than half a million acres. More recently, NWF has experimented with an auction concept to retire grazing permits on the C.M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge. This approach establishes an important new national model for resolving chronic conflicts between wildlife and livestock. Investigates the causes of economic imbalances. Investigates causes tending to destroy or impair the free-market system. Explores and develops market-based solutions. Wildlife Conflict Resolution Project (Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge) The National Wildlife Federation (NWF) resolves conflict between wildlife and livestock through the market approach of compensating ranchers for retiring problematic grazing leases on federal land. Restoring wildlife populations has been linked to recovering healthy, functioning ecosystems in the Northern Rockies. Thanks to the Walker Foundation and other funders, NWF has been able to retire 30 grazing allotments in the Yellowstone Ecosystem, totaling more than half a million acres. More recently, NWF experimented with an auction concept to retire grazing permits on the C.M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge (CMR). NWF has now retired 60,000 acres of important wildlife habitat on the CMR. This approach establishes an important new national model for resolving chronic conflicts between wildlife and livestock. Investigates the causes of economic imbalances. Investigates causes tending to destroy or impair the free-market system. Explores and develops market-based solutions. NWF Wildlife Conflict Resolution 2011-2012 The National Wildlife Federation (NWF) resolves conflict between wildlife and livestock through the market approach of compensating ranchers for retiring problematic grazing leases on federal land. Restoring wildlife populations has been linked to recovering healthy, functioning ecosystems in the Northern Rockies. Thanks to the Walker Foundation and other funders, NWF has been able to retire 33 grazing allotments (and the 34th pending) in the Yellowstone Ecosystem, totaling nearly 600,000 acres. NWF has also retired nearly 65,000 acres of important wildlife habitat on the Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge (CMR). This approach establishes an important new national model for resolving chronic conflicts between wildlife and livestock. Investigates the causes of economic imbalances. Investigates causes tending to destroy or impair the free-market system. Explores and develops market-based solutions.   National Wildlife Federation - Alaska Office Sustainable Tourism Certification Project - Prince William Sound Tourism is both the best economic hope for Prince William Sound residents and the greatest threat to the Prince William Sound environment and the quality of life of Prince William Sound communities. Unfortunately, current environmental regulations do not force tourism operators to bear the costs of their use of the Sound environment, and the market does not reward businesses that operate sustainably. The resulting economic imbalance is eroding the environmental health of Prince William Sound and the quality of life of Prince William Sound communities. This project creates a sustainable tourism operator certification and accompanying marketing infrastructure to encourage sustainable tourism and to build a powerful local constituency with a strong economic stake in protecting the Prince William Sound environment. Ultimately, it should be a model for certification nation-wide. Explores and develops market-based solutions. Prince William Sound Project: Building an Economic Foundation for Lasting Public Stewardship Tourism is both the best economic hope for Prince William Sound's residents and the greatest threat to its environment and quality of life. While tourism is likely to be the growth industry of the future, environmental policies do not force tourism operators to bear the costs of their use of Prince William Sound's environment and the market does not reward businesses that operate sustainably. Consequently, there is an economic imbalance that is eroding the environmental health of Prince William Sound and the quality of life of its communities. This project seeks to make sustainable tourism practices more profitable while demonstrating the connection between protecting the environment and a healthy economy. Explores and develops market-based solutions.   Oregon Water Trust 2005 - 2006 Water Rights Acquisition Program The Water Rights Acquisition Program increases stream flows for fish conservation, water quality improvements, or recreational use by purchasing, leasing or in other ways acquiring water rights (permits to take water from a stream) from voluntary sellers, mainly farmers, ranchers and private landowners. Our cooperative, free-market approach to water conservation balances the environmental needs of salmon (and other threatened fish species) with the economic needs of farmers and irrigators, and in doing so helps rural communities maintain their resource-focused industries while building local support for river and stream stewardship. Explores and develops market-based solutions.   