Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership Inc.

“The tax return was prepared by the outside accountants and reviewed by senior management. The draft 990 was provided to the audit committee for review and comment. A final copy of 990 was sent to the entire board for review and approval before it was filed with irs.”

“Each director, principal officer and member of a committee with governing board delegated powers annually signs a statement which affirms such person: a. Has received a copy of the conflicts of interest policy, b. Has read and understands the policy, c. Has agreed to comply with the policy, and d. Understands the organization is charitable and that, in order to maintain its federal tax exemption, it must engage primarily in activities which accomplish one or more of its tax-exempt purposes. Procedures for addressing the conflict of interest: a. An interested person may make a presentation at the governing board or committee meeting, but after the presentation, he/she leaves the meeting during the discussion of, and the vote on, the transaction or arrangement involving the possible conflict of interest. B. The chairperson of the governing board or committee, if appropriate, appoints a disinterested person or committee to investigate alternatives to the proposed transaction or arrangement. C. After exercising due diligence, the governing board or committee determines whether the organization can obtain with reasonable efforts a more advantageous transaction or arrangement from a person or entity that would not give rise to a conflict of interest. D. If a more advantageous transaction or arrangement is not reasonably possible under circumstances not producing a conflict of interest, the governing board or committee determines by a majority vote of the disinterested directors whether the transaction or arrangement is in the organization's best interest, for its own benefit, and whether it is fair and reasonable. In conformity with the above determination, it makes its decision as to whether to enter into the transaction or arrangement.”

“At the discretion of the chairperson of the board of directors, the executive committee of the board will obtain third party assistance in determining the appropriate compensation for the president/ceo. The process used will be conducted by the executive committee, and documented in the board minutes. Comparability data was not used in 2017 since this is not necessary to do every year.”

“The organization makes its governing documents, conflict of interest policy, and financial statements available to the public upon request.”

“Center for agricultural and private lands (cal): the trcp center for agriculture and private lands is focusing on both ensuring strong title ii conservation funding and advancing sportsmen's priorities in the 2018 farm bill, particularly through our 24-member agriculture and wildlife working group (awwg). This spring, the awwg completed the "sportsmen's priorities for conservation and access in the 2018 farm bill". We went final with this policy platform in october and have shared the document with nearly all 67 members of the house and senate agriculture committees. Since september, the trcp has been working to shift the awwg 9-page policy document into an easily dispensable format for use by the awwg and trcp's policy council partners for hill and administration advocacy. We have developed 8 individual program fact sheets and one general fact sheet. The trcp will be working to finalize these fact sheets, currently under review by the 7 awwg subcommittees, by mid-december. These program fact sheets, along with the awwg platform, will be showcased on a new trcp farm bill website landing page slated to be unveiled in early january as part of our 2018 farm bill push. The awwg was one of the first coalitions to develop its farm bill priorities and trcp continues to work to include many of our recommendations as part of other consensus-building efforts, including through the agriculture conservation coalition, forests in the farm bill, wetland conservation policy coalition, clean water for all, the colorado river collaborative, and a wildlife-agriculture-conservation-crop insurance coalition. This is a strong start to coalition-building around key conservation issues. Many of our partner organizations have also mirrored our language in their own platforms to ensure a consistent approach with congress. The trcp hosted our 15th annual (mid) western summit at the end of august in minneapolis, mn. The media summit focused on the ways the farm bill influences habitat and water conservation, recreational access, and rural economies, as well as how private and public lands (and public infrastructure) intersect and interact to create a landscape of conservation. During the summit we also hosted a farm tour for our media contacts and partners with a focus on land enrolled in the conservation reserve program (crp), as well as working lands where farm bill practices such as no-till farming and cover crops are being utilized to improve water quality. We also visited a dairy farm, where robotic innovations and manure storage and separation equipment are designed to help with the state's water quality challenges which have impacts down to the gulf of mexico. In october 2017, the trcp, with key partners including the national bobwhite conservation initiative, izaak walton league of america, pheasants forever, iowa department of natural resources, and the iowa natural resources conservation service, hosted a farm tour for congressional staff from the state's delegation offices. The tour included staff from both senate offices and the local congressional district office and included farms near des moines with farm bill conservation projects benefitting wildlife habitat and contributing to water quality and nutrient pollution reduction. In november 2017, the trcp held a retreat for our policy council in buras, la. Over two days, using the mississippi river basin as a primary lens for policy discussion, we developed next steps for a community-wide, coordinated farm bill campaign, and also touched on infrastructure policy, coastal restoration, and clean water campaign tactics. Center for water resources (cwr): the cwr has a policy agenda developed in cooperation with the water working group, through stakeholder outreach, and with feedback from the trcp policy council. The two main pillars of the center agenda are (1) to promote federal water conservation funding; (2) to improve the engagement of the sporting community in federal decision making relat”

