(Example of a "high-complexity" street with greenery and a variety of facades. Photo Source: Tony Webster from San Francisco, CA.)
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Regional Challenges: HUMAN HEALTH, SOCIAL EQUITY
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By Sarah Titcomb
Regional Challenges: BIODIVERSITY, CLIMATE CHANGE, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, HUMAN HEALTH, SOCIAL EQUITY -
By Sarah Titcomb
(Photo Source: Gregory "Slobirdr" Smith)Ten of Washington’s most iconic native mammal species have gone nearly extinct at some point in the state’s history. These ten species include:
Regional Challenges: BIODIVERSITY -
The City Project is a nonprofit organization based in Los Angeles, California that works on equal access to parks and green space, transportation, and related issues at the intersection of social justice, sustainable regional planning, and smart growth. The State of California requires county and city general plans as well as proposed new development projects to address environmental justice matters.
Regional Challenges: HUMAN HEALTH, SOCIAL EQUITY -
By Sarah Titcomb
(Photo Source: SMacAfee)Regional Challenges: BIODIVERSITY, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT -
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Matt Chadsey, Project Leader, Earth Economics
Regional Challenges: BIODIVERSITY, CLIMATE CHANGE, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, HUMAN HEALTH -
The term biophilia, coined by Edward O. Wilson, describes what he thinks is our innate connection to the natural world. Wilson and other like-minded scholars have taken this concept further to suggest that, in fact, humans cannot thrive in the absence of this connection to nature (mentally, physically or spiritually). Given this vital connection, it’s no surprise that social scientists and economist, in particular, have been developing credible techniques for estimating the monetary value of the benefits humans receive from nature or other compelling metrics.
Regional Challenges: HUMAN HEALTH -
It is a well-established fact that Washingtonians love our great outdoors. In the Summer, we flock to Paradise on Mount Rainier for idyllic adventures, drive out to Granite Falls to ride on horseback, or hop on our bikes to enjoy our regional trail network. During the Winter, many of us head for the hills with our snowboards, sleds, skis, and snowshoes with dreams of fresh powder. But sadly, warm temperatures and low snowpack has kept most of that winter equipment in the garage this year. Read more to find out why this matters to the ROSS.
Regional Challenges: CLIMATE CHANGE, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT -
The Kitsap Forest & Bay Project is a landscape-level effort to conserve up to 6,700 acres of forest, wetlands and shoreline surrounding Port Gamble Bay in north Kitsap County. The Project is a once-in-history opportunity to help sustain our region's quality of life, environmental health, and economic vitality. It has the potential to shape the future of the entire Kitsap Peninsula and has been championed by a broad coalition of partners including Kitsap County, Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe, Suquamish Tribe, Great Peninsula Conservancy, Forterra, Pope Resources and the community at large.
Regional Challenges: BIODIVERSITY, CLIMATE CHANGE, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, HUMAN HEALTH, SOCIAL EQUITY -
Martha Kongsgaard, ROSS Executive Committee Member and Chair of the Puget Sound Partnership, recently co-authored a guest opinion piece in the Seattle Times about Orca whales and salmon with Ken Balcomb, Executive Director of the Center for Whale Research, and David Troutt, the Director of the Nisqually Indian Tribe Natural Resources. Continue reading to learn more about this article and the difficulty of steward the survival of two endangered species, when one eats the other.
Regional Challenges: BIODIVERSITY -
We are delighted to share with you a new study that looks at the contribution of outdoor recreation to Washington’s economy. Here are some of the results:
Regional Challenges: ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, HUMAN HEALTH -
It seems like a perennial challenge to create well-utilized open space in urban settings! Many cities suffer from a lack of trees and green spaces. The street grid imposes limits on developing new open space. These challenges are even more profound in dense urban neighborhoods, like Seattle's First Hill.
Regional Challenges: -
We highly recommend you read this thoughtful – and visually stunning – article about the impact of climate change on our beloved Mt. Rainier. From glacier melt to habitat shifts, the challenges of data prediction to the tension between human intervention, policy and practice, this article reveals the complexity of a changing climate on an iconic landscape.
