Wherever you are this winter, you can be a part of the Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, the National Audubon Society, and Birds Canada. On February 18-22, join people from all over the world to discover the joys of bird watching, advance your bird knowledge, and contribute your observations to an extensive bird science database.
Regardless of location, interested participants are invited to watch the birds around them for a minimum of 15 minutes, at least once on any of the event’s four days, and record their sightings using a suite of easy-access and free digital tools, including the Merlin Bird ID app. Merlin Bird ID provides bird identification assistance and enters user recorded findings into the count. In addition, checklist locations will populate the glow of their corresponding longitude and latitude on the 2022 sightings map.
Birdwatchers who already know their species or want to enter a checklist of multiple birds can submit their data, as well as photos and audio recordings to the eBird website and eBird app. Beyond the bird count, eBird gathers long-term data about global bird migration patterns, species distribution and abundance, habitat use, and more. Scientists, educators, researchers, conservationists, government agencies, and private citizens apply eBird data for various purposes, including conservation planning and monitoring, policymaking, and resources management and protection. For example, the Northeast Bird Habitat Conservation Initiative uses eBird as a tool to help regional conservation leaders make decisions in support of bird conservation activities including land acquisition, monitoring, and engagement with landowners, stakeholders, and the birding community.
Are you excited to count some birds yet? Want to learn more? Invite a friend or family member and visit the Great Backyard Bird Count official website for easy data entry instructions and more information. In addition, a Cornell Lab webinar with bird count tips from GBBC experts will host a Facebook Livestream on February 16, 2 p.m. ET. Register today for free.
A well-camouflaged Eastern Screech-Owl at Highstead.
The Cornell Lab of Ornithology is currently accepting applications for mini-grantsto support eBird workshops led by Regional Conservation Partnerships (RCPs) for their partners and practitioners. The goal of these workshops is to empower RCP leaders to train their partners to use eBird effectively for land conservation within their respective landscapes, creating an ambassador network to promote the effectiveness of this birding tool for conservation, monitoring, and community engagement.
It is expected that RCPs in the Northeast will utilize these mini-grants to host eBird training workshops for their partners, either virtual or in-person, and then use this as a jumping-off point to build a network of eBird users who can use the resource in support of their conservation goals. Applications are now open and must be submitted by March 15, 2022. See below for the Request for Proposal details, eligibility criteria, and expectations.
About the Grant
In 2021, The Cornell Lab of Ornithology received funding for the Northeast Bird Habitat Conservation Initiative (NBHCI) to train Regional Conservation Partnership (RCP) Network leaders to use the planning tool eBird, eBird science data, and bird-friendly forestry techniques, and to support partners with effective management implementation on ecologically important forests, grasslands, and farmlands for at‐risk bird species in the Northeast. The first year of this funding was used in part to host online eBird training workshops on landowner engagement and using eBird science data for conservation planning and acquisition prioritization for RCP leaders.
Grants are for up to $500/project to subsidize the cost of either an eBird workshop or webinar, including salary time, material costs, venue rental (if in person), virtual platform fees (if a webinar), etc. Indirect costs should be no more than 10%.
Projects must host the eBird workshop before December 31, 2022, either virtually or in-person.
Applicants should demonstrate their commitment to using eBird and supporting the use of this tool in their partnership base.
Applicants are welcome to engage partners to help present the workshop/webinar or to present on your RCP’s behalf.
To initiate the project and payment, a MOU with a list of grant activities and expectations will be signed by the awardee organization and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
Upon completion of the project, the awardee should submit a one-page report detailing the workshop event, including metrics such as length of workshop, number of attendees, lessons learned, thoughts about how their organization will use eBird going forward, etc. Please include photos if possible.
The Cornell Lab and Highstead reserve the right to feature the funded projects and use photographs and other media on their websites, in Cornell Land Trust Bird Conservation Initiative materials, and on social media.
If you have questions, please contact:
Sara Barker, Cornell Land Trust Bird Conservation Initiative Program Leader
The Hudson to Housatonic (H2H) Regional Conservation Partnership (RCP) recently hosted its first virtual All-Partner meeting of the year. 59 partners representing land trusts, local councils, state/local agencies, and other organizations were in attendance. The meeting featured speaker Ed Faison, Senior Ecologist at Highstead, where he presented on the long-term forest monitoring projects taking place at Highstead. During the talk, attendees had the opportunity to learn and ask questions about the relationships between deer browsing, invasive species, and forest growth.
H2H meeting Word Cloud responses to the question “How would you like to connect with H2H this year?”
Following the featured presentation, three partner groups shared their Collaborative Conservation Project Pitches, which were intended to help partners connect and share resources in order to realize their conservation visions. The first pitch was from Patrick Comins of the Connecticut Audubon Society, where he shared information about their work on habitat restoration and enhancement in the Mill River and Sasco Creek Brook watersheds in the Fairfield region. This project has been focusing on protecting habitat for species of conservation concern, such as wood trout, spotted turtle, American eel, and Wood Thrush. Connecticut Audubon Society is continuing to look for seed money and partner support to implement these projects in other private sanctuaries.
The second pitch was from Simon Skolnik of the Bedford Conservation Board, who spoke about how the Town of Bedford has completed a map of wildlife corridors between significant habitats using NYS Department of Environmental Conservation funding. The group is now looking to produce an ordinance that assigns protection to those mapped corridors and is seeking additional grant money to continue this mapping work in other New York municipalities.
At the January H2H All-Partner Meeting, the Connecticut Audubon Society shared their work on habitat enhancement and restoration for species of concern like the spotted turtle in the Mill River and Sasