Photo credit: Nate Ptacek
Save the Boundary Waters’ Paddle to D.C. launched on September 7th, as David and Amy Freeman started paddling in their canoe from Duluth, MN to Washington, D.C., in order to raise awareness for the 1-million acres of protected lands and waters of the Boundary Waters  Canoe Area Wilderness. Cathy helped gain media coverage including with the Associated Press, Minnesota Public Radio
Farmers and fishermen will walk in each others shoes this summer as part of the Theordore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership’s Barnyard to Boatyard Conservation Exchange. Cathy and her team are publicizing this first-of-its-kind exchange in which South Dakota farmers will spend three days learning about Louisiana Gulf fishing and water quality. Then Louisiana fishermen will travel to South Dakota to get a first-hand understanding of farming and ranching in the nation’s breadbasket.
Minnesota now has a new solar energy standard of 1.5 percent, thanks to the efforts of the MN Clean Energy & Jobs Coalition. The solar standard for investor-owned utilities is to be reached by 2020, with a goal of 10 percent by 2030. Working with Fourth Sector Consulting, Cathy concentrated on statewide media outreach and editorial board meetings to help the coalition pass this “first step forward in answering the Governor’s call to establish a cleaner, more sustainable energy future.”
Cathy is working with Mortenson to tell the story of women and minority subcontractors and workers helping build the new Minneapolis schools building in North Minneapolis.
For Mayo Clinic, Cathy worked with the Star Tribune editorial writers to emphasize the critical need to maintain funding for medical and health research, a strong jobs base in Minnesota.
Sediment sludge sparked media attention for Cathryn’s client, Minnesota Environmental Partnership. The nonprofit headed a coalition to urge the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency to take action on farm run-off pollution. Cathryn’s pitch of their most recent media event was picked up by multiple Minnesota outlets including The Pioneer Press, MinnPost, and Environmental Working Group.
From Cathryn’s Minn. office to the desks at the Baltimore Sun, conservation practices are the hot topic of discussion. Cathryn’s client, the Izaak Walton League of America, was featured in the Baltimore Sun urging stakeholders to consider stewardship farming agreements.
Cathryn continues her work with the Izaak Walton League in 2012. In May, Cathryn focused media attention to Northfield, Minn. where government officials, area farmers, and members of agriculture groups gathered to observe and discuss the benefits of conservation farming and the 2012 Farm Bill.
The event brought MN2020, WCCO, Corn and Soybean Digest, and members from Senator Klobuchar Office and Senator Al Franken Office.
Cathryn is generating media attention for the 2012 Farm Bill Forums sponsored by the Izaak Walton League of America.
The Izaak Walton League is initiating conversations in five states – Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri and Wisconsin – to discuss concerns that need to be addressed in the 2012 Farm Bill. Cathryn is working with farm broadcasters, online media and editorial boards to generate coverage of the forums across the Midwest.
Cathy conducted media relations on the need for redistricting reform, which resulted in a Star Tribune editorial, supporting reform; a Minnesota Public Radio feature outlining the redistricting “secret perk” of the 2010 election; as well as stories with Politics in Minnesota, The Uptake, and local Minneapolis neighborhood papers.