Projects

Our work in open-space planning and protection has both urban and rural applications.  One emphasis is planning for connected open-space networks in towns and metropolitan areas, focusing particularly on greenway planning.  A second area of work is the conservation of working land— farms, ranches, forestland, and natural systems.   

Current Clients:

• Five Valleys Land Trust, Missoula County Open Lands Working Group Report, Montana
  
  

  We contracted with the land trust to convene and facilitate the Missoula County Open Lands Working Group over a 15-month period in 2005-06.  This was done through a contract the land trust had with the Missoula Board of County Commissioners.  A separate contract with Five Valleys Land Trust is for completing an organization assessment of policies and practices. Learn more >>  

• Healthy Environments Partnership, School of Public Health, University of Michigan
  
  

  Three neighborhoods in Detroit are being studied in a University of Michigan School of Public Health project, funded by the National Institutes of Health. The Healthy Environments Partnership (HEP) is a community-based participatory research project designed to examine and address aspects of the social and physical environment that contribute to racial and socioeconomic disparities in risk of cardiovascular disease.
  
  Donna Erickson Consulting, Inc has contracted with HEP to focuses on connectivity in the built environment, particularly for non-motorized transportation and recreation.  We are suggesting ways that neighborhood streets and other public areas can be used by neighborhood residents, particularly for health-enhancing outcomes. 
  
  Brightmoor's Lyndon Greenway: Catalyst for Community Revival (4.7 MB)
  Expanding the Corktown-Mexicantown Greenlink: Connecting Southwest Neighbors (5.7 MB)

• Swan Ecosystem Center, Condon, Montana
  
  

  The Swan Ecosystem Center (SEC) and Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribes have obtained and protected property at the confluence of Elk Creek and the Swan River, through funding from the Bonneville Power Administration.  The 640 acre parcel, will be managed pursuant to a conservation easement held by BPA.  The land contains significant habitat for bull trout, grizzly bear, and other species.  Donna Erickson Consulting, Inc has contracted to assist SEC’s Elk Creek Management Group in writing a management plan for the property.
  

• Five Valleys Land Trust, Missoula, Montana

  The land trust contracted with Donna Erickson Consulting, Inc to complete a thorough organizational assessment and to revise and draft, where needed, all policies, practices and procedures.  Subsequently, we prepared the land trust’s application for accreditation with the Land Trust Accreditation Commission. 

Recent Research Projects:

• MetroGreen, a new book by Donna Erickson.
  
  
• Upper Manistee River Watershed Conservation Plan
  
  
• The Relationship of Historic City Form and Contemporary Greenway Implementation: a comparison of Milwaukee, Wisconsin (USA) and Ottawa, Ontario (Canada)
  
  
• Woodlots in the rural landscape: Non-industrial private landowner motivations and management attitudes in a Michigan case study.”