U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities Retains Cadmus Principal to Advance Watershed Protection Efforts

[February 25, 2013]

U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities Retains Cadmus Principal to Advance Watershed Protection Efforts

WALTHAM, Mass. --(Business Wire)--

The Cadmus Group, Inc. announced today that the U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities (the Endowment) has retained Tracy Mehan, a principal with the company, to coordinate the Endowment's source water protection efforts.

G. Tracy Mehan, Cadmus principal, retained by the U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities to coordinate the Endowment's source water protection efforts. (Photo: The Cadmus Group, Inc.)

Mehan will focus on working with the water utility industry and individual utilities to help advance watershed protection in a systemic, transformative, and sustainable way, which is a hallmark of the Endowment's approach. His activities will be guided in part by the recommendations presented in the Source (News - Alert) Water Protection Vision and Roadmap, published by the Water Research Foundation in 2012.

"An estimated two out of three Americans receive their drinking water from a forested watershed," noted Carlton Owen, the Endowment's President and CEO. "Protecting, restoring, and improving management of these working forests is the most economical way to ensure clean, abundant supplies of drinking water. If the forests are lost or degraded, water quality diminishes, triggering expensive treatment and storage costs. We could not be more pleased to add Tracy to our team to help advance protection of forested watersheds, which will, in turn, save money for everyone."

"My colleagues and I are both pleased nd privileged to work with the Endowment, water utility managers, and local communities to protect both forests and drinking water, two of our most important assets," said Mehan. "We appreciate this opportunity to enhance greater collaboration between these two key sectors."

The primary focus of this initiative will be on source water protection with a view toward cost-effective drinking water protection and the generation of multiple ecological benefits beyond safe water, such as habitat protection and carbon sequestration. Since healthy watersheds reduce water treatment and storage costs while generating multiple other environmental benefits, investments in protecting and managing watersheds through sustainable funding mechanisms are cost-effective.

Increasing numbers of communities and utilities realize the importance of watershed protection but lack the information, mechanisms, and/or support required to bring about protection. This initiative will provide or coordinate that support, particularly with regard to the financing strategies needed to accomplish watershed protection.

"We are very pleased to have Tracy work on this effort to advance public health and environmental protection," said Chi Ho Sham, Ph.D., senior vice president of Cadmus' Environmental Science and Policy Division. "Cadmus has a long history supporting drinking water source protection programs at the federal, state, and local levels. The contributions to be made by Tracy are consistent with Cadmus' mission in advancing social good."

Mehan's position is being co-funded by the Weyerhaeuser Family Foundation and the American Water Works Association (AWWA).

About The Cadmus Group, Inc.

Cadmus is an employee-owned consultancy committed to helping our clients address complex challenges by applying diverse skills and experiences in a highly collaborative environment. By assisting our clients in achieving their goals, we create social and economic value today and for future generations. Founded in 1983, we leverage exceptional expertise across a staff of more than 400 professionals in the physical and life sciences, engineering, social sciences, strategic communication, architecture and design, law, policy analysis, and the liberal arts who provide an array of research and analytical services in the United States and abroad.
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