Summer 2025: CBI in Action

Improving a State Agency’s Workplace Culture

Colorado’s Parks and Wildlife agency manages over forty state parks, all the state’s wildlife, and a range of recreational programs. Given the expansive nature of Colorado’s wildlife and landscape, this covers a great deal, from licenses for hunting mountain lions to snowmobile registration. Many of these issues touch on topics near and dear to people’s hearts and at the center of Colorado’s cultural divide. CPW often functions in a zone of intensified public opinion. Managing any large workplace means attending to nuances and differences in culture, fields, and perspectives, but the additional stress faced by those working on divisive issues calls for special care. In the case of Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW), which over 10 years ago was created as a merger of two very different agencies, this requires communicating across sometimes profoundly different areas of workplace culture and expertise.

In addition to facilitating external stakeholder efforts for CPW, CBI has been working with various site-specific teams at Colorado Parks and Wildlife—primarily within the state parks and aquatics/hatcheries programs—to address conflict, improve workplace culture, and enhance the collaboration of their teams. This has included internal assessments followed by individual mediations and/or group sessions to address areas of conflict and facilitate agreement-seeking and skills-building for effective communication. CBI will also lead a 2-day communication, conflict management, and leadership skills training with managers in their aquatics program this fall. 

Protecting Bat Populations from White Nose Syndrome 

A fungal disease known as white-nose syndrome (WNS) has become a major threat to bat populations in the United States and Canada. It can appear as a white fuzz around the faces of bats, and it does major damage to the animals as they grow. Millions of bats have been killed by this disease, for which there is no cure—in some sites, more than 90% of the bats have died.  

Building on previous work to help create a national monitoring program for bats (NaBAT), address wind energy impacts to bat populations (Bat Wind Energy Collaborative), and develop the 2015 WNS strategic plan, CBI assisted the program leaders—from the FWS, USGS, USFS, NPS, and numerous state agencies, universities and NGOs—to update the response plan. CBI interviewed experts across North America, designed and facilitated a technical workshop in Nashville, TN, and is working to advance a series of documents, from an inventory of the program’s accomplishments to an overview of treatment options and specific treatment strategies.

Flood Diversion Groundwater Recharge in the Sacramento Valley

Local agencies in the Sacramento Valley in California are working together to secure a reliable water supply in keeping with the state’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA). Now California’s Department of Water Resources and the Northern California Water Association have convened the Sacramento Valley Flood Diversion Recharge Enhancement Work Group to collaborate on short-, medium-, and long-term actionable solutions to advance flood diversion recharge in the Sacramento Valley. Flood Diversion Recharge is a pathway governed by the California Water Code that allows for diversion of flood water without a water right during extreme flood events. These diversions can have dual benefits, reducing flood risks and impacts while recharging groundwater aquifers.

CBI facilitates this work group, which involves engaging local agencies, the state’s Department of Water Resources, technical experts, and others in a series of discussions. The focus is both to seek opportunities within the existing statutory environment and to identify the potential need for policy changes to scale up flood diversion recharge activities to meet the growing pressures on California’s water future.

Climate Ambassadors in Massachusetts

The City of Somerville, Massachusetts, launched its Climate Ambassadors Program in 2019 to foster a culture of climate action among residents. Over the six-month program, participants build community, learn about climate priorities and local action, discuss theories of change for climate action, and conduct small projects that engage and educate the wider community. The program culminates in a community celebration and project presentations. Participants have produced widely varying projects over the years: a household climate action plan, a community climate change literacy survey, a portable solar panel, a “biking with kids” workshop, and an environmental justice-focused tour of city parks.

CBI has worked with the city's Office of Sustainability and Environment from the beginning—researching ambassador program approaches early on, then co-designing and -leading the program for six years. This program continues to be a priority for the city, and the program continues to evolve. This year's 25-person cohort is participating in seminars on environmental communication, climate advocacy, mobility, waste management, and local climate action. 

Tampa Bay Estuary Program

Tampa Bay is Florida’s largest open-water estuary, where seagrass and mangroves make a home for an array of fish, birds, reptiles, and more. The Tampa Bay Estuary Program, one of 28 national estuary programs, was created in 1991 to implement a community-based management plan, informed by growing understanding of the bay and the needs of its communities.

The program works with communities around the bay, aiming to advance those communities’ role in managing the estuary. CBI has been supporting this effort with training in facilitation and conflict resolution. That has included workshops, where discussions covered barriers to community participation, approaches to community outreach, and designing meetings for maximal, diverse participation.

Biodiversity in Massachusetts

Wildlife populations have declined by 73% over the past 50 years. An estimated 1 million species face extinction if nothing is done to confront climate change, pollution, invasive species, and other causes of biodiversity loss. Massachusetts is no exception: biodiversity within the state has been threatened by agriculture, infrastructure, and other human developments. In 2023, Governor Maura Healey signed Executive Order No. 618, which named the intertwined crises of climate change and biodiversity loss as existential threats to the Commonwealth and directed the Department of Fish & Game to develop biodiversity conservation goals for 2030, 2040, and 2050. For eighteen months, CBI worked with the Department of Fish & Game to assess existing efforts; enlist multiple state agencies from housing to human health; and engage 2,000 people from hundreds of towns, cities, and organizations to create ambitious goals and strategies for rebuilding biodiversity. The plan will be released in Spring 2025.