Protecting nature in Arizona and Indiana

The Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust focuses its environmental strategy primarily on critical waterways and increasing awareness of environmental issues in Arizona and Indiana, the states where we invest. Recently, the Trust approved a new, three-year environmental roadmap for grantmaking in Arizona and Indiana. The Trust recognizes it must remain nimble as the landscapes in Arizona and Indiana change and opportunities arise. Over the past eight years, much has been accomplished to protect the Verde River in Arizona and improve access to and water quality of the White River in Indiana. The key to the ongoing successes of the initiatives in both communities is the partnerships the Trust has with conservation organizations, other nonprofits, governmental agencies and tribes. This environmental work continues with a narrowed focus on addressing major issues in these watersheds and protecting and enhancing tree canopies and wildlife corridors. 

The Verde River stretches 189 miles in Arizona and supplies drinking water to 14 rural communities along its banks and nearly 3 million people in Maricopa County. The river is a major source of central Arizona’s sustainability, including agriculture, economy, health and recreation. One of Arizona’s last free-flowing rivers, the Verde supports more than 200 bird species and 94 species of mammals, including one of Arizona’s last active breeding populations of river otter.

Flows in the Verde are at historic lows and sections of the river are close to drying up due to imbalanced water use. Drought, competing demands and overuse are straining the Verde River.

For eight years, the Trust invested in efforts by The Nature Conservancy in Arizona, Trust for Public Land and others to undertake restoration and protection endeavors along the Verde in cooperation with farmers, businesses, landowners and public land managers. Working closely with Friends of the Verde River and other stakeholders, these entities pursue creative approaches to agriculture, water retention and partnerships. The Trust also supported the Friends’ Verde River Watershed Report Card, an assessment of watershed health that revealed restoration and conservation needs and helped guide decision making. Co-developed with diverse stakeholders representing land managers, business, municipal leadership, community members, conservationists and more, the report card measured progress in watershed health.

Funding for new projects deepen the impact on the river and the people, wildlife and communities depending on it.

A changing environment threatens the habitat of wildlife throughout the state. In the coming years, the Trust will identify and fund organizations working to protect wildlife corridors threatened by the changing landscape and development. In addition, Trust funding will address heat disparity resulting from the lack of a shade canopy in certain areas of Maricopa County. Such efforts look to provide relief from the brutal summer heat as well as assist in improving air quality. 

Winding through central Indiana, the White River and its watershed provide drinking water to 2 million people and habitat to several thousand species of plants and animals. The Trust’s investment in the White River has been instrumental in driving increased emphasis on waterway protection and water use planning.

During the past eight years, the Trust invested in a diverse group of nonprofit partners that demonstrated that with innovative strategic planning and persistence, they could bring together other nonprofits, businesses and government agencies to collectively impact the White River Watershed. They crafted and began implementation of the White River Vision Plan. These grantees brought the right people together at the right time with the right mindset to discuss how to improve and enhance the White River Watershed with optimum projects and policies. The key strategies for the Trust’s work with the White River initiative over the next three years will focus on three separate paths. These include addressing the White River Watershed’s water quality, quantity and management; engaging in White River Watershed and general water policy advocacy; and supporting existing capital projects underway along the White River already funded by the Trust.

Hoosiers are protecting and embracing the White River and all its challenges and its opportunities.

A variety of Indiana land protection organizations combine wildlife corridor enhancement, carbon sequestration and tree canopy efforts to reduce the amount of carbon that enters the atmosphere, assist in cleaning local air and water, address excess heat in the summer, and improve the quality of life for central Indiana residents, especially in underserved neighborhoods. During the next three years, the Trust will make investments in land protection that provide opportunities to protect and enhance Indiana’s tree canopy and wildlife corridors, providing multifaceted benefits for people, plants, and animals.

Nina Mason Pulliam understood the power of the media – its role in educating the public, holding policymakers accountable, conducting investigative journalism, and keeping critical community and social issues top of mind.

Journalism is the foundation on which the Trust is built. From one newspaper in Lebanon, Indiana, Nina and her husband, Eugene Pulliam, built Central Newspapers Inc., a national newspaper company. Their portfolio included The Arizona Republic and The Indianapolis Star, the largest daily newspapers in Arizona and Indiana. The Pulliams used their newspapers’ powerful and respected voices to improve the quality of life in their communities. The Trust is honoring that legacy by combining our funding priority to protect nature with our journalistic roots.

The Trust is funding environmental reporting teams at The Arizona Republic and The Indianapolis Star to allow the papers to dive deep into environmental topics to increase awareness of environmental issues in the Trust’s home states and support an informed populace. Since 2017, the newspapers’ award-winning reporting teams, which operate with no editorial direction from the Trust, have reported prolifically about wide-ranging environmental topics affecting both states. You can access the full library of Arizona Republic and Indianapolis Star environmental articles.

Environmental reporting awards

The Trust funds annual state and international reporting awards in cooperation with the Society of Professional Journalists, the Society of Environmental Journalists and the Hoosier State Press Association.

The Nina Mason Pulliam Award for Outstanding Environmental Reporting recognizes the best in global environmental reporting. The annual award is presented by the Trust in association with the Society of Environmental Journalists and is SEJ’s most prestigious award. It includes a $10,000 cash prize and a trip to SEJ’s annual conference. Winners of state press association awards, such as the Hoosier State Press Association Nina Mason Pulliam Environmental Reporting award, earn $1,000 and a trip to the annual SEJ conference.