Regional Challenges: BIODIVERSITY, CLIMATE CHANGE -
At our recent ROSS Project Leadership Team meeting we asked our participating partners what the most important developments in open space have been for their organizations in 2014 and what they are looking forward to in 2015. We were excited and inspired by the great strides that have been made to protect and enhance open space in the Central Puget Sound and beyond over the last year. We know that the efforts mentioned are just the tip of the iceberg for these organizations and the region. While there is much more work to do to ensure and protect open space, we are delighted to celebrate these great achievements and look towards the future. Join us!
Regional Challenges: BIODIVERSITY, CLIMATE CHANGE, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, HUMAN HEALTH, SOCIAL EQUITY -
We are delighted to share the great efforts of the Mountains to Sound Greenway, Stewardship Partners and their Snoqualmie Valley partners for their visionary planning in the watershed. This beautiful "report card" reflects the thoughtful work they are doing to create a robust watershed plan to protect and enhance their forests, farms and rural lands that make up 96% of their land and provide essential ecosystem services for the entire Puget Sound region.
Filed under: AESTHETIC, AIR, COMMUNITY, CULTURAL, DISASTER MITIGATION, EDUCATION, FOOD, MATERIALS, PLAY, SHELTER, TRANSPORT, WATER, WORKRegional Challenges: BIODIVERSITY, CLIMATE CHANGE, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, HUMAN HEALTH, SOCIAL EQUITY -
Our friends at the Wilderness Society just shared the findings of an important study published in October that demonstrates that kids who spend time in nature, away from multi-tasking computers, express improved emotional intelligence compared to their peers. See the summary article here or read the study published in Computers in Human Behavior here.
Regional Challenges: HUMAN HEALTH -
Our region, the Central Puget Sound, is in the midst of a highly progressive and innovative regional planning effort to conserve and enhance the open space systems that provide direct inputs to the ecological, economic, social, recreational and aesthetic vitality of our region.
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Everyone can get excited about building new parks, but the formation of Seattle Parks District indicates that our region realizes the importance of maintaining the legacy of green space we’ve already invested in. This complements government agencies like Metro Parks Tacoma and donation-based partnerships like King County Parks Foundation in providing a more reliable stream of resources so managers of park systems can be more effective in maintaining existing assets or building anew. The ROSS is working with partners across the region to enhance our collective impact to ensure the portfolio of our investments in open space enhance nature’s benefits.
Regional Challenges: SOCIAL EQUITY -
It has been a busy summer for us here at the ROSS. Not only have we been hard at work on our open space services work and entering into an agreement with King County and the City of Seattle for the Green-Duwamish WOSS you may have read about earlier this month, we’ve also been developing a new website.
Filed under: AESTHETIC, AIR, COMMUNITY, CULTURAL, DISASTER MITIGATION, EDUCATION, ENERGY, FOOD, HEALTH, MATERIALS, PLAY, SHELTER, TRANSPORT, WASTE, WATER, WORKRegional Challenges: BIODIVERSITY, CLIMATE CHANGE, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, HUMAN HEALTH, SOCIAL EQUITY -
Monday, September 9, marked a seminal moment in open space planning, as King County and the City of Seattle, in the presence of community groups, natural resource agencies and local news media, announced plans to develop a Green/Duwamish Watershed Strategy.
Filed under: AESTHETIC, AIR, COMMUNITY, CULTURAL, DISASTER MITIGATION, EDUCATION, ENERGY, FOOD, HEALTH, MATERIALS, PLAY, SHELTER, TRANSPORT, WASTE, WATER, WORKRegional Challenges: BIODIVERSITY, CLIMATE CHANGE, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, HUMAN HEALTH, SOCIAL EQUITY -
It has been an exciting several months for those of us involved in developing the Puyallup-White Watershed Open Space Strategy (WOSS). Thanks to the collaborative approach and broad participation from many of you, a vision is beginning to take shape. The WOSS process is emerging as a possible springboard for a Big Idea that has lived in the watershed for years: a coalition of organizations, businesses and agencies coordinating across a broad range of projects to ensure the watershed as an ecosystem is healthy and continues to deliver the broad range of benefits to the region.
Regional Challenges: ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT -
Outdoor recreation is big business in Puget Sound and throughout Washington. But it’s about more than just industry retailers like REI and Outdoor Research. Access to hiking, camping, boating and other outdoor pursuits are a central part of the unique quality of life we enjoy – and a major selling point for non-outdoor businesses seeking to recruit new talent.
Regional Challenges: ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT