Ranching & Agriculture
A new market opportunity pays farmers and ranchers to preserve grasslands and lock carbon into the soil. The sale of the first listed grassland carbon credits will allow the Southern Plains Land Trust to restore and preserve two Colorado ranches that sequester 8,000 metric tons of soil carbon per year.
A ranch easement in Colusa County will allow a family ranch with more than 100 years of history to remain free of development. The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Agricultural Land Easement (ALE) program provides Jim Keegan of Keegan Ranch peace of mind knowing his family’s land will stay a working ranch.
Conservation easements preserve unique Colorado heritage along I-25 north of Monument. For ranchers and farmers, some of whom have familial ties to the original homesteaders, the tax benefits and non-financial ecosystem services created by the easements ensure their family can maintain ownership of their land and sustain an agricultural livelihood in 2018 and beyond.
'Living Beneath the Colorado Peaks, The Story of Knapp Ranch': An inspiring new coffee table book is a vision of architectural design and land stewardship.
Montana ranch celebrates addition to National Register of Historic Places.
Snow Ranch Pastures (Park City, Utah) easement will require help from many.
N.C. Agricultural Development and Farmland Preservation Trust Fund awards more than $4.6 million for agricultural projects.
Farm owners and land trusts alike are praising New York state officials for a $30 million farmland protection program designed specifically for dairies.
A milestone in Delaware: Since October of 1990, when the first farm successfully went into the program, Chester County’s Agricultural Land Preservation Board (ALPB) has approved the preservation of 40,000 farm acres on more than 500 farms.
For the first time since last fall, the U.S. Department of Agriculture is accepting applications for the voluntary Conservation Reserve Program, and this could boost grassland habitat.
American Farmland Trust calling for increased carbon sequestration. The loss of agricultural capacity, in acres of land and inches of soil, is unsustainable from a farming perspective and contributes to the impact toward climate change.
Water
Minnesota sweetens the pot to shift cropland into conservation via a new program that pays farmers to permanently set aside cropland to improve water quality.
South Florida Water Managment is partnering with private landowners to reduce the amount of water flowing into the Caloosahatchee from Lake Okeechobee.
Wildlife & Ecotourism
The Common Ground Alliance of the Adirondacks region will hold its 12th annual forum July 19th, where members of the community and business owners are invited to participate in action-oriented conversations about a variety regional issues.
Community Agriculture Alliance: Open lands forever – an open space success story in Routt County, Colorado.
Forests
Cornell and Finger Lakes Land Trust form partnership to combat threats to hemlock trees; landowners play a vital role.
A team of University of Maine researchers has been awarded $1.17 million from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to develop and test land management practices to protect Maine forest workers and private landowners from exposure to tick-borne diseases.
