Debra Shore

New, from me: How will your street handle climate change? A new interactive map from Dutchess County can help county residents figure out how vulnerable their neighborhood is to floods and landslides in the decades to come. https://lnkd.in/entVH_th

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Worth reading:

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In the latest #ArchivalOutlook, three Colorado archivists share ongoing efforts to document the history of land and water in the state. https://ow.ly/2QPI50RbEVe

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We do have a water distribution problem. Where we have huge populations, there is not enough H2O to support them. But, a project that was to cost $16 Billion four years ago is now in excess of $20B. That is quite an inflationary jump! #inflation #waterprojects #watertunnel #california https://lnkd.in/gipJREby

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As the first national monument proposed by a commission of Tribal Nations, the designation of Bears Ears as a national monument is unprecedented—and the plan for managing its lands and resources must be too. The recently released draft resource management plan (RMP) for the Monument signifies a pivotal shift in federal-Tribal relations and the approach to Tribally-informed management of public lands. Alternative E in the draft RMP is the preferred alternative for the Bears Ears Commision, Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and the U.S. Forest Service (USFS). This approach to collaborative management respects Tribal lands while reasonably balancing public access and use of the Monument, with protecting its cultural and natural resources. HOW CAN I HELP? Protect the Monument, support Alternative E and submit an official public comment today, using this form: https://lnkd.in/gt8Ab9K6 The public comment period closes on June 11, 2024. HOW CAN I MAKE MY COMMENT AS IMPACTFUL AS POSSIBLE? Here are some tips: - Use your own words. - Be specific about why Bears Ears is important to you — you can use our community guidance for support. - Be specific about what you don’t like about other alternatives. - Use evidence to support the arguments in your comments. HOW ELSE CAN I SUPPORT INFORMED, RESPONSIBLE LAND MANAGEMENT OF BEARS EARS NATIONAL MONUMENT? - Find out more about what qualifies as a substantive comment. - Explore messaging on the position of the Commission on the draft RMP, Alternative E specifically, and other resource-specific areas of interest. - Join members of the Bears Ears Commission along with BLM and U.S. Forest Service staff at an upcoming public comment meeting. ADVOCACY STARTS WITH YOU! Follow Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition to learn more and click the link to submit your comment today:

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Here is the link to the comments from the American Cultural Resources Association (ACRA) on the proposed ACHP comments. So far the preservation community seems to be on the same page.... slow down, rethink this proposal.... use science and data for decision making! And finally, comments are due tomorrow!!!! #archaeology #historicpreservation #permit #environmentalstreamlining #permit #section106

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Water can't just be safe, it must be affordable. Check out this webinar to learn more about how we can make this happen.

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USBR: Reclamation seeking public input on the Long-Term Operations of the Central Valley Project and State Water Project Proposed changes hinge on managing releases and diversions from Shasta Reservoir From the Bureau of Reclamation: The Bureau of Reclamation seeks public input on the Long-Term Operation of the Central Valley Project and State Water Project Draft Environmental Impact Statement. #Biologicalopinions #BureauofReclamation #CentralValleyProject #StateWaterProject #Waterprojectoperations

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Last fall, I posted two articles to this space focused on the future of the Portland Bureau of Environmental Services as the city transitions to a new form of government.  It was heartening to see that the posts reached thousands of people, dozens of whom posted encouraging responses. Those posts were really about the feared loss of a robust and diverse network of environmental, liveability and sustainability advocates to protect and promote Portland’s environmental mission.  I wondered if a new generation of community and business leadership could rise up to carry on the fight for environmental health and justice in the face of growing demands by development interests and others for relaxation of city regulations that protect community health and safety.   While I was posting those articles, (a very sophisticated and effective campaign was already moving at full speed to undermine enforcement of those very regulations that protect the quality of life and health of the environment in Portland.  They have used Portland’s post pandemic malaise and popular concerns about housing and economic development to their advantage.  The efforts will come to fruition next Wednesday, May 22, when city council will consider adoption of an ordinance that consolidates development review and permitting into a unified authority with all final decision-making stripped from the city’s public works and infrastructure bureaus.    Such an attempt, 15 years ago, was met with strong opposition from neighborhood leaders, enlightened business and development activists and environmental advocates.  This attempt has been met with deafening silence and seeming abdication. I know the hour is late and there is precious little time to mount an effective response by May22, but I hold out hope that some of you have been paying attention, and recognize that the changes being considered represent a real and lasting threat to the city.   I am hoping that many of you understand that strong regulatory safeguards have been critical to protecting and promoting a liveable city; and that a comprehensive campaign of process improvements can address most if not all of the concerns raised by development interests.  At a minimum, I am advocating for the inclusion of an appeals process for issues impacting public infrastructure, public rights of way, utility easements and other issues of critical importance to public works bureaus, including parks.  Unfortunately the proposed ordinance will not be posted only until Friday, May 17.  The council clerk’s website is here… https://lnkd.in/eTqy-Ag8.   The website will include a link for posting written testimony once the May 22 council agenda is posted.  Thank you for considering this 11th hour call to action.  

