TREES, WATER & PEOPLE AND JOBCOMB: HELPING JOB SEEKERS AND THE PLANET

Trees, Water & People and Jobcomb are announcing a new partnership to help not only job seekers and employers, but also our environment. Jobcomb, an online resource dedicated to green jobs, will generously donate 25% of all listing revenue to environmental nonprofit organization Trees, Water & People to support their global sustainability efforts.

Trees, Water & People and Jobcomb are excited about the opportunities this partnership can bring. Scot W. Vaver, COO of Jobcomb explains, “This partnership assists Jobcomb in fulfilling our company’s mission of helping our environment for generations to come, allowing us to help employers find qualified candidates for their organization while at the same time knowing that they are taking steps in helping the environment with each job listing. The employers can also feel confident that with Jobcomb they are getting national and international exposure and will be achieving what they would have on other job boards at a reduced cost.” Scot further adds, “Job seekers benefit from reviewing not only Jobcomb listings, but also Indeed’s nationwide job listings. The job seeker can feel confident that

Jobcomb lists thousands of opportunities with green and renewable energy companies.”

This new partnership between Trees, Water & People and Jobcomb makes it possible for an environmentally-conscious job seeker to make a difference for the planet today while searching for their future green career.

About Jobcomb

Launched in 2008, Jobcomb focuses on all aspects of green and renewable energy jobs globally. The goal is to become the leading directory of green and renewable energy jobs and make it easy for job seekers and employers to find each other. All employer listings are available globally on Jobcomb and Indeed.com, another leading search engine for jobs. For job seekers, Jobcomb compliments its own green job listings with those provided by Indeed.com. Jobcomb offers an array of useful tools for both employers and job seekers. More information about Jobcomb can be found at www.jobcomb.com.

Henry Red Cloud and Richard Fox Visit the Wind River Reservation

Earlier this week Richard Fox, TWP’s National Director, and TWP’s Lakota partner, Henry Red Cloud, visited the Wind River Reservation in central Wyoming to demonstrate how our solar furnaces heat homes, using clean energy from the sun. During interactive workshops, solar heating systems were installed for two local households. Manufactured by Henry’s Pine Ridge company, Lakota Solar Enterprises, these systems lower a family’s heating bills by 20-30%, by providing heat for pennies per day, whenever the sun is shining.

The Wind River Reservation is the home of two separate tribes – the Northern Arapahoe and the Eastern Shoshone. Approximately 30 members of the tribes’ Housing Authorities attended Richard and Henry’s presentation about residential-scale renewable energy and its potential to bring green jobs to Native American communities. Tribal members then helped to install solar heating systems at a family home on each reservation.

Both Wind River tribes are exploring ways to incorporate renewable energy into their housing and job-training policies and plans. During their visit, Richard and Henry met with Patrick Goggles and Joanne Seesequasis, Executive Directors of the Northern Arapaho and Eastern Shoshone Housing Authority, and John Wadda, Director of the Eastern Shoshone’s Employment and Training Program, to discuss how TWP can further this process. If tribal leaders decide to implement solar heating on a wide scale, tribal members can learn to assemble and install the heating systems at our Red Cloud Renewable Energy Center on the Pine Ridge Reservation. These newly trained Solar Technicians could then be employed to economically install a large number of systems for Wind River families.

For more information please visit http://www.treeswaterpeople.org/tribal/tribal_intro.htm.

Interested in becoming involved with solar energy programs on tribal lands? Become a member of our Facebook Cause "Solar Energy for Lakota Families."

CWA Honors Richard Fox with Leadership Award

On his recent trip to a meeting of the Colorado Watershed Assembly (CWA) in Vail, Assembly members surprised TWP’s National Director Richard Fox with an award for his work. Richard founded the CWA and was pivotal to its success for its first few years; the CWA honored Richard for his “extraordinary leadership and persistence.” He also managed to build an organization that is now sustainable without his oversight, the ultimate goal and challenge for any visionary. His new plaque reads, “… we would not be where we are without your dedication, weird humor and passion. The rivers of Colorado are better due to your efforts.” Way to go Richard!

Henry Red Cloud in Washington, D.C.

Henry Red Cloud, TWP’s Pine Ridge Coordinator and the founder of Lakota Solar Enterprises (LSE), has been recognized as a 2009 Innovative Idea Champion by the Corporation for Enterprise Development (CFED). Henry left today for Washington, D.C. to present his concepts of renewable energy on tribal lands at the CFED’s 2009 Innovation Summit. Accompanied by TWP National Director Richard Fox and TWP Board President Jon Becker, Henry will engage with other innovators to shape and advance next-generation solutions addressing today’s unprecedented economic uncertainty. This great honor has provided Henry, Richard, and Jon a once in a lifetime opportunity to meet with key figures in Washington to gain support for renewable energy for Native Americans – “a new way to honor the old ways.” Safe travels Henry, Richard, and Jon!

