Wildlife Habitat Council - Restoring Greenspaces

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WHC's Land Restoration Program mission is to provide stakeholders with the best available resources to successfully achieve their goals in brownfield restoration through the use of natural-based approaches and ecological enhancements.

WHC's Annual Symposium presents how wildlife habitats are a key component of land revitalization and reuse schemes, whether standing alone or in conjunction with residential, commercial or new industrial uses.

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Restoring Greenspace 2007

The Wildlife Habitat Council hosted the nationally and regionally significant Restoring Greenspace: Ecological Reuse of Contaminated Properties in EPA Region 4 conference on May 22-23, 2007, in Atlanta, Georgia. The meeting brought together the nation’s leading experts from government, corporations, non-profits, academia and local communities to develop an action plan for putting natural cleanup technologies into widespread practice within U.S. EPA Region 4.

Dr. David Tsao, Atlantic Richfield Company (a BP affiliated company), explains the practice of phytoremediation to workshop participants.

For the first time, the 2007 Restoring Greenspace conference offered two pre-conference workshops. In the first workshop, EcoValuation: Ecological Reuse and Economic Evaluation of Contaminated Sites, an impressive panel of ecological restoration professionals discussed the use of green technologies to solve contaminant problems and establish ecological end-use.

In the second workshop, Phytoremediation Technologies, leading expert Dr. David Tsao presented different types of phytotechnology systems through hypothetical examples and real world case studies with varied remedial goals, target constituents and impacted media.

The Opening Session featured Jimmy Palmer, Regional Administrator, U.S. EPA Region 4. Palmer impressed upon the importance of the meeting, noting that five of the ten states with the greatest conversion of land from open space to development are located in Region 4. "As we encourage communities to achieve their economic goals through responsible development, land revitalization and restoration of contaminated sites are vital components of success," said Palmer.

Steve Elbert, Past WHC Chairman of the Board and Vice Chairman, BP America Inc., speaks during the Keynote Session.

Keynote speaker, Steve Elbert, Past WHC Chairman of the Board and Vice Chairman, BP America Inc., a self-proclaimed biologist by training and choice, and a corporate business person by accident, focused his remarks on what he knows best; "that rich ecotone where business and wildlife meet." Elbert inspired attendees to continue the American tradition of saving the nation’s awesome heritage of wildlife and wild spaces, noting that businesses must become activists too.

During the Tuesday lunch, Scott A. Sherman, Associate Assistant Administrator, U.S. EPA, Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response, spoke to attendees on the increasing necessity to recognize corporations not only as engines of economic growth, but as "engines of ecological restoration and habitat creation" as well. EPA, WHC and corporations share many of the same goals in approaching a variety of important ecological issues. Sherman emphasized that these groups must also use each other for support in "continuously working toward the proper balance between economic opportunity and environmental improvement."

Field trips to Clayton County Water Authority's Newman Wetlands Center and Atlantic Station, and Atlanta's new Beltline Initiative were enjoyed by all who attended. On the Newman Wetlands Center trip, attendees saw wildflowers, waterfowl, birds and turtles, and learned how the constructed wetlands are used to treat water.

Additionally, an array of informative breakout sessions, introduced and extrapolated on a number of concepts, including from performance metrics, wetlands restoration, community engagement, long-term stewardship and integrating natural resources damage assessment with site cleanup.