2022 Schedule – Central Time

Small forest landowners - including many land trusts - own a combined 200 million acres across the United States. Opening the carbon market to this segment has the potential to significantly mitigate climate change by facilitating land trusts and partners to conserve more land and steward it effectively to store and remove carbon from the atmosphere. However, the prohibitively high costs of project development, monitoring, reporting, and verification have previously prevented land trusts from participating in the voluntary carbon market. City Forest Credits (CFC) is the national nonprofit carbon registry for greenhouse gas emission reduction and removal for tree projects in or near cities and towns. CFC provides a way for land trusts, local governments, and other entities that manage urban forests to finance conservation projects that contribute to the health and well-being of people and the environment. The American Carbon Registry (ACR) recently adopted a new methodology designed for small landowners to protect forests via deferred harvest on private forest lands. This opportunity is available for land trusts through Finite Carbon’s CORE Carbon platform. In this session, participants will learn about these new and growing opportunities for land trusts to generate significant financial resources from harvest deferral, forest preservation, and reforestation carbon projects on lands up to 5,000 acres and hear from two land trusts near Cleveland and Chattanooga which have developed carbon projects to power their conservation work.

Stewardship staff, and their respective organizations, have seen their workloads increased by climate change impacts on the land in the past decade. The recently completed Practical Pointer from the Land Trust Alliance – “Adapting Stewardship Administration to Changing Conditions” –provides a guiding framework with suggestions for land trusts navigating this brave new world. Some of the presenters are already dealing with these changing conditions – flooding in the east and fires in the west – and will provide examples of adaption at their land trusts. The resiliency measures in the Practical Pointer apply equally to long term impacts and those with immediate consequences like earthquakes, wildfires, and floods. There will be discussion regarding actions and impacts from each presenter’s organization and region, followed by small group discussions for individual takeaways. Come prepared to think big picture, maybe outside the box, and with an eye towards organizational change.

This session builds on the success of land trusts’ advocacy for full permanent funding of the Land and Water Conservation Fund to show how this critical program can be used to meet the great challenges of our time: the climate crisis and persistent disparities in access to nature for underserved communities. We will present an update on implementation of full permanent funding since passage of the Great American Outdoors Act in 2020, the importance of LWCF to the Biden Administration’s America the Beautiful initiative, and examples of how LWCF advances climate and equity goals. The America the Beautiful initiative recognizes what we in the conservation community have long known: land is our greatest asset in the fight against climate change. We will present models for success using the LWCF toolbox to keep forests as forests for carbon sequestration and water storage/quality, create connected landscapes to preserve biodiversity, and protect floodplains and coastal buffers to increase resilience using both public and private land

A resilient community is defined as one where people are meaningfully engaged and empowered to respond to climate-related disasters by rebuilding or adapting in ways that make them stronger and prepared for future challenges. The Conservation Trust for North Carolina and The Land Conservancy of New Jersey are implementing projects to protect communities and demonstrating what it means to be an effective partner for communities dealing with the effects of increased rainfall and flooding. The land trusts are utilizing land conservation as a flood mitigation tool to meaningfully engage with communities and equip them with the tools to harness conservation for community benefit when rebuilding and protecting against climate-related disasters. The two case studies will demonstrate how land trusts can support local communities toward addressing the impacts we are all seeing from climate change. The panel will be moderated by the Open Space Institute, which funds planning to support climate and community resilience across the East.

Land trusts and allied organizations are well-positioned to serve as leaders in demonstrating and promoting what truly sustainable forest management looks like in an era of climate change. Addressing the full scope of ecological and societal needs while achieving maximum climate benefit from our forests is a key issue for land trusts and the land conservation community as a whole. The New England Forestry Foundation’s Exemplary Forestry standards offer one model that aligns well with the core mission of conservation-oriented organizations by integrating forest conservation with climate-smart forest management. In this session, you will hear from a number of voices in the New England land trust community and beyond about their individual and organizational journeys toward embracing a holistic, climate-smart approach to forest stewardship that supports long-term forest health and climate adaptation while also sequestering and storing carbon, at a time when we are losing biodiversity and facing an extinction crisis. This approach includes thoughtfully planned, periodic harvests designed to enhance wildlife habitat, increase forest productivity, and maintain or increase carbon storage. Presenters will share how carbon-aligned forest management aligns with their mission, why they see it as important, and how it has worked for them in practice, as well as thoughts on the state- and national-level policy interventions that can take this management approach to scale for maximum climate benefit. Presenters will also explore the, at times, challenging conversations it has raised within their organization and/or their wider stakeholder networks.