PERC (Partnering with ED and Reason) Moving Forward with Rights-Based Fisheries This project entails a unique partnership in which PERC, Environmental Defense-Austin TX office and the Reason Public Policy Institute are applying their individual strengths to bring about positive change in ocean fisheries management through rights-based fishing. Toward this goal, the partners held three seminars for U.S. federal policy makers and produced three educational booklets covering different aspects of individual fishing quotas (IFQs) conducted site visits and a workshop on innovative strategies for managing shrimp fisheries in North America; provided technical support for applying IFQs to the red snapper fishery; carried out a feasibility study of applying rights-based management to the Galapagos' sea cucumber fishery; and carried out initial plans to explore the integration of island community tenure systems with marine reserves. Investigates the causes of economic imbalances. Explores and develops market-based solutions. New Initiatives for Rights-based Fishing. The project evaluates and disseminates the potential benefits of applying rights-based fishing to economically and environmentally troubled marine fisheries in the Gulf of Mexico. It also provides planning support for their application. Project efforts are directed at correcting current economic imbalances by applying market-based approaches. This is a collaborative effort involving the Property and Environment Research Center (PERC), Reason Public Policy Institute, and Environmental Defense (ED). Note: Total project approved is $60,000 with $25,000 paid in Feb, 2007 to project partner Environmental Defense. Investigates the causes of economic imbalances. Explores and develops market-based solutions.   Predator Conservation Alliance Wildlife Friendly Certification Project Predator Conservation Alliance's Wildlife Friendly Certification Project is exploring and developing market-based solutions that conserve and protect endangered wildlife around the world. The grant from the Walker Foundation supported an international Wildlife Friendly Summit held in Jacksonville, Florida, that brought together business leaders, entrepreneurs and wildlife biologists to investigate markets for wildlife-friendly products, and discuss ways to overcome perverse economic incentives and build fees for ecosystem services into the cost of producing goods. A report from this summit will be generated by the end of March. Investigates the causes of economic imbalances. Investigates the effect of the global financial system and/or the monetary system in fostering a sustainable economy. Investigates causes tending to destroy or impair the free-market system. Explores and develops market-based solutions.   Property and Environment Research Center (PERC) Market Approaches to Coral Reef Restoration: Investigating the Viability The Property and Environment Research Center (PERC) held a two-day workshop in Key Largo, FL on the viability of a market for coral reef restoration in the Florida Keys. The purpose of this event was to explore how voluntary agreements between reef users, conservationists, government, and private businesses might improve the stewardship and restoration of Florida’s coral reefs. Investigates the causes of economic imbalances. Explores and develops market-based solutions.   Reason Foundation Reform of Air Traffic Control System Conducted projects to build support for reform: 1) continued educational outreach to private pilots and environmental organizations; 2) a study to assess the feasibility of applying net-centric ATC technology to improving airport capacity, drawing on the expertise of industry professionals, technology experts and environmental groups. Explores and develops market-based solutions.   Recognizing the True Value of Greening Multi-family Affordable Housing: A Case Study and National Model Recognizing the True Value of Greening Multi-family Affordable Housing: A Case Study and National Model Through a case study approach, this project is a behind-the-scenes look at the decision making process and economics involved in the design and construction of a green, multi-family affordable housing project. We will use the case study to correct a market perception that green approaches cost more and are often inappropriate for affordable housing. Investigates the causes of economic imbalances. Explores and develops market-based solutions.   Redwood Forest Foundation Inc. Making Working Community Forests Work: Leveraging Private Capital “Making Working Community Forests Work” project will complete the sale of a conservation easement on the 50,000-acre Usal Redwood Forest; this will prohibit fragmentation and development, require FSC certification, and assure sustainable harvesting. The easement sale and an associated fee sale are crucial to servicing the existing loan from the Bank of America. The project explores, develops and demonstrates market-based solutions for economically and ecologically sustainable timberland financing, ownership and management. RFFI will demonstrate a free-market solution-leveraging the existing private investment by attracting supplemental public funds. Our work has become highly visible; this allows for efficient dissemination of information on the results and findings to help others replicate this innovative model of natural resource management that simultaneously places value on ecology, economy and social equity. Investigates the causes of economic imbalances. Explores and develops market-based solutions. Making Working Community Forests Work Investigates the causes of economic imbalances. Explores and develops market-based solutions.   