Katie Pofahl has joined The Nature Conservancy’s Washington chapter as our Eastern Washington Community Relations Manager with the Climate Resilient Forests and Communities team.
Katie will be focused on working with local communities, partners and leaders to build trust and plan for, design, and implement projects that reflect a broad suite of community needs, such as climate resilience, habitat conservation, forest health, recreation, economic development, and health and safety.
She recently graduated with a Master of Environmental Management from the Yale School of the Environment and brings over ten years of applied conservation. She is a Switzer Fellow, a Wyss Scholar for the Conservation of the American West, and she led the Yale Chapter of the Society for Ecological Restoration. As part of her studies, Katie worked with The Nature Conservancy’s Sierra Nevada program to develop policy approaches that reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfire in California while supporting a sustainable forest products industry. She also collaborated with the Rural West Covid Project where she worked to inform public policy across various levels of government to meet the needs of rural West communities struggling with the social and economic impacts of the pandemic.
Before coming to Yale, Katie worked for a land trust in Central California developing innovative community programs that were featured by the Land Trust Alliance and recognized by California State Parks for excellence in collaboration. She also served in public office with the Monterey Peninsula Regional Park and District protecting 1,041 acres of habitat from development, including rare forests and working ranchlands, and securing $1.2 million annually for open space preservation.
Katie’s work is focused on enacting transformative land conservation that will enable communities in the West to respond to urgent threats from drought, fire, urban sprawl and climate change. A key aspect of Katie’s approach is to view communities as a solution to critical issues rather than as a problem. Her work increases the pace and scale of land conservation while improving the wellbeing of our communities by using proven approaches that link land conservation to economic vitality, health, justice, and resilience to climate change.
Ask Katie about bike touring – she just rode over 550 miles and 30,000 vertical feet over 15 days in the Southern Rockies! She also loves surfing, snowboarding, and walking slowly in the forest
The 12,000-acre project is up for funding from the Land & Water Conservation Fund this year, but it needs your help to receive the full $14.5 million we need to make it a reality. Help us get the word out by sharing the YouTube link to this video on your social media channel of choice or emailing it to a friend!
The Taneum watershed in the #CentralCascades is an awesome place to play outside – and it’s so much more. Together, we can permanently protect this irreplaceable landscape with #LWCF. Let’s do this!
Daniel Misch is the new Arid Lands Assistant Manager at the Moses Coulee/Beezley Hills Preserves.
He’ll be leading post-fire restoration projects and assisting with many other stewardship activities on the preserves.
Daniel grew up in Northwest Indiana and graduated from Purdue University with a B.S. in Agriculture and Soil Science Minor.
“Every summer through college I worked in conservation either spraying invasive weeds or building trails. After college, I traveled throughout the United States with an environmental resources consulting company, working with Gas and Utility providers in all aspects of Vegetation Management and ecological consulting,” Daniel said . “I’ve been looking for the right position to get back into conservation work, and I’m excited to start as the Arid Lands Assistant Manager. In my free time you can find me skiing, mountain biking, or exploring the backcountry.”
As the U.S. Senate debates a major infrastructure bill this week, hundreds of thousands of acres in Washington have already burned. Smoke-choked air is keeping thousands indoors. Our “fire season” began in March, and April saw a record-setting number of fires. Firefighters across the state are battling a handful of major blazes. And just yesterday, lightning strikes in central Washington ignited a number of fires, as much of the state remains in a drought.
Indigenous peoples’ use of fire sustained ecosystems that supported cultural and food resources and helped ensure communities’ safety for millennia. Today’s collaborative work by the Yakama Nation, the state Department of Natural Resources and The Nature Conservancy on community-led conservation, such as our work with the Tapash Sustainable Forest Collaborative, is a model for fixing our wildfire crisis.
A recent report from The Nature Conservancy calls for major federal investment in wildfire resilience — five to six billion dollars annually over the next decade. As Congress debates a far-reaching infrastructure package, we urge leaders to include this transformative level of funding. When we invest in people and our lands, we can create lasting solutions for resilient local communities—and we can restore our relationship with fire.
You are part of the solution. You can urge Congress to act by sharing this op-ed on Twitter:
It’s time for bold policy action to reduce risks of catastrophic #wildfire. We’re calling on Congress to invest in #resilience for forests and people.