The development of clean, solar energy is an important component of efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the electric sector. However, solar development can pose conflicts with land preservation efforts when solar projects are targeted to prime farmlands, forests and other sensitive lands that are priorities for conservation, restoration and improved management. In addition, a new category of so-called "dual-use" projects seek to combine solar development and agriculture in compatible ways, increasingly known as "agrovoltaics". Land trusts should understand how solar development may impact their work and how they can engage to shape sound policies and projects that support solar development in appropriate locations and minimize conflicts with preservation goals. We can have clean energy AND healthy farms and forests. This is not an either-or choice. When utility-scale solar projects are properly sited, our climate wins.

This session will provide an overview of the compliance and voluntary carbon markets and the differences in carbon programs within each. This will include the opportunity for attendees to rotate through stations hosted by Forest Carbon Works staff and partners to allow for personalized and in-depth content and dialogue. Attendees will leave the workshop with an understanding of the difference between these two markets, key considerations when choosing a carbon program, how carbon financing can be used as a tool that aligns with current management objectives. Hear how carbon financing is being used for two diverse groups in accomplishing their strategic climate and cultural goals including partner-sharing of their own experiences in working through the process of carbon project development with Forest Carbon Works. Attendees will also leave with a well-versed understanding in not only improved forest management carbon projects for small landowners and how these opportunities may align with their own communities and partners, but also reforestation carbon projects and how these can be layered to maximize carbon project potential and financing.

In 2018, Tyndall Air Force Base (AFB) suffered installation-wide devastation after winds from Hurricane Michael, a powerful Category 5 storm, destroyed almost 500 buildings. As part of their recovery, Tyndall AFB is working with local, state, and national partners to create an “Installation of the Future” that is resilient to changing climate conditions. These partners are leveraging funding from the Readiness and Environmental Protection (REPI) program and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation’s National Coastal Resilience Fund to construct living shorelines and oyster reef habitats adjacent to the base to preserve water quality, enhance overall ecosystem health, and strengthen flood resilience. The outcomes from this project will also support ongoing efforts in the newly designated Northwest Florida Sentinel Landscape. Partners in this landscape are already identifying innovative solutions and opportunities to increase climate adaptation, restore habitat for threatened and endangered species, and improve water quality and quantity across high priority areas for the Department of Defense, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Forest Service, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service. Come to the REPI program’s session to learn more about how partners in Florida are joining forces with the military to reduce climate change risks.

According to the latest IPCC report, human induced climate change poses grave and accelerating threats to ecosystems, biodiversity and society. In response to climate policy and advances in technology, the US is embarking on a transformative shift toward renewable energy generation. A challenge for land trusts is that renewable energy, notably utility scale solar, is land intensive and often sited on prime agricultural lands, grassland habitat and forests. Projects planned, sited, and developed in ways that amplify benefits to community, conservation, and climate interests are more likely to avoid project delays, increased costs, and risk of cancellation while supporting a sustainable and equitable clean energy transition. In a presentation + discussion format, this workshop will feature perspectives from three experts in renewable energy and land conservation. We will share new tools and strategies that land trust can use to effectively engage constituents, policy makers, landowners, project developers, and other stakeholders interested in large scale renewable energy project planning. Our session will touch on wind energy but focus primarily on utility scale solar. (According to the Biden administration's Solar Futures Study, 10 million acres of rural land will be needed for solar to meet aggressive decarbonization goals over the next 25 years.) This workshop will feature the latest renewable energy mapping analyses from The Nature Conservancy and American Farmland Trust, as well as ecosystem-friendly and restorative design best practices developed by the Great Plains Institute. The workshop will cover emerging best practices and tools to enhance project co-benefits (including wildlife habitat and stormwater management) and strategies to make solar more compatible with agriculture and farmland protection, a key focus for many land trusts.

Wetlands Watch is developing a program strategy and community of practice that will help local governments overcome barriers to complete property acquisitions in flood risk areas. Most localities, particularly those located in coastal Virginia, where the impacts of sea level rise are acutely felt, do not have active acquisition programs. While there are many reasons why buyouts are not pursued in communities, such as lack of political will, capacity constraints, and grant writing inexperience, one barrier is of particular interest and the subject of this presentation. Local government staff do not specialize in land conservation management. As the number of acquired parcels in a community increases commensurate with the increased risk from sea level rise, the land management responsibilities grow exponentially for local government staff. How can localities keep up with the financial and programmatic burden of managing vacant parcels? Wetlands Watch hopes land conservation and other land management organizations can offer one solution to this problem. This presentation will discuss our work to date on connecting land conservation and management organizations with local governments removing people from flood risk. The presentation will describe the work of a multi-year pilot project with the City of Norfolk that brings land conservation into a private market-based acquisition program. Finally, the presentation will detail the creation of a community of practice that connects land trusts with local government hazard mitigation and floodplain management program staff to pursue acquisition grants available through a newly created state fund in Virginia and other national grant programs.