Resources First Foundation Resources First Foundation - Project Title: Chestnut Database The American Chestnut Foundation's mission is to "restore the American chestnut tree to the forests of Eastern North America by breeding a blight resistant timber type tree." The American chestnut once comprised a quarter of the eastern hardwood forest from Maine to Georgia, providing a valuable economic resource. An accidentally imported chestnut blight decimated the trees, with devastating results to Appalachian communities and economies. Building an online database will accelerate the tree breeding program. TACF and RFF received a grant from the Walker Foundation to build an online tree breeding database for restoration of the American chestnut. The grant demonstrates the potential for the application of biotechnology to restoring damaged economies and ecosystems. Explores and develops market-based solutions.   Salmon-Safe Inc. Salmon-Safe Applegate 2006 Salmon-Safe Applegate is an innovative free market conservation initiative engaging southern Oregon’s agricultural sector in environmental sustainability while building high value local markets for the region’s agricultural products. The project is a collaborative effort with farmers, a watershed council, and other local stakeholders to protect water quality, wildlife, and riparian habitat in an ecologically important tributary to the Rogue River. Explores and develops market-based solutions. Salmon-Safe Applegate 2007 Salmon-Safe Applegate is the expansion of an innovative free market conservation initiative engaging southern Oregon's agricultural sector in protecting water quality and imperiled wild salmon. With the support of the Walker Foundation, the project expanded into adjacent Rogue River tributaries with the goal of building high value local markets for the region's agricultural products Explores and develops market-based solutions. Salmon-Safe Communities: Developing a Market-Based Conservation Initiative for Large-Scale Residential Development Salmon-Safe received seed funding to develop Salmon-Safe Communities, the nation’s first certification program linking large-scale residential development to the protection of urban water quality & the preservation of an endangered species. The project leveraged Walker Foundation’s earlier investments in Salmon-Safe by extending our innovative market-based program to the residential building sector. Explores and develops market-based solutions. Salmon-Safe Golf: Developing a Market-based Initiative for Ecologically Sustainable Golf Course Development & Management Salmon-Safe Golf is the nation’s first certification program linking golf course design and development to the protection of urban water quality and the preservation of an endangered species. The project leverages the Walker Foundation’s earlier investments in Salmon-Safe by extending Salmon-Safe’s innovative market-based program to the West Coast golf industry. The project met all of its startup milestones, including building partnerships with the Pacific Northwest and national golf industry to influence industry practices and successfully piloting the project with golf courses still in design as well as established sites. Like Salmon-Safe Communities, the ecologically sustainable residential development initiative that Walker funded for 2008, Salmon-Safe will be entirely funded by fees to developers beyond this startup phase. Explores and develops market-based solutions.   San Diego Watermen's Association San Diego Watermen's Association Fishery Study and Dockside Meeting. (C/O Sand County Foundation as fiduciary) Like most fisheries nationwide, the California Sea Urchin Fishery is regulated in a way that discourages fishermen from cooperating to conserve stocks or improve the quality of their product. The grant partners, including the Walker Foundation, funded a study conducted by fishermen of the San Diego Watermen’s Association to collect population data needed for improved management. The grant also funded meetings to report results of the study, and to solicit input from fishermen and experts on ways to improve the fishery. As a result, the San Diego Watermen’s Association is proposing a pilot program to show that both economic and conservation benefits will result by changing management from open access to ecosystem management based on area specific harvest rights. Investigates the causes of economic imbalances. Explores and develops market-based solutions.   Sustainable Harvest International Implementation of biointensive farming practices in the tropics to investigate the economic impacts related to increased farm yields, natural resource preservation and climate stabilization. Food insecurity not only threatens vulnerable populations, but puts economic security and international stability at risk. In response to the global farming crisis, Sustainable Harvest International will provide training and technical assistance to 50 rural farming families in Panama for one year, while studying the economic impacts of biointensive farming practices related to increased income, natural resource preservation and climate stabilization. Investigates the causes of economic imbalances. Explores and develops market-based solutions. Development of Economic Incentives and Environmental Markets to Promote Sustainable Land-Use Practices in the Tropics This project will build upon SHI’s work in crop commercialization and the development of markets to create economic incentives for rural farmers to preserve tropical forests. SHI will identify potential buyers of farmers’ goods and services and build the capacity of its Panama affiliate to benefit from biodiversity offsets or other payments for ecosystem services. The emphasis on market development for organic produce will also reduce wasteful spending on chemical pesticides and create additional market-based incentives for farmers to protect globally significant ecosystems. Investigates the causes of economic imbalances. Explores and develops market-based solutions.   