Every 5 years the U.S. Congress updates critical legislation to set policy and funding levels for a variety of federal agriculture, conservation, forestry, and nutrition programs. Known as “the Farm Bill,” this must-pass legislation, with significant implications for the U.S. Forest Service and rural outdoor economies, faces headwinds in a divided Congress. 

A new partnership between Quantified Ventures and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service National Partnerships Office is advancing business, governance, and financing strategies for high-potential outdoor recreation and land management initiatives in and around national forests. REI Co-op’s commitment of matching support in 2023 unlocked Forest Service partnership funding for a suite of five projects in the first year of the partnership.

We need locally-driven solutions, public-private collaboration, and innovative financing to address the water crisis in the Western United States. We outline our work with several partners in the West and Southwest U.S. to do just that - including our efforts with the Edwards Aquifer Authority in Texas to create a new type of cost-effective, flexible groundwater easement for the aquifer.

Carbon markets, offsets, and insets help facilitate our nature-based solutions and can serve as a bridge to making bigger things happen. For Quantified Ventures, our project partners, and the buyers we work with, high quality credits are a requirement. They are more highly valued and align with our focus on predicting, measuring, and reporting the verified outcomes of a project to transparently demonstrate value.

Public policy innovation is one of the major enablers of more systemic change. To that end, we were thrilled to see Maryland Governor Larry Hogan sign the Conservation Finance Act into law on April 21, 2022.

We have an opportunity to shift the conversation and to tell the full story of how a local trail or campground is an economic driver and a community asset. We also have the ability to better align our efforts to develop the outdoor recreation economy and keep the benefits of economic development local.

Conservation is often treated like an enemy of economic opportunity. It’s seen as an action that prevents progress. But that narrative is an outdated one. Through a focus on targeted climate finance initiatives driven by local stakeholders, we can provide tangible economic benefits to rural communities while simultaneously working towards a more environmentally-forward future.

Quantified Ventures, with support from the U.S. Forest Service, has made a compelling case that, through application of the Pay for Success (PFS) financing model, we can scale an urban wood economy in Baltimore that identifies, quantifies, and then supports sustainable employment, reduced recidivism and waste, lowers crime rates, and improves health.

Senior Associate Seth Brown talks about his work with the U.S. Forest Service and Wayne National Forest in Ohio, where Quantified Ventures is working on a feasibility assessment for an 88-mile mountain biking trail.