Stewardship America, Inc. - Organizational Profile




Stewardship America is working to advance initiatives that will engender a thriving rural economy with an economically robust agriculture, a healthy natural environment, viable rural communities and safe, abundant supplies of food and fiber		Organizational Profile
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Stewardship America originally was incorporated under the name Florida Stewardship Foundation. As its activities expanded beyond the State of Florida, its name was changed to Stewardship America, Inc. (SAI). Stewardship America is an eight-year-old, 501(c)(3) nonprofit charitable organization. Contributions are deductible for federal income tax purposes. If you are interested in our individual or corporate donors programs or in making a contribution, please email SAI President Craig Evans. Contact Information: Craig Evans, President Stewardship America, Inc. 621 NW 53rd Street, Suite 240 Boca Raton, Florida 33487 Phone: 561-995-1474 FAX: 561-995-1499 Email: craig@privatelands.org		National Programs Stewardship America developed a completely new conservation program from the ground up, beginning in 1993 with a project to resolve an emotionally-charged conflict involving the presence of endangered species on private lands in Southwest Florida. This project was expanded through an open, consensus-building process involving more than 1,000 participants into a national program to address virtually every conservation need and opportunity on private agricultural and forestry lands in the U.S. This program has been incorporated into state law in Florida and Oregon and was approved by the U.S. Congress as part of the 2002 Farm Bill. THE FARMLAND STEWARDSHIP PROGRAM (FSP) – (formerly known as the "Panthers & Private Lands" project and as a "Resource Conservation Agreement") provides payments to private landowners and operators of agricultural and forestry enterprises for implementing conservation practices that enhance environmental goals. Its primary purpose is to facilitate program "assessment, assembly and adjustment" to accommodate local conditions. The Farmland Stewardship Program was developed through a collaborative process -- involving facilitated discussions with participation in every meeting over a three-year period from 25-30 private landowners, 25-30 members of different conservation organizations and environmental advocacy groups, and 25-30 representatives of agencies at all levels of government. Every idea that emerged from these meetings was built on consensus and was then field tested over a two-year period and refined further, based on the field experiences. Two extensive web sites have been in operation since 1997 explaining the program in detail (http://privatelands.org) and describing the meetings and workshops that led to the development of the concept (http://fl-panther.com). Both web sites have allowed people from around the U.S. to provide input through email response forms. Throughout the course of the project, input has been received from more than 1,000 people from around the U.S., and every federal agency and state association that operates conservation programs. Comments from an extensive series of private landowner forums, held in different regions of the country by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 1999, also were incorporated into the program. The program can be implemented through "stewardship agreements," as provided in legislation passed in the states of Florida and Oregon in 2001 and through Sec. 2003 of the 2002 Farm Bill, signed by President George W. Bush on May 13, 2002. The Farmland Stewardship Program has now been expand into ... Landscape Conservation Solutions (LCS) Details on the 20+ programs and services that make up Landscape Conservation Solutions are available via the PROGRAMS page at http://privatelands.org/contents_programs.htm
		State- & County-Level Programs (with national application) click on your choice: \| New Look at Agriculture \| Rural & Family Lands Protection Act \| Rural Lands Stewardship Program \| True Cost Accounting \| "A NEW LOOK AT AGRICULTURE" (NLA) describes the obstacles faced by agriculture, suggests more than 250 ways to overcome these obstacles and proposes 20 priority actions for immediate attention. It was developed in cooperation with 100 agricultural leaders and specialty crop producers, with funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service. The original document, "A New Look at Agriculture - Redefining Agriculture’s Role in South Florida’s Economy, Landscape, Environment and Social Culture," was adopted as the agricultural element of a 20-year strategic plan for South Florida by the South Florida Ecosystem Restoration Working Group (a consortium of 28 local, regional, state and federal agencies and two Indian tribes). The NLA has since been modified to create a set of template documents and instructions