The Brookings Institution Brookings-AEI-IMF Joint Work on a U.S. Carbon Tax in the Context of Broader Tax Reform The Brookings Carbon Tax Initiative will analyze the potential role of a carbon tax within broader tax reform in the United States, both to reduce the federal budget deficit and to finance reductions in other taxes. It will summarize evidence on how an effectively structured price on carbon can reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the United States. Additionally, it will explore important design features of a carbon tax, including its price trajectory and possible linkages to deficit reduction, changes in command-and-control regulation of greenhouse gases, and options for concomitant reforms of taxes on labor and capital income. The Initiative will involve new analysis of the likely distributional effects of a carbon tax embedded in fundamental tax reforms, including by income class, region, and industry. Investigates the causes of economic imbalances. Investigates the effect of the global financial system and/or the monetary system in fostering a sustainable economy. Investigates causes tending to destroy or impair the free-market system. Explores and develops market-based solutions.   The Garrison Institute Green Summit on Carbon Emissions Pricing The “Green Summit on Carbon Pricing” was a meeting of some 50 environmental leaders and advocates convened this summer (2011). An impetus for the Summit is the failure of the previous (111th) Congress to pass climate legislation at a time when there appeared to be a public mandate for such action. The broader impetus is the public confusion and political stasis caused by ongoing division in the environmental community over which carbon-pricing mechanism should be the foundation stone for the legislation. This division makes it more difficult for any market mechanism — be it cap-and-trade, cap-and-dividend, or a carbon tax — to gain political traction in Washington. While we do not expect the Summit to resolve this division overnight, we believe it can help the U.S. green movement advocate for effective carbon pricing policy and climate action with greater clarity, unity and impact. Investigates causes tending to destroy or impair the free-market system. Explores and develops market-based solutions.   The Heritage Foundation Curbing Spending by Reframing the Politics of Entitlements The U.S. Federal Government’s budget is projected to swell to nearly 50 percent of the economy by 2050, so The Heritage Foundation is seeking to show Americans the full picture of the federal budget – including long-term obligations from entitlement programs like Social Security and Medicare – in order to generate public pressure for spending control. We’re working to change the public’s view of entitlements and intergenerational obligations in the context of the long-term budget crisis, so that Americans accept the need for structural changes to curb spending, especially those changes which don't raise taxes. Finally, we’re working to change the congressional dynamics of entitlement reform to one of bipartisan support for serious restructuring and control of entitlements. Investigates causes tending to destroy or impair the free-market system. Explores and develops market-based solutions.   The Heritage Foundation Heritage Foundation - 2006 Priority Issues The Heritage Foundation formulates and promotes conservative public policies based on the principles of free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional American values, and a strong national defense. In the past year, we have advanced this mission in many ways. Two covered in this report are 1) convincing lawmakers to see the value of “dynamic scoring” of tax proposals, and 2) helping to build a market-based health care system throughout the nation, starting with individual states. Investigates causes tending to destroy or impair the free-market system. Explores and develops market-based solutions. Getting Spending and Taxes under Control Thanks to excessive long-term spending obligations, the U.S. Federal Government’s budget is projected to swell to nearly 50 percent of the economy by 2050. To prevent such a drastic rise in federal spending, The Heritage Foundation seeks to show Americans the full picture of the federal budget – including long-term obligations from entitlement programs like Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid – in order to generate public pressure for spending control. We’ll work to change the public’s view of entitlements and intergenerational obligations in the context of the long-term budget crisis, so that Americans embrace the need for structural changes to curb spending. In addition, we’ll strive to convince Americans that raising taxes harms growth and jobs and is not the solution to uncontrolled spending. Finally, we’ll work to change the congressional dynamics of entitlement reform to one of bipartisan support for serious restructuring and control of entitlements. Investigates causes tending to destroy or impair the free-market system. Explores and develops market-based solutions.   