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The White House President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology Welcomes Public Input on America’s Groundwater Challenges: Groundwater is a critical resource for agriculture, manufacturing, mining, energy production, and more. Groundwater also supplies drinking water for half the U.S. population, including nearly all the rural population. In the western states especially, groundwater resources are being depleted at an alarming rate, mostly from agricultural withdrawal. The problem of groundwater depletion is exacerbated by climate change and precipitation variability and in many aquifers, groundwater withdrawal has outpaced natural and artificial recharge. There is a need to explore the consequences of artificial recharge and to identify successful recharge approaches that might be scaled across the country. In many parts of the country, the quality of groundwater has become so poor that it seriously impacts the health of communities that rely on it. This is especially true for farming and Tribal communities with no other access to potable water. Groundwater is managed locally, with best practices that vary from state to state, but there is an opportunity to develop and scale approaches to restore clean water in every community. To support the development of a report to advance government-wide action on groundwater, PCAST is collecting input from the public that addresses the following questions: 1. How can we enhance the timely collection of data on groundwater inventory, use, recharge, and flow across the United States to gain a whole-of-country picture of the nation’s groundwater resources? 2. How can we effectively model and predict changes in the inventory, recharge, and flow of groundwater in the context of the overall water cycle and provide that information to stakeholders and decision-makers? 3. How can we efficiently scale groundwater recharge while mitigating risks? 4. How can we ensure clean and safe groundwater, especially for the communities that are affected most by groundwater contamination and depletion? 5. How can we engage with communities to successfully ensure a sustainable supply of groundwater, including for agriculture, industry, energy, human consumption, and healthy ecosystems and biodiversity? 6. What strategies and incentives can help limit groundwater over-use? We invite written submissions from the public regarding any of the issues or questions highlighted here, or addressing complementary issues that you think PCAST should consider. Please send your ideas no later than July 1, 2024, to [email protected] with “Groundwater” in the subject line. Submissions should be no more than 5 pages in length, should provide actionable ideas, and should not include proprietary information or any information inappropriate for public disclosure. More info in link: https://lnkd.in/enskyFVJ

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Money, Money, Money: Making the Case! Friends of Confluence West - In the current issue of Three Drop Thursday, we examine the quantifiable value of watershed restoration and the call for adopting an essential process for the long-term protection of the Colorado River Basin. A big challenge facing water utility managers, community leaders, and NGOs is how best to make the economic case for why decision-makers should invest in headwaters/source water protection. Work on source water forests is pricey and initially looks like hell. Members of the public often send nasty emails afterward: “You’ve killed everything!” (Try explaining that one to a fly-by reporter.) Plus, there’s no guarantee that the next monster wildfire won’t burn an equally important watershed two drainages over – one that hasn’t had restoration work. Two new studies help make the economic case. One is from the Ecological Restoration Institute at Northern Arizona University, Estimating the Return on Investment from Restoration and Fuel Treatments in the US Western Frequent-Fire Forests. The second, “Headwaters Valuation as a Tool for Economic Development, Healthy Forest Management, and Water Resilience focuses on the Upper American River in California. At Confluence West HQ, we continue to cat-herd western water agencies to develop a “zone of agreement” for federal National Forest policies for agencies dependent on supplies sourced in headwater forests. As with all of this kind of herding, this project is taking some time. Stay tuned. For the West, Kimery https://lnkd.in/gbsR4tXx

