In 1999, the Foundation’s Board considered where it wanted to go with environmental grantmaking – withdraw from the field, continue as in the past or define specific areas of focus.

William Cronon, a distinguished professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, was the principal presenter at a Board retreat, followed by a panel of respondents from the University of Minnesota with particular interests in ecological topics. (Panelists included William Morrish, director, Design Center for the American Urban Landscape; Professor G. David Tilman, McKnight Presidential Chair in Ecology at the University of Minnesota; and James Van Der Pol, farmer and senior fellow, Minnesota Institute for Sustainable Agriculture.)

Cronon presented Principles Toward a “Humanist Environmentalism (PDF),” which places human values and culture as central to protecting and preserving the environment. Cronon encouraged the Board to integrate environmental concerns into all aspects of our grantmaking – arts and humanities, human services and health, and education.

The Foundation approved guidelines for the ecological health program in 2001, named to reflect an approach that views grantmaking through interdependent systems rather than isolated problems to be solved. The guidelines set forth expectations for the Foundation to learn through its experience and the experience of its grantees with further refinement based on that learning.

Because of the emergent quality of the work, the Foundation adopted a “planting many seeds” approach. The guidelines outlined anticipated results, which included shifts in societal understanding of the link between human health and environmental (ecosystem) health; increased interdisciplinary connections and practices (e.g., health, environment and child development) across professional disciplines; and improved water quality through policy and behavior change and through civic action.

The Foundation wishes to acknowledge Bush Foundation Senior Program Officer Jane Kretzmann, on staff from 1988 to 2008, for her vision and leadership in advancing the Foundation’s support of ecological health programs.