The US Senate passed a major bipartisan infrastructure framework today, sending a suite of major investments to the House for its consideration.
Natural shorelines with bluffs, like this one at Barnum Point on Camano Island, are important for feeding sediment into Puget Sound. Photo by Benj Drummond.
By the numbers
$8 billion for Forest Service and Department of the Interior
$89 million for the Puget Sound EPA Geographic Program
$172 million for the Pacific Coast Salmon Recovery Fund
$491 million for NOAA’s Community-based Restoration Grant Program
nearly $500 million for NOAA’s Coastal Resiliency Grant Program
$1 billion for a new culvert replacement grant program
$1 billion for FEMA’s Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) and pre-disaster mitigation grant programs
$216 million for a new Tribal Climate Resilience Program
$500 million for Army Corps of Engineers ecosystem restoration projects
The $1.2 trillion package would fund a wide range of climate, clean energy, natural infrastructure, coastal restoration, forest restoration and resilience priorities. Some highlights that will touch down for people and nature in Washington include:
More than $150 billion for climate and clean energy. Solutions to lower emissions and help address the climate crisis include significant investments in public transit, reducing transportation sector emissions, accelerating the adoption of electric vehicles, modernizing the grid, advancing carbon capture technologies, and improving energy efficiency.
Forest resilience programs. The US Forest Service and Department of the Interior will receive much-needed support to increase funding for hazardous fuels removal, Tribal forest protection agreements, the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program, state and private forestry, and several new forest programs.
Natural infrastructure and disaster resilience. Senator Cantwell created a new $1 billion culvert replacement grant program that will bring major funding for fish passage barrier removals to Washington. The bill also includes substantial funding for the Federal Emergency Management Agency to help communities prepare before natural disasters strike, including a new Tribal Climate Resilience Program to fund community relocation planning, design and implementation where needed.
Bioswales, like this one under the Aurora Bridge in Seattle, filter polluted stormwater runoff before in runs into our waterways, making them cleaner and safer for salmon, people and anyone and everything that depends on the water. Photo by Courtney Baxter.
Habitat restoration. The bill invests in a wide range of water, fish and wildlife habitat programs, increasing funding for EPA’s Puget Sound Geographic Program to $89 million and providing a big boost to the Pacific Coast Salmon Recovery Fund and a host of coastal and watershed restoration programs administered by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Natural Resources Conservation Service, and the US Forest Service.
> “Our lands and waters are part of America’s infrastructure. Like good roads and bridges, healthy watersheds are critical to the safety and well-being of our families and the economic growth of our communities. This legislation includes game-changing investments in fish passage, community-based habitat restoration, Puget Sound recovery and Pacific salmon habitat restoration. We thank Senator Cantwell and Senator Murray for prioritizing these critical investments in the infrastructure bill and look forward to working with them to ensure it gets to the President’s desk for his signature.”
Senator Cantwell and Senator Murray each played a key role in securing these historic investments. Send them a message on Twitter or via email to say thanks for for prioritizing these critical programs that will help advance climate solutions in our state while supporting clean water, resilient communities, and healthy forests and fish and wildlife habitats.
Our lands & waters are infrastructure. Thank you @SenatorCantwell & Sen. @PattyMurray for your hard work on the bipartisan #infrastructure package that invests in habitat restoration, healthy watersheds, forest #resilience & more.
CLICK TO TWEET
Next Steps
The work on the infrastructure package isn’t finished yet. Now that it’s cleared the Senate, the bill moves to the House for consideration. Advocates and legislative leaders expect final passage this autumn. After President Biden signs the final bill into law, federal agencies should receive money for local distribution through competitive grant programs in early 2022.
Meanwhile, Senate Democrats are advancing a budget reconciliation package today. This will proceed in tandem with the bipartisan infrastructure package, and will include additional climate and conservation investments at the larger scale necessary to address the biodiversity and climate crises.
Stay tuned to this space for updates on both of these historic bills as they move through Congress, and be sure you’re signed up for email updates to be notified of timely advocacy opportunities.
Keep me in the loop
Keep me in the loop
Banner photo: Tarboo watershed and Dabob Bay by Keith Lazelle.