Compliments to TWP's Watershed Health Program

We wanted to share this particularly nice compliment to TWP's Protecting the Water of the Arid West (PWAW) program from one of our training participants:

I was struggling. My watershed group had just learned that we would have to address much more stringent water quality standards and we had no money with which to work. I knew we’re going to have to engage the public if we’re ever going to be successful. But how? Out of the blue an e-mail came from Trees, Water & People inviting me to attend a free training to learn how to tell stories effectively. Under the tutelage of a skilled trainer, I learned to tell my fascinating stories in a way that engages others. My watershed group is well on its way to solving its funding issues. Not bad for a day’s work.


Through PWAW, we regularly provide training and development assistance to watershed groups, like this person’s, throughout the Interior West. With funding from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), this two-year program has helped these groups to grow sustainably and continue the protection of precious water resources.

TWP to Co-Sponsor Native American Renewable Energy Conference

Trees, Water & People will co-sponsor a conference highlighting the energy cost problems faced by the Indian Reservations of the American West, the multi-modal renewable energy approaches being implemented to address these problems, and the future possibilities for Native American renewable energy development. The conference, scheduled for November 4^th-6^th, will be held at the Rosebud Casino on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota.

The Rosebud Reservation has been at the forefront of renewable energy innovations, making this an ideal opportunity to explore the future of Native American renewable energy innovations and opportunities. Included in the conference will be tours to various sites on the reservation where renewable energy applications are in use, presentations by Native American renewable energy leaders, and cultural activities.

More information about the conference will be made available soon.

Henry Red Cloud Selected as 2009 Innovative Idea Champion

Henry Red Cloud, founder of Lakota Solar Enterprises (LSE) and partner of Trees, Water & People (TWP), has been recognized as a 2009 Innovative Idea Champion by the Corporation for Enterprise Development (CFED). As an Innovative Idea Champion, Henry will have the opportunity to present his concept of renewable energy on tribal lands at the 2009 Innovation Summit in Washington, D.C. in October.

Building on the foundation of Lakota Solar Enterprises, one of the nation’s first 100% Native American owned and operated renewable energy companies; Henry is now developing the Red Cloud Renewable Energy Center (RCREC). Located on Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, RCREC is a training facility for tribes to learn about renewable energy applications from fellow Native Americans. RCREC returns newly certified Solar Technicians to their communities with the expertise to start their own renewable energy programs. By incorporating small-scale applications, such as solar air heating, into their tribe’s housing, energy and employment policies, tribal leaders will be able to provide new green jobs, save money on home heating costs, and combat global climate change.

CFED’s 2009 Innovation Summit will exhibit top innovators introducing ideas, products, programs and policies that will create the future of economic activity. There, Henry will have the opportunity to engage with others to shape and advance next-generation solutions in the hope of creating a community that will address today’s unprecedented economic uncertainty.

For more information about Henry Red Cloud, LSE, and RCREC please visit http://www.treeswaterpeople.org/tribal/tribal_intro.htm.

TWP 2010 EcoTour: El Salvador & Nicaragua

Trees, Water & People's (TWP) 2010 EcoTour will take travelers to El Salvador and Nicaragua to experience our international programs first-hand while enjoying the beautiful culture of these two Central American countries.

Starting in El Salvador, participants will visit Joya de Ceren, an archeological sight similar to Pompeii. In Candelaria de la Frontera, they will have a chance to learn how our fuel-efficient Justa stove is made from start-to-finish by actually participating in the process. Later, we will travel to our El Porvenir tree nursery to plant a grove of fruit trees. The El Salvador tour will end with exotic bird watching and scenic hiking in the Los Volcanes National Park. From El Salvador the EcoTour will travel to Nicaragua. The adventure continues with a tour of the PROLEÑA EcoStove factory in Managua. From Managua, the group will travel to La Paz Centro to tour TWP’s tree nursery, a reforestation site, and a ceramics factory. The trip will end with explorations of León and Granada, two of Nicaragua’s most picturesque colonial-era cities.

This once-in-a-lifetime experience will bring adventurous travelers to the heart of TWP’s mission. Our commitment to developing sustainable community-based conservation solutions can be clearly seen when you travel to the places where our programs are being implemented. Meeting and working with the communities we serve will be an unforgettable opportunity!

TWP EcoTours are conducted through the Mesoamerican Tourism Alliance, an alliance of local organizations committed to the development and promotion of sustainable tourism as a means for supporting conservation efforts in Central America. The dates for our 2010 EcoTour will be February 7-16 and the $2,850/person price includes all lodging, meals, tours, and local transportation. For more information, please contact Allison Shaw at allison@treeswaterpeople.org.