that can be used in counties anywhere the U.S. to assist agriculture and rural economic development groups in developing locally-based action plans. These action plans are aimed at improving profitability and competitiveness, creating a more conducive business climate for agriculture, addressing the accelerating loss of farms and ranches (through bankruptcy, estate tax liabilities and urban sprawl), and enhancing compatibility between agriculture and the environment. More details about "A New Look at Agriculture" are available at New Look THE RURAL & FAMILY LANDS PROTECTION ACT (Sec. 63 of SB 1922, signed into law by Gov. Jeb Bush in June 2001) is a direct outgrowth of the "Panthers & Private Lands" project launched by Stewardship America's predecessor in 1993. This program is designed to meet three specific needs to protect valuable agricultural lands; to use an easement document that works together with agricultural production to ensure sustainable agricultural practices and reasonable protection of the environment without interfering with agricultural operations in such a way that could put the continued economic viability of these operations at risk; and to protect natural resources, not as its primary purpose, but in conjunction with economically viable agricultural operations. A working group appointed by Florida Agricultural Commissioner Charlie Bronson, that includes representation by Stewardship America, is overseeing the development of this program. Legislation to fund the program at a level of $100 million per year for 10 years is being actively promoted by The Nature Conservancy and Florida Audubon, as well as all agricultural groups. This fund will make it possible to protect one acre of agriculture and forestry land for every acre lost to development over the next 10 years. THE RURAL LANDS STEWARDSHIP PROGRAM (Section 163.3177(11)(d), Florida Statutes, also signed into law by Gov. Jeb Bush in June 2001) takes a new approach to rural land use issues to create a comprehensive growth management policy for rural areas. This planning tool offers the following SIMULTANEOUS benefits: Incentive based Controls urban and rural sprawl Separates urban and rural land uses Maintains asset value of rural lands Preserves open space for agriculture and natural environment Accommodates future development in well planned clustered patterns Allows for flexibility in location of future development Allows ALL landowners to economically benefit from development Allows landowners to choose options that offer FUTURE APPRECIATION … even when protecting natural resources This new "sensible growth" tool is being successfully implemented in Collier County, where an $800,000 investment to create a planning overlay for a 200,000-acre area will: cluster development on just 10% of the land area; create "villages" and "towns" to maintain rural character; permanently protect 90,000 acres of environmentally sensitive lands with conservation easements; and transfer development rights from another 80,000 acres of land that will remain in agriculture and open space. The $800,000 investment that was made to establish this program will result in the protection of 350 times more environmentally sensitive lands, water features, agriculture and open space than would be protected with the same investment using traditional land protection tools. That’s a ratio of 350:1 for every public dollar spent! Put another way: it would require a public investment of $280 million to achieve the same result through fee- and less-than-fee purchases. With the Rural Lands Stewardship Program, $279 million is freed up to concentrate resources on priority purchases elsewhere or to be used in some other way to benefit the public. And that’s the savings that can be realized in just ONE county! More information is available at http://privatelands/rura/index.htm Stewardship America also has established a Rural Lands Stewardship Council with initial funding from the Elizabeth Ordway Dunn Foundation to provide input and assist with implementation of the program. The council is comprised of 30individuals representing rural landowners, planners, conservation interests, the Florida Association of Counties, the small counties coalition, state agencies and the governor’s office. For details, see http://privatelands/rura/RLSC.htm TRUE COST ACCOUNTING: Stewardship America made several presentations and provided input during the fall of 2000 to a Growth Management Study Commission appointed by Gov. Jeb Bush. The final report of the commission issued in February 2001 included 89 recommendations to improve the state’s growth management programs. The first 12 recommendations were selected as a top priority for the governor. These were based on recommendations contained in five economic studies conducted by Florida Stewardship Foundation between 1995 and 1998. The recommendations emphasized the need for using "true cost accounting" to