Spring and Fall Meetings

Transcription

1 Texas Environmental Grantmakers Group Re-Scheduled Fall Meeting - January 15, 2016 Selah: Conservation and Education on the Ground Bamberger Ranch, Johnson City, TX Present: J. David Bamberger, Selah: Bamberger Ranch Preserve; Marian Casey, The Powell Foundation; Jan Cato, SK Foundation; Claire Caudill, Peterson Charitable Trust; Adrienne Clay, Philanthropy Southwest; Colleen Claybourn, The Trull Foundation; Anne Donovan, Peterson Selah: Bamberger Ranch Preserve Charitable Trust; Steven Fulton, Selah: Bamberger Ranch Preserve; Colleen Gardner; Lisa Harrison, The Trull Foundation; Cara Herlin, The Trull Foundation; Mary Milby, George and Mary Josephine Hamman Foundation; Deborah Mueller, Jacob and Terese Hershey Foundation; Gail Purvis, The Trull Foundation; Cindy Raab, Shield-Ayres Foundation; Ellen Ray, Still Water Foundation; Sarah Richards, The Cynthia & George Mitchell Foundation; Caroline Sabin, The Powell Foundation; Scott Trull, The Trull Foundation; Bob Warneke, Malcolm C. Damuth Foundation TEGG Business Meeting Not recognizing a few faces in the room, Caroline Sabin suggested that the meeting begin with a round of introductions. Bob Warneke had two changes to the minutes which Adrienne Clay was going to make. Spring and Fall Meetings Regarding possibilities for the spring and fall meeting topics and locations, Caroline reminded the group of the survey which had gone out polling the group. The most popular options were Bamberger Ranch and Powderhorn Ranch. She reminded the group that TEGG holds one meeting a year in central Texas then hosts the second in a different location. The group discussed and liked the possibility of having David Todd, one of the founding members of TEGG, provide a presentation on the Texas Environmental History Atlas. Jan Cato suggested that David might like to host at his mother s historic ranch in Columbus. Caroline mentioned two of the presenters at the Philanthropy Southwest s 2015 Annual Conference TEGG Session Art and the Environment as potential speakers. Texas Artists Margie Crisp and William Montgomery are collaborating on a book on the Nueces River. Another option for a meeting location was the William Reaves Gallery in Houston which represents the artists. Caroline suggested contacting Gallery Owner Sarah Foltz regarding the Gallery or the artists presenting at the Spring 2017 TEGG meeting. Sarah Richards suggested the Matagorda Nature Center as another possibility. There was some concern regarding the remoteness of the location. Bob Warneke recommended Botanist Jason Singhurst as a potential speaker. He is a plant community ecologist with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Wildlife Diversity Branch. Jan Cato suggested the Botanical Research Institute of Texas (B.R.I.T.) in Fort Worth as another possible location for a future meeting. 1

2 The decision was reached to plan to schedule the spring TEGG meeting at Powderhorn Ranch. Lisa Harrison with the Trull Foundation offered to underwrite the lunch. A suggestion was made to contact David Todd to see if he would like to host the fall meeting at his mother s ranch. Caroline agreed to follow-up with David Philanthropy Southwest Annual Conference Session Caroline reminded the group of the agreement that TEGG provide content for one session at each of Philanthropy Southwest s annual conferences. In 2015 because the 2014 session Water: The Southwest s Most Critical Challenge was so successful, TEGG was asked by PSW s program committee to provide two sessions Arts and Environment and What Philanthropy Can Do to Ease the Water Crisis, Part II. Because neither Mike McCoy nor Andy Sansom were in attendance at today s meeting, it was decided to wait until the next meeting for report on the water session. Colleen provided a summary of the Arts and the Environment session Philanthropy Southwest Annual Conference Session After some discussion, it was decided to propose the topic of the very successful efforts in Texas for public and private interests partnering to leverage access to $750 million in funds from the Deepwater Horizon Settlement. Caroline was going to contact Mike McCoy, Andy Sansom and Andy Knobloch to see if they would be willing to spear head session development. Financial Report Adrienne Clay summarized TEGG Financials as follows. The starting balance prior to the May meeting was $13, The May meeting expenses were $1,064.53, the Spring Philanthropy Southwest Consulting fee was $1,500. The Fall PSW Consulting fee was $1,650 and booked PSW travel expenses for the cancelled Fall meeting were $ which will be applied to the January meeting leaving cash on hand$8, Annual Appeal Based on TEGG s current positive financial situation, Caroline proposed waiting to send annual appeal until after the spring meeting, to which the group concurred. TEGG Member Updates: Cindy Raab shared that the Shield-Ayres Foundation made 11 environmental grants in 2015 which were: Texas Land Trust Council to provide general operating support to the coalition of land trust organizations. 2

