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Climate Action Plan

Mississippi Valley Conservancy: Climate Action Plan

"Together, we can address one of the greatest challenges our region has ever faced..."

What is it about the Driftless area you love? Is it the foggy mornings overlooking the valley? Or going fishing with your family in the spring? Perhaps it’s the sounds of migrating sandhill cranes and the call of the spring peepers.

Too often we think of climate change as occurring on a global scale or something that will happen in the future. Yet climate change already is causing profound changes with damaging effects to the land and water you love: wildlife habitat, lakes and streams, and farmland, right here in the Driftless Area, are at risk as never before.

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Solar Sunflower
AgriSolar Clearinghouse

Solar energy and its place on the land

The Mississippi Valley Conservancy works in Wisconsin where they conserve a wide range of landscapes. The organization developed a Climate Action Plan and is working to help the community understand how local action can inspire big impacts.

In a world beset with climate change and its attendant fires and floods, the need for solar energy is immense — vital if the world is to quit burning fossil fuels, the primary cause of the climate crisis…

The trick, for those of us in the business of land conservation, is to make a contribution to that effort without compromising our missions of protecting biodiversity and working lands that produce the food we need. There’s a growing body of research and practical application that offers hope that this can happen using agrivoltaics, the practice of combining agriculture and solar energy collection — a dual use of the land…

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Canopy
Judy Anderson

Protect your woodlands

Woodland conservation can be part of the climate solution. Yet how do you talk to landowners about it? Vermont Land Trust does a nice job.

“Over 75% of Vermont’s land is forested, and much of that land is privately owned, often by families and individuals. Conserving these forests matters a great deal for our climate, our economy, and our communities. If you own woodland and want it to remain forested, conservation is one option you could consider. We can help you explore your options and guide you through the process…”

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Ducks
iStock

River conservation corridor

This might be a good project to share with donors, community members, and regional leaders to see how it could be replicated in your area.

The East Branch of the Little Calumet River Conservation Corridor Project has helped to accelerate the preservation, restoration, and water quality improvement efforts within an ecologically significant riparian area. Project goals have included land acquisition, prioritization of acquisitions, collaborative land management planning, ecological restoration, identification of green infrastructure opportunities, and evaluation of policy mechanisms and barriers…

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Land Trust Community Conversations

$500 grant: From classrooms to communities

Leia Lowery, Director of Programs and Outreach for the Kennebunkport Conservation Trust and the Climate Initiative, has alerted me to opportunities for land trusts to tap into their climate curriculum and partner with their communities.

The Climate Initiative is offering $500 to the first 10 land trusts interested in holding community climate change conversations. 

They believe youth can — and do — lead, and have developed and tested the curriculum. Check out the videos, articles, and resources — and email Leia if you’d like to learn more or host a program. This could be a great way to partner with area schools, teachers, and your community.

You can find out the details on the website and email Leia Lowery.

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Monarch
iStock

Climate Change Pilot Project

We can make sure that solar developments are installed and managed to benefit farm and ranch viability, soil health, wildlife habitat, and water management.

South Kingstown Land Trust was invited by the University of Rhode Island’s Coastal Resource Center (CRC) to participate in a pilot project to investigate how climate change could impact land trusts — whether impacts to our land holdings themselves or to our priorities for preservation.

For Rhode Island, the likely effects of climate change will include sea-level rise and increases in air and water temperature, precipitation, and storminess. The study was funded by the Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council…

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Climate Summit

Local action, national purpose

You may wish to sign up, or share information, about this conference. I've signed up.

The 11th annual American Climate Leadership Summit 2022 (ACLS 2022) brings together world-class speakers and diverse national and local leaders for four days of sharing and collaboration. It is the only national convening exclusively dedicated to building broad public support and political resolve for climate action. ACLS 2022 welcomes climate leaders of all levels — particularly those who are new and active at the local level.

Join thousands of leaders like you who seek new connections and practical and immediately actionable guidance for engaging everyone, every day for just and equitable climate solutions. A special thanks to the Land Trust Alliance for helping to spread the word. If you are a member of the Alliance, this conference is free (use the code ACLS22LTA).

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Winter
South Hero Land Trust

Climate change conversation: Global issues, community response

Talking about climate change on a community level is important if we want to make a difference.

Climate change is a multi-faceted issue that requires a diversity of approaches to address. It impacts our natural environment, our relationships with the land, and our relationships with each other.

The speakers will present different perspectives on how climate change is impacting our region, some of the challenges it presents, what to expect, and what we can do on a community level to mitigate and adapt to the changing environment… We expect them to talk about solar and farm viability, climate justice, and climate impacts on plants in northern Vermont.

Wednesday, March 30, 2022; 6 p.m. EST

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Nature's best hope

Addressing climate change through land conservation and land stewardship

Providing local people ways to be part of the climate solution is increasingly important to offsetting the feeling of climate doom. To do so we have to be authentic, credible, creative, and inclusive.

Kestrel Land Trust is hosting a speakers series designed to empower local action around habitat conservation and climate change.

On Thursday, March 31st at 6:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, there will be a 60-minute online presentation followed by a 30-minute Q&A. Bring your curiosity and questions!

This program is the second of Kestrel’s 2022 Ecological Solutions for Climate Change Speaker Series.

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Building A Resilient Future Together

Climate change and community conservation

Check out this short video about a community grappling with climate change and how a land trust is helping to lead from behind.

Oftentimes, land trusts find it challenging to lead from behind and connect the work of conservation and climate change to the communities they serve. This video does a very good job of showing the impact of listening, responding, and leading from behind.

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