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Tribal Registration for the 2025 NWAC is now open! The Northwest Anthropological Conference (NWAC) and the broader anthropological community need to center indigenous perspectives, and as such the Northwest Anthropological Association (the organizing society of NWAC) must fund indigenous people’s attendance at NWAC. Since 1948, the Northwest Anthropological Conference has been organized annually in locations across the Pacific Northwest as a venue for networking among anthropologists and to facilitate the exchange of ideas and information among members of the Northwest anthropological community. The Northwest Anthropological Association recognizes that lowering barriers for Tribal members, Tribal entity staff, and THPO staff, is an important step in indigenizing anthropology in the Northwest. Who Qualifies? ·      Tribal members ·      Tribal entity staff ·      THPO (or similar department) staff How to Register 1.     email [email protected] 2.     provide a very brief statement of how you qualify for Tribal Registration 3.     in a response to your email you will be provided with a link to a registration page 4.     If you have already paid and registered, please send us an email explaining your registration status and we will work with SfAA to refund your payment. Tribal Registrant Abstracts When registering as a Tribal member, Tribal entity staff, or THPO staff, you will also have the option to submit an abstract for an individual presentation/poster or session. The form is on the same page as the registration page. Support the Indigenization of NWAC NWAA is directly paying SfAA for Tribal Registration waivers. Please donate to the Indigenize NWAC fund (via PayPal) which supports Tribal registration. Suggested donation is $225 to cover the cost of registration waivers for 2025. Sponsorships are also available. Contact [email protected]. https://lnkd.in/gbzjUngF https://lnkd.in/gGuB_Gpn

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Here is a Streetblog USA column that summarizes my research on cool walkability Planning: "How Far Should Cities Go to Keep Walkers Cool?" (https://lnkd.in/gTTHZKVS ) by Kea Wilson. As cities get hotter, is it time to revisit the controversial concept of the air-conditioned "pedway" — even if it means leaving the streets to drivers and costs as much as adding a lane? This column, based on my reports, “Cool Walkability Planning” (www.vtpi.org/cwi.pdf) and “Completing Sidewalk Networks” (www.vtpi.org/csn.pdf), and a recent interview with Kea, highlights the importance of designing for pedestrian thermal comfort. It discusses the downsides of enclosed walkways – which I certainly admit – but does not mention successful examples in cities like Toronto and Montreal which accommodate walking and public transit travel in very cold climate cities. Please let me know what you think of this. https://lnkd.in/gTTHZKVS

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USDA Forest Service management in the revised Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre, and Gunnison National Forests Plan limits disturbance within the most sensitive big game habitats and migratory routes, other forest plan revisions should do the same. https://lnkd.in/gaAQnMF6

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Here is my latest Planetizen column. "Valuing Ounces of Prevention" (https://lnkd.in/gjgvyMsN). Planning decisions often involve trade-offs between short-term prevention costs and larger future savings and benefits. Planners can help communities determine what best reflects their priorities. It uses the current debate concerning whether Minnesota Governor Tim Walz imposed overly restrictive anti-Covid policies. As the graph below shows, Covid deaths tended to increase with Republican voting and were much higher in Florida than Minnesota. If Minnesota had Florida’s rate in 2021 an additional 2,685 residents would have had painful deaths and the state’s residents, businesses and governments would have borne billions of dollars in additional healthcare, disability and lost productivity costs. My conclusion is that planners and policy analysis should clearly describe the costs and benefits of public policies so decision-makers and citizens can make rational decisions. What do you think? Should Walz be criticized for restricting some personal freedoms to save thousands of lives and economic costs?

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Sea level rise will create a profound shift in coastal flooding, causing tide and storm surge heights to increase and reach further inland. We need to be smart not just about how we build, but how we rebuild after flooding and other climate-driven disasters. Happy to see progress from FEMA this week with their *new* final rule to implement the influential Federal Flood Risk Management Standard, which will now consider climate science when rebuilding after flooding. The new rule will make taxpayer-funded projects far more resilient to flooding, protecting federal investments and reducing the risk of damage and loss from floods. #OceanClimateAction https://lnkd.in/eNnwy_5u

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