Middlebury Institute of International Studies presents a free lecture by Matt Gerhart entitled The Gensis and Implementation of Measure AA in the San Francisco Bay Area on November 27 at 6pm in the McGowan Building, Room 102, on the campus of MIIS.

In 2016, voters in nine counties voted by more than 70 percent to establish a regional parcel tax ($12 per parcel) to fund tidal marsh restoration in San Francisco Bay. Over the next 20 years, this tax will provide $500 million to accelerate re-establishment of wetlands that benefit endangered species and improve flood protection for shoreline communities. More than a decade of preparation and advocacy produced and passed this unprecedented ballot measure with broad support, to boost the nation’s largest urban climate adaptation and natural resilience project.

Funding for measure AA began in earnest in July of 2017. Matt Gerhart, Regional Manager for the San Francisco Bay Area program of the California Coastal Conservancy, will discuss how Measure AA came about, and where it stands now, a year into its funding.