When a land trust, a town and a university saw their properties were at risk of erosion, they sought nature-based solutions and landed upon living shorelines. Living shorelines can protect and restore habitats threatened by rising seas and storm events. Learn how land trusts can promote initiatives like these by working with youth to interview stakeholders, create education forums and hold community conversations to garner support for green infrastrucure solutions. With the help of passionate local youth, these organizations collaborated with the local high school, members of their local communities, business leadrs, and government officials to take action. These next-generation changemakers researched how living shorelines effectively protect waterways and shorelines. Using land trust properties, and town-owned land, these young people sought to create a living shoreline as a demonstration project for local landowners and businesses. They interviewed professionals, created education forums, and community conversations to engage the town in action. This demonstration project and impassioned youth started meaninful discussions in the community about what is at risk, and how to take collective action to protect the land we know and love. Leave with details about living shorelines, brainstorm nature-based solutions that would benefit your community, project plans for community roll-out and a guide to hold community conversations to engage your town leaders, and neighbors in climate action. Involving youth in climate adaptation projects is a powerful way to make progress toward climate solutions while giving agency to the younger generation to get involved in their communities and local land trusts.

This session will cover the partnerships currently being piloted between the Family Forest Carbon Program and land trusts. The FFCP is structuring partnerships with land trusts and other organizations to engage with their landowner bases and help them enroll in carbon contracts. Participants will hear learnings from this pilot, learn and provide feedback about how land trusts can help landowners access carbon markets.

As communities across the country experience intensifying climate-driven and water-related hazards, land trusts will be essential for expanding local resilience. The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation’s (NFWF) National Coastal Resilience Fund (NCRF) provides opportunities for land trusts and community organizations to invest in sustainable, nature-based resilience solutions. Over the next 3-4 years, the NCRF will have over $140 million in available annual funding to support communities’ resilience-building efforts. With this in mind, NFWF has contracted Throwe Environmental to serve as Field Liaison for the NCRF program, helping to address capacity limitations felt by many communities and organizations. Throwe’s workshop will introduce potential applicants to the NCRF program. The presentation will cover three main topics related to the NCRF. The first will consist of a comprehensive overview of the program. Potential applicants will be introduced to the funding opportunity and gain an understanding of core program components. The second topic introduces participants to the Field Liaisons, informing them about the type of assistance that is available, how to best utilize liaison services, and how to develop the most competitive proposals. The final topic capitalizes on the unique opportunities land trusts offer to address climate resilience through nature-based solutions. Here, we will discuss NCRF opportunities specifically as they relate to land trusts. Participants will leave this presentation with a clear understanding of the NCRF program, insight as to how to leverage NCRF funding for the greatest impact, and the ability to identify nature-based opportunities with the potential to catalyze larger conservation efforts.

Learn how land trusts in the Chesapeake Bay watershed are using collaborative partnerships to accelerate land conservation, address climate resiliency, and participate in the large-scale regulatory framework of the Chesapeake Bay TMDL. Hear from the Delmarva Restoration and Conservation Network (DRCN), the Southern Maryland Conservation Alliance (SMCA), and the Heart of Maryland Conservation Alliance (HMCA) as they offer innovative approaches to working with diverse stakeholders to meet mutual goals for the restoration of the largest estuary in the United States. As a Land and Water Initiative grantee, HMCA host-partner Catoctin Land Trust worked with other LWI grantees to envision a conservation values-based GIS reporting platform that provides parcel-level detail on an array of metrics. The American Chestnut Land Trust coordinates land conservation and restoration efforts within the five-county “Southern Maryland” region and is a lead partner of the SMCA. Lower Shore Land Trust, a LWI grantee, is a lead partner of the DRCN. The network uses green nature-based infrastructure solutions for restoration and targeted land and water conservation for protection, including areas of future importance such as marsh migration corridors. These three models show landscape-level vision and operating plans that aim to secure the economy and environment in the face of rapid climate change and continued land development stress.