better understand the economic relationships between different types of land use, and to provide better information to policy makers about the long-term consequences of population growth and different land use decisions. The Legislature approved $500,000 in June 2001 to develop a true cost accounting framework so the "true" costs of growth, sprawl and environmental degradation can be documented and more fully understood. A Fiscal Impact Analysis Working Group, convened by the Governor in September 2001 included representation from Stewardship America. The Working Group cooperated with an economic consultant to develop of a true cost accounting model that was used in 7 pilot communities and is now available for use by all of Florida’s 500 jurisdictions. The true cost accounting model allows local policy makers to: See the fiscal impacts of the current mix of land uses in the local community – both as individual components standing alone, and as a whole when all the components are combined together in the local community; Better understand the impacts of proposed additions and changes to the local community – as a result of new applications pending review and approval, and/or as a result of changes in existing uses – and to see how individual projects will impact the local community as a whole and how all pending projects will impact the local community on a cumulative basis; and Ask, "What if?" For example, what if more low-income houses were built? What fiscal impacts would result from these housing units? What could be done to offset any deficits that are generated? On the other hand, what if more expensive houses also were built at the same time? Would the two changes, taken together, balance each other out? The intent of the model is to provide policy makers with better information so they can better understand: 1) the "true costs" of each land use decision that they have under consideration, 2) the cumulative impact of all decisions that are made over the course of time (one year, five years, 10 years), and 3) how the cash flow numbers associated with these decisions can change (individually and cumulatively) over time, as facilities age and the demographics of the community change. For more details, see http://privatelands.org/truecost/true_cost.htm
		Board of Directors Tom Campbell Manger, Federal Government Relations, Dow Agro-Sciences, Washingon, DC Patrick Carlton a 7th generation Floridian Rancher/Grove Manager General Partner, McCarlton Partners, Ltd., Orlando Managing Partner, Four C Partnership, Wauchula, FL and High C Limited, Cashiers, NC President, Peace River Citrus Growers Association J. Allison DeFoor III also a 7th generation Floridian attorney, former federal court judge (Monroe County) Served as Gov. Jeb Bush’s "Everglades Czar" Vice President, EarthBalance (formerly Florida Environmental) J. Edwin English (retiring from board) a 5th generation Floridian Managing Partner, Pacific Tomato Growers, Immokalee Craig Evans Founder and President, Stewardship America, Boca Raton Ron Hamel (retiring from board) Executive Director, Gulf Citrus Growers Association, LaBelle Hampton (Hoppy) Henton, Jr. 8th generation farmer, Versailles, Kentucky Family was recipient of one of original land grants from the King of England Raises tobacco, hay, grain, cattle and (reluctantly) vegetables Former ASCS (now known as FSA) state director for Kentucky Glenda Humiston California vintner former Deputy Undersecretary for Natural Resources and Environment, USDA President, Ag-Advocate Tracey Liskey 4th generation rancher/farmer, Klamath Falls, Oregon Vice President, Oregon Farm Bureau Federation Charles B. Littlejohn President and Founder of the environmental and governmental affairs consulting firm of Littlejohn, Mann & Associates, Tallahassee, which represents, among other clients, the Florida Chamber of Commerce and the Florida Land Council (comprised of the individuals and companies with the largest land holdings in Florida’s rural areas) Wade Robertson Oklahoma farmer/rancher Alternate energy expert Kyle Thompson Minnesota farmer Owner, HabitatNOW, a division of Prairie Land Management, Inc., an organization that assists landowners with the task of exploring and implementing land use options which increase income on the land, increase farming efficiency and increase farm profitability through a comprehensive package of services and equipment, seeds, design and implementation to meet landowner objectives, attract more wildlife and increase land income and cost share opportunities. Frank (Sonny) Williamson, Jr. Williamson Cattle Co., Okeechobee Immediate Past Chair, Governing Board, South Florida Water Management District
		For profiles of the individuals and companies that make up Stewardship America's Conservation Delivery Team, click here. For more information on Stewardship America's programs, visit the following links:
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