The Nature Conservancy Implementing Ecosystem Valuation as a Global Conservation and Economic Development Strategy Tourism to protected areas including World Heritage Sites is a significant contributor to economic development. However, policy decisions to protect the natural capital upon which the industry depends, tend not to reflect this. Consequently opportunities to maximize tourism's contribution to conservation and poverty alleviation are being lost. This project is working with park systems to quantify tourism's value and make policy recommendtaions for more effective market-based strategies to achieve financial sustainability. Investigates the causes of economic imbalances. Investigates the effect of the global financial system and/or the monetary system in fostering a sustainable economy. Investigates causes tending to destroy or impair the free-market system. Explores and develops market-based solutions. Implementing Ecosystem Valuation as a Global Conservation and Economic Development Strategy Tourism and recreation, freshwater and fisheries are examples of ecosystem services which, due to inappropriate or non-existent pricing mechanisms are eroding the natural capital on which they depend. The resulting economic imbalance in the monetary system undermines the functioning of the free-market system such that the long-term provision of these essential societal services and the well-being of the people who depend upon them is threatened. This project proposes to address this economic imbalance by carrying out studies to place an economic value on ecosystem services and to develop market-based mechanisms and policy recommendations to facilitate the establishment of environmentally and financially sustainable pricing practices for ecosystem services at park systems in some of the most ecologically important regions of the world. Investigates the causes of economic imbalances. Investigates the effect of the global financial system and/or the monetary system in fostering a sustainable economy. Investigates causes tending to destroy or impair the free-market system. Explores and develops market-based solutions. Implementing Ecosystem Valuation as a Global Conservation and Economic Development Strategy In Colombia, a third of the population gets drinking water from protected areas. Some municipalities there and elsewhere in Latin America, are beginning to realize that investing in watershed protection is less expensive than mitigating the problems that result from watershed degradation. Recognizing the opportunity to capitalize upon this cost-benefit analysis to enhance freshwater conservation, the Conservancy has developed, tested and implemented a plan that incorporates financing watershed conservation and protection through water trust funds capitalized by user fees and private contributions. Buttressed by our longstanding protected-areas and ecotourism work in the region, these strategies are preserving freshwater for people while simultaneously conserving critical habitat. We seek to create 2 new Funds, in Ecuador and Colombia. Investigates the causes of economic imbalances. Investigates the effect of the global financial system and/or the monetary system in fostering a sustainable economy. Explores and develops market-based solutions.   The Nature Conservancy - Indo-Pacific Division Market Forces and Fishery Management in Micronesia and Hawaii The Nature Conservancy will address the economic imbalance of island nations in Micronesia whose livelihoods and food sources are at risk from market forces, both internal and external, that are creating unsustainable fishing conditions while weakening traditional management systems. In response, we will work with Micronesian partners to assess the impact of internal and external market forces on traditional practices and marine resource sustainability; integrate rights-based and traditional management systems into combined approaches for Micronesia’s coastal fisheries; develop innovative sustainable financing options for coastal fisheries management; and lay the groundwork to roll out and refine these approaches across Micronesia within the framework of the Micronesia Challenge. If funding is approved to a second year, the project will be expand to Hawaii. Investigates the causes of economic imbalances. Explores and develops market-based solutions. Ecological and Economic Assessment of Bumphead Parrotfish and Humphead Wrasse in Palau to develop market-based and culturally appropriate management options The Nature Conservancy will work with government and community partners, experts in fisheries and economics, to incorporate economic and market-based approaches into the co-management of key fisheries in the Republic of Palau and Pohnpei (Federated States of Micronesia). This project will allow us to begin to demonstrate practical options for improving fisheries co-management in Micronesia to address the current decline in coastal fisheries and the challenges with their effective management. We propose to assist with the establishment of fishers’ associations that promote user-rights and markets-based approaches; and help initiate development of economic and market-based tools and approaches. This project is part of a longer-term initiative to demonstrate integrated coastal fisheries co-management that incorporates EAF principles, shows stakeholder involvement in management decisions, and applies cost effective harvest strategies based economic and market-based solutions. Investigates the causes of economic imbalances. Explores and develops market-based solutions.   