Watershed Protection and Conservation Policy through Stakeholder Engagement
Change starts upstream
Watershed Protection and Conservation Policy through Stakeholder Engagement
Change starts upstream
Mission
Outcomes
Mission
Midwest Waters Initiative is a watershed protection and conservation policy project that seeks to foster dialog among key constituencies in the Midwest to frame & implement sustainable watershed-based conservation strategies. The Initiative is committed to cooperate with environmental and conservation agencies, nonprofit & business organ
Midwest Waters Initiative is a watershed protection and conservation policy project that seeks to foster dialog among key constituencies in the Midwest to frame & implement sustainable watershed-based conservation strategies. The Initiative is committed to cooperate with environmental and conservation agencies, nonprofit & business organizations, and rural & agricultural communities and engage them as water resource stewards who can better protect water resources.
Goals
Outcomes
Mission
Build new partnerships & networks of understanding that link traditional environmental policy leaders with local land use constituencies to promote watershed protection.
Align on-the-ground conservation policy action with policy decisions that protect aquatic ecosystems through Science-based & experience-driven outreach & dialog
Provide n
Build new partnerships & networks of understanding that link traditional environmental policy leaders with local land use constituencies to promote watershed protection.
Align on-the-ground conservation policy action with policy decisions that protect aquatic ecosystems through Science-based & experience-driven outreach & dialog
Provide neutral ground for diverse constituencies to engage in constructive and solution-oriented approaches to solving Midwest watershed challenges
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Outcomes
Outcomes
Outcomes
Our hope is to promote environmental change not through direct action, engineered projects, or restoration initiatives - there are plenty of organizations and businesses already engaged in that work.
Instead, we hope to bring disparate constituencies together for greater awareness of conservation policy alternatives that promote watershed
Our hope is to promote environmental change not through direct action, engineered projects, or restoration initiatives - there are plenty of organizations and businesses already engaged in that work.
Instead, we hope to bring disparate constituencies together for greater awareness of conservation policy alternatives that promote watershed protection and aquatic ecosystem health, and a greater understanding of how they can work together to integrate these alternatives into real-world solutions to waterway and wetland problems.
our Team
Robert Stout - Policy Director
Robert spent more than four decades working on watershed protection and conservation policy with state government in Missouri and counterparts in surrounding states as Chief of Policy for the Missouri Department of Natural Resources negotiating partnerships with federal, state, and local and nonprofit partners on major studies in the Meramec and Lower Grand watersheds. His diverse responsibilities include representing Missouri on the Upper Mississippi River Basin Association, serving as chair in 2016, and coordinating NEPA consultation for a variety of major projects. Robert also serves as our Board Chair.
Stephanie Fenzl - Outdoor Education
Stephanie has a BS in Wildlife Biology and Certificate in Environmental Education from Missouri State University. She has worked to conserve wildlife in different settings through scientific research and public education. Stephanie is a team biologist and landowner liaison with Mitico, LLC, an environmental mitigation and restoration service company, were she supports planning and implementation of riverine and wetland habitat restoration and watershed protection.
Dr. Eric Dannenmaier - Counsel
Eric is an environmental attorney with a Biology degree from Drury University, law degrees from Boston and Oxford Universities, and a doctorate from Columbia University. He has over thirty years' experience in conservation policy and water-related matters and is widely published (available here). Eric was part of the national practice of St. Louis-based Bryan, Cave LLP's Washington, DC office before directing the United States Agency for International Development's Environmental Law Program, and later the Tulane Institute for Environmental Law and Policy in New Orleans. He became a tenured law professor at Indiana University McKinney School of Law, where he taught from 2007-2016 and founded the Law School’s Program in Energy, Environment, and Natural Resources Law.
Stephanie Grathwohl - Research Fellow
Stephanie is a graduating law student and Dean’s Scholar at St. Louis University School of Law with a background in agricultural production and conservation policy, ecological restoration, and complex inter-jurisdictional governance. Stephanie has worked with Great Rivers Environmental Law Center on a range of legal and policy issues; advancing solutions to the impact of land use practices, and analyzing environmental regulatory developments. She completed a summer internship with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, where she provided critical legal analysis for active litigation matters as well as research on a wide range of environmental issues such as water quality, solid waste management, and CERCLA, including sites with natural resource damages and other administrative law matters. Stephanie is focused on the dynamics of local participation and the integration of federal and state regulatory mandates into aquatic ecosystem restoration and management.
Scott Martin - Resource Stewardship
Scott was born and raised in Central Missouri, where he has learned to value the land and its many resources through farming, outdoor sports, and environmental stewardship. That background granted him with many core values and memories he holds dear. Scott serves as Executive Director of Land Learning Foundation (LLF), a non-profit land trust dedicated to youth outdoor education and to watershed protection and the restoration of rivers, streams, and wetlands. He is as comfortable on a backhoe or tractor as he is behind a desk, and spends much of his time working directly with farmers and other landowners to help them protect their land from erosion, and to pursue long-term conservation goals.
#Watersheds