3 The Trust for Public Land to support the organization s land and water conservation projects in central Texas. Cibolo Nature Center & Farm to pilot and implement environmental education and recreation programs at the facility. National Wildlife Federation to support the Texas Living Waters Project, focused on water policy work in Austin and San Antonio Save Our Springs Alliance - to provide technical, legal, and administrative support services to a coalition of civic groups seeking to oppose or limit longdistance water transfers from the Carrizo Wilcox aquifer. The Trail Foundation in support of the Butler Trail Ecological Restoration project, which will repair and improve the ecological systems along the trail surrounding Lady Bird Lake. Waller Creek Conservancy to support community outreach and educational programming along the Waller Creek re-development corridor. Travis Audubon to develop and launch a Master Birder Certification Program and Outreach Initiative Audubon Texas - in support of the Prairie Bird Initiative, which seeks to protect migration corridors by engaging private landowners in a financially viable alternative to land uses. Texas Native Seeds - Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute to support the collection and evaluation of regionally adapted seeds for West and Central Texas. Westcave Outdoor Discovery Center to support the capital campaign to expand environmental education programming at the center. Ellen Ray reported that the Still Water Foundation s has made recent environmental grants to EDF - to look at the effects of drilling in the Permian Basin Chihuahuan Desert Research Institute Waller Creek Conservancy Bamberger Ranch - for new science and snake building Cibolo Creek Nature Center Urban Roots, Austin Texas Land Trust Council - to help with transaction costs for small conservation easements Jan Cato announced that the SK Foundation had made grants for Herman Park, Bat Conservation Texas and in the Gulf Coast and Hill Country regions. Caroline Sabin shared that the Powell Foundation s environmental grants since May 2015 included Buffalo Bayou Partnership Houston Arboretum & Nature Center Houston Audubon Society SPARK Trees for Houston 3

4 Urban Harvest Gail Purvis announced that The Trull Foundation had made 11 environmental grants between June and December 2015 to the following: American Bird Conservancy Ducks limited, Inc. Friends of Big Bend National Park Harte Research Institute Katy Prairie Conservancy Nueces River Authority San Antonio Bay Partnership, Inc. Science & Spanish Club Network, Inc. Texas Land Trust Council Texas Public Broadcasting Associations University of Texas at Austin, Bureau of Economic Geology Bob Warneke stated that the Malcolm C. Damuth Foundation continues to fund exclusively groups and projects devoted to the conservation and management of vital habitat and unique green spaces. To this end, in 2015 the foundation funded grant requests from: Gorgas Foundation to protect land at the entrance of the Audubon Sabal Palm Sanctuary The Nature Conservancy Texas to secure a conservation easement related to the protection of Sawtooth Mountain in the Davis Mountains of West Texas Trust for Public Land (TPL) to further TPL s work on securing a greenbelt along Purgatory Creek in San Marcos, Texas American Bird Conservancy (ABC) to assist ABC in building its U.S. Land Protection Fund, which will give ABC the capacity to do its own land acquisition and management giving Travis Audubon Society (TAS) to assist TAS in building it s Land Consevation Endowment Fund, which will give TAS the capacity to do its own land acquisition and management giving Gulf Coast Bird Observatory (GCBO) to assist GCBO in building its General Operating Endowment, which will give GCBO the capacity to someday cover its administrative costs through investment income. Deborah Muller with the Jacob and Terese Hershey Foundation explained that because the Hershey Foundation gives smaller grants to many organizations -- in keeping with Terry's philosophy of keeping the doors open that she was only going to highlight two which reflected the Foundation's focus on education and land conservation in its environmental giving: Westcave Outdoor Discovery Center to buy a bus to get more low-income kids into their facilities, transportation costs being the biggest barrier to field trips 4

