Studies around the world, including the University of Florida, Wisconsin at Madison, Cornell University, and as far away as the University of Tasmania, are documenting that plants and animals are undergoing a mass redistribution due to climate change.

Indeed, a recent study from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the American Bird Conservancy noted we have lost 1/3 of our North American birds in less than 50 years, largely due to habitat loss and pesticides.

This adds to a growing body of research in the Northeast: isolated islands of habitat will not allow for the necessary movement and survival of wildlife. Instead, connecting corridors of woodlands and farmlands, waterways and wetlands, are a critical strategy for wildlife to flourish.

Good news for wildlife and communities

Local families and landowners will now have another opportunity to help. A recent grant to The Nature Conservancy
(TNC) from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s Water Quality Improvement Program, in partnership with Tug Hill Tomorrow Land Trust, will allow for purchase of conservation easements (voluntary retirement of development rights) on lands that will protect ground and surface drinking water sources and benefit wildlife habitat.

The project spans several communities, with one focus area including West Canada Creek and Hinckley Reservoir.

Lands qualifying for these grants would contain woodlands and river frontage with the goal of conserving several thousand acres of privately-owned lands in the Black River Valley between Tug Hill and the Adirondacks. Limited development, hunting camps, recreation, and forestry would continue to be permitted.

With increasing severe weather events, forests also serve a vital role in filtering and absorbing water, reducing the impacts of flooding and gradually releasing water over time into neighboring rivers and ground water. Given that several Tug Hill Communities rely on reservoirs, aquifers and town wells, this benefits their drinking water supply and buffers them from periods of drought as well as the impacts of flooding.

Alissa Fadden of TNC explains that “This is a terrific project that benefits wildlife and our communities. We have a chance to ensure that the farms, wildlife and water resources remain a central part of this region’s identity and economic base.”

Explore more…

If you are interested in finding out more email Linda Garrett at [email protected].

 

“We have a chance to ensure that the farms, wildlife, and water resources remain a central part of this region’s identity and economic base.”

— Alissa Fadden, Adirondack Chapter of the Nature Conservancy

Dan Huntley’s family has worked the same land for 200 years. The iconic 720-acre farm, located in the town of Pierrepont, in St. Lawrence County, meets the foothills of the Adirondacks with sweeping views of the St. Lawrence Valley.

Now a certified organic dairy farm, the Huntley Farm is within the watershed and larger habitat area of the St. Lawrence River, only 30 miles away. As part of the farm’s income diversification, the Huntley’s run a bed and breakfast, sell firewood, and manage their woodland as a sugarbush and for sustained timber production.

Dillon, Dan’s son, is investing in soil improvements to increase soil health and productivity. He also grows local organic grain for his dairy and to sell to other farmers, and is working towards increasing his maple sugaring operation to over 5,000 taps.

The farm has now joined the ranks of a growing number of farmers who would prefer to conserve their land rather than face the prospect of it being sold for development.

“Many of the dairy farms in our region have gone out of business because the cost of running a dairy farm is outpacing the price of milk,” explains Dillon. “We needed a way to conserve the farm and lower our operating costs. Conserving it, and diversifying the operation, makes it easier for me to take over the farm.”

Conservation leverages change

Now, thanks to a recent NYS Farmland Protection Diary Program grant, written by THTLT on behalf of the family, the Huntley’s are working to conserve their land.

The grant program recognizes the importance of dairy farms to NYS’s economy and rural communities and the need to increase the long-term viability of these farms. The Huntley’s are able to invest in improvements that will enhance their farming operation.

Dillon and Dan will use the funding to upgrade their milking facility, as well as implement additional farm improvements for cow comfort and soil management.

“These enhancements will make our small, family-run farm, more sustainable—and we know that the 200 years our family has invested here is now more secure. It’s a great feeling to create a strong economic future as part of preserving our farm’s heritage,” explains Dillon.

One of many farms…

In addition to the Huntley farm, THTLT is working with three additional farms awarded grants by the NYS Farmland Protection Dairy Program: the Northrup & Sons Farm in Rodman and Adams, Jefferson County; the Groeslon Farm in Remsen, Oneida County; and the Jones Farm in Trenton, Oneida County. This adds to several other THTLT farmland conservation projects currently underway.

“These families are leaders in their own right; they care deeply for the land and want to make sure their farms remain part of their community,” explains Linda Garrett, Tug Hill Tomorrow Land Trust’s Executive Director.

Jane Powers, Pierrepont Town Supervisor, notes that land trusts like Tug Hill Tomorrow are often pivotal in a farmer’s ability to apply for these grants, remarking, “It takes a lot of time to pull together the grant applications, let alone undertake the land protection work. We are delighted that the Tug Hill Tomorrow Land Trust jumped on this opportunity on behalf of our town’s dairy farms.”

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We need you more than ever

In the coming year, your support will be central to our ability to work with additional farmers. It’s important to understand that as a community-based land trust, we can’t conserve these lands without you.

Farmland protection work is often a two- to three-year process, and your donations allow us to help farmers tap into the state farmland protection grants and protect their lands.

Without these grants, it’s often difficult to transfer the land to the next generation. Thanks to you, these farms will be here for generations.

The Land Trust Alliance sees land conservancies as key to implementing renewables.

At first blush, putting “open space” and “land conservancies” and “renewable energy” in the same sentence might seem awkward. But the role that land trusts play in addressing climate change via renewables can’t be understated, according to a new report from the Land Trust Alliance (LTA): “Reshaping the Future: Renewable Energy and Land Trusts.”

In the 24-page report, researchers said that at this “critical juncture, land trusts can position themselves as both protectors of priority lands, waters, and habitat and as problem-solvers in helping meet renewable energy development needs. As entities that care deeply about the land, land trusts should also care about climate change and renewable energy.”

That “critical juncture” is the impetus behind global efforts to reduce greenhouse gases by transitioning to renewable energy sources such as wind and solar.

The authors of the report described making investments in renewables as “critical to mitigating the worst impacts of climate change, such as flooding, loss of native species and habitat, and drought.” Land trusts can help with education and outreach as well as “siting” for renewable energy projects.

“Stakeholders, including land trusts, political leaders, developers, towns, local and state governments, public agencies, clean energy advocacy groups and nonprofits are exploring how to build a clean energy system, how to accelerate large-scale solar and wind development while also preserving the agricultural, ecological, recreational, scenic and other conservation resources that compose New York’s natural assets,” the LTA stated in the report.

The report summarized the role of land trusts and as well as the scope of New York’s “Progressive Energy Agenda.” Other topics included the relationship between land trusts, climate change and renewables, which noted that organizations can institutionalize “land conservation considerations” directly into the decision-making process and policy development. Land trusts can also prioritize efforts to minimized environment impacts on a project-by-project basis.

And lastly, land trusts can protect “priority ecological sites and other natural areas while also working with partners to identify places where development is appropriate, including where conservation and renewable energy development can coexist.”

The report also identified some challenges and opportunities for setting sights on addressing climate change via renewable energy. The LTA report noted the “dual role” of land trusts in conserving open space while also playing an active role in New York’s “energy agenda.”

“Land trusts are already addressing climate in a variety of ways — integrating climate resilience science into strategic planning, advancing natural climate solutions and developing carbon offset projects,” authors of the report said in conclusion. “Renewable energy presents another opportunity for land trusts to address climate change, to become valued community partners in helping to solve a complex issue and, ultimately, to safeguard our nation’s natural assets.”