The New School An International Conference on Environmental Economics The 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen has been perceived as a failure, while the consequences of global warming continue to mount. The leading nations of the world, however, hesitate to commit themselves to climate change mitigation measures. Attempting to establish both the urgency of the issue and to help overcome the standoff in international negotiations, The New School hosted a high level international conference on the “Economics of Climate Change” on April 9 -10, 2010. Investigates the effect of the global financial system and/or the monetary system in fostering a sustainable economy. Investigates causes tending to destroy or impair the free-market system. International Conference on "The Bottom Line on Climate Change: Transitioning to Renewable Energy" The conference was hosted by The New School on September 22 and 23, 2011. It addressed open questions regarding the transition from high carbon intensive technology to low carbon intensive technology. A particular focus was on renewable energy sources. The workshop brought together high-profile experts from different countries and institutions who made predictions and policy recommendations regarding the potential market outcomes associated with different approaches to organizing the transitional stage. Investigates the effect of the global financial system and/or the monetary system in fostering a sustainable economy. Investigates causes tending to destroy or impair the free-market system. Explores and develops market-based solutions.   The Prometheus Institute Carbon Tax Project The Project’s goal is to inform and engage Americans in support of a carbon tax as the preferred market-friendly policy solution to the danger of catastrophic climate change. The Institute’s Carbon Tax Project responds both to the national need for market-friendly policy leadership on climate change, as well as the pressing need for policy organizations to more effectively engage the public in support of their ideas. Specifically, the Project will sponsor and promote research by eminent scholars to help develop an efficient and market-driven carbon tax policy, and will also help the policy proposal gain political, economic and popular legitimacy within the national climate change debate. Investigates causes tending to destroy or impair the free-market system. Explores and develops market-based solutions.   The Science Council for Global Initiatives International IFR Development SCGI's purpose is to provide technological and political frameworks that will result in policies leading to abundant energy and resources for all nations. Our primary effort is to get a commercial-scale version of the Integral Fast Reactor (IFR) built as quickly as possible in order that it might prove the concept and provide a standard design that can be deployed globally. This project requires the involvement of the leading experts in the field (who are already members of SCGI) and their engagement with world leaders and policymakers who can achieve the goal. Explores and develops market-based solutions.   The University of Rhode Island Emerging Strategies for Improving Fisheries Management Building upon the successful 2005 Fisheries workshop in Del Mar, CA, (supported by the Walker Fdn.) and arising from several important initiatives that emerged among the participants of that conference, the purpose of this workshop was to advance the cause of fisheries self-governance by assembling commercial fishermen in a 2007 workshop to discuss case studies of successful management, research and marketing. Investigates the causes of economic imbalances. Explores and develops market-based solutions.   University of California New Zealand Marine Fisheries Management Tour Twenty US fishing industry leaders completed a one week study tour to New Zealand in March 2006 to learn firsthand about that nation's 20 year experience with individual transferable quotas. The tour was organized by the California Sea Grant Extension Program. Study tour participants are conducting outreach programs to share what they learned and a tour website is under construction. Explores and develops market-based solutions.   Washington University Earmarking and the Political Economy of Agricultural Research We propose to investigate the political economy of agricultural research appropriations at a highly disaggregated level in order to address a number of critical issues regarding the allocation and merits of earmarked agricultural research. Investigates causes tending to destroy or impair the free-market system.   WildEarth Guardians Mexican Gray Wolf Recovery & Grazing Permit Retirement In Greater Gila WildEarth Guardians received a $25,000 grant from the Alex C. Walker Foundation in support of a campaign to protect the threatened wildlands and endangered wildlife of the Greater Gila Ecosystem through a market-based approach that will retire high conflict cattle grazing allotments on national forest lands. In late 2011 we expanded our focus from the Gila to the Apache National Forest of the Blue Range Wolf Recovery Area where opportunities to retire two allotments (17,000 and 46,525 acres respectively) seem to have matured. At this point we have given up on the Forest Service and are focusing exclusively on Congressional permit retirement for the rest of 2012 and into 2013. This pilot project will demonstrate the feasibility of this market-based approach, so this innovative approach to solving cattle grazing conflicts, and furthering Mexican gray wolf conservation, can be implemented on other priority public lands and grazing allotments in the Greater Gila Ecosystem. Explores and develops market-based solutions.   World Wildlife Fund, Inc. Fishing Subsidies and the World Trade Organization World Wildlife Fund (WWF) actively worked with private sector partners in our pursuit of new disciplines on fisheries subsidies, including the United States’ most important seafood trade organization, the National Fisheries Institute. We also aligned our work with parallel efforts by a group of governments that favor new, more trade-friendly rules in this area. Investigates causes tending to destroy or impair the free-market system. Explores and develops market-based solutions.