5 Bayou Land Conservancy - which employs a strategic approach to Houston watershed protection through the use of contiguous conservation easements mapping it out and approaching land owners individually, convincing them of the importance of participation and protection of their lands. Mary Milby reported that the George and Mary Josephine Hamman Foundation provided support to 20 environmental groups in 2015 totaling $470,000: Audubon Texas 9/2/15 - $10,000 Bayou Land Conservancy 12/9/15 - $30,000 Bayou Preservation Association 10/28/15 - $10,000 Buffalo Bayou Partnership 12/9/15 - $15,000 Galveston Bay Foundation 12/9/15 - $25,000 Gulf Coast Bird Observatory 9/2/15 - $5,000 Houston Arboretum and Nature Center 10/28/15 - $110,000 Houston Audubon Society 6/24/15 - $30,000 Houston Parks Board 9/2/15 - $20,000 Houston Wilderness 9/2/15 - $5,000 Katy Prairie Conservancy 12/9/15 - $25,000 Memorial Park Conservancy, Inc. 4/30/15 - $25,000 National Wildlife Federation, Gulf States Office 4/30/15 - $10,000 The Nature Conservancy of Texas 4/30/15 - $25,000 The Nature Discovery Center, Inc. 4/30/15 - $15,000 Save Buffalo Bayou 10/28/15 - $10,000 Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation 12/9/15 - $30,000 Texas State Aquarium 12/9/15 - $10,000 Trees for Houston 4/30/15 - $10,000 Wildlife Habitat Federation 12/9/15 - $50,000 Sarah Richards introduced herself as new water program officer at The Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation (GCMF). This is a new position and part of the scale-up process of hiring a CEO, the first time the Foundation will be managed by a non-family member. Onboarding of additional program officers will follow. The Foundation has also engaged a firm to assist in developing a strategy around a new CGMF land program. In 2015, CGMF made roughly $3 million in environmental grants across their energy and water programs. A few highlights include: Clean Energy & Shale Sustainability Programs o Environmental Defense Fund ($200K) for a project to minimize water and air impacts of energy production and use in Texas o UT s Bureau of Economic Geology ($200K) to study the interdependence of water and unconventional energy and related land impacts o Energy Foundation ($100K) to support a Texas by building support for energy efficiency policies 5

6 o SPEER ($100) to advance energy efficiency in Texas by building support for energy efficiency policies o Sierra Club ($75K) to create and execute a clean energy blueprint in Texas Water Program o National Wildlife Federation ($75K) for the Texas Living Water project o National Fish and Wildlife Federation ($50K) for the Texas Environmental Flows project o Texas Water Foundation ($50K) for the Goldwater Project to assist Region H Planning Group to meet its long-term municipal conservation goals o Pecan Street ($100K) to develop water conservation technologies and use big data to achieve residential water conservation o Texas State University and UC Davis ($100K each) to conduct critical research around water Sarah also provided a brief introduction to the Water Funder Initiative (WFI) and invited interested funders to contact her and learn more. WFI is working to increase the magnitude and impact of philanthropic investments in western water issues and to help the funding community effectively address these issues. Claire Caudill listed the Peterson Charitable Lead Trust s 2015 Grants as the following: Bamberger Ranch Preserve for the maintenance endowment Student Conservation Association for the Houston community program to engage urban youth to develop the next generation of conservation leaders and to inspire stewardship of the environment Travis Audubon Society for education funding and for the maintenance fund of the Chaetura Canyon Preserve Texas Land Conservancy for land conservation projects Memorial Park Conservancy to the capital campaign for implementation of natural resource management projects Houston Audubon for support of the High Island and Bolviar Peninsula sanctuaries Big Thicket Natural Heritage Trust for land acquisition Speaker Presentations: J. David Bamberger, founder of the Bamberger Ranch Preserve shared anecdotes from his life and from the establishment of SELAH, Bamberger Ranch, a 5,500 acre Hill Country property which had been badly abused. But today, after what has been described as the largest habitat restoration project on private land in the State of Texas, serves as a model of land stewardship. The meeting adjourned at 12:40 p.m. for a tour of the Ranch. 6