“Trcp center for marine fisheries director chris macaluso testified in support of the "modern fish act" before the house subcommittee on water power and oceans in september. His testimony was well-received by committee members and applauded by trcp partners. Macaluso and trcp policy staff have continued to meet with congressmen and staff to advance the legislation in both the house and senate and expect votes in house and senate committees by late this year or in early spring of 2018. The trcp continues to focus heavily on the restoration of the mississippi river delta and the everglades, working with partners and other sportsmen groups, the conservation community at large and state and federal lawmakers and policy makers to advance restoration efforts, organize grassroots support and help expedite passage of critical legislation and federal permits associated with advancing restoration in both areas. The trcp hosted its policy council retreat in early november in buras, louisiana near the mouth of the mississippi river and had several discussions with louisiana officials and partner organizations about federal permitting issues delaying construction of critical coastal restoration efforts in in the mississippi river delta. The trcp also authored a letter signed by a dozen angling and conservation groups urging house and senate leadership to include funding for key projects in everglades restoration be included in hurricane recovery packages for areas devastated by hurricane irma. The trcp also worked extensively with the sportfishing and conservation community to advance conservation-based management of atlantic menhaden through changes in menhaden management by the atlantic states marine fisheries commission. Though the vote in november did not turn out exactly the way the sportfishing and conservation community wanted, the commission did vote to work towards establishing ecological based management overt the coming years, giving the trcp the chance to continue to lead the sportfishing community in advancing ecosystem-based forage fish management. Conservation funding: the trcp helps lead a coalition of sportsmen and conservation organizations on the cross-cutting issue of conservation funding. In recent years, the budget deficit has taken center stage with policy makers, and the trend to cut federal spending has taken a dramatic and disproportionate effect on conservation programs supported by the federal government. Programs that help conserve intact habitat or provide clean water protections have all been targeted for large cuts or elimination. Through the work within our community and among other allies we have seen some turn around in recent budget requests. While there remains great uncertainty both in congress and the administration in terms of priorities and the potential for action of any kind on federal appropriations bills or federal legislation, the trcp has identified three key areas of conservation funding that warrant engagement in 2017-2018: defense of the federal conservation budget; disaster assistance; and infrastructure. We have also recently engaged in setting priorities for disaster assistance as well as formed a new working group to engage on infrastructure funding and policy. All three areas of conservation funding will remain of import as we round out 2017 and head into 2018 and the second session of the 115th congress. During 2017, the trcp has led regular avcrp calls to provide a forum for the development of a multi-stakeholder conservation funding campaign. This campaign has focused on outreach to budget and appropriations committee staff to gather intel and discuss next steps to ensure federal conservation funding for fy2018 does not witness cuts in order to offset increased spending in other areas of the budget such as for defense. The trcp led four appropriations letters this year in close coordination with our policy council partners with a focus on the u.s. Department of interior, u.s. Departm”

“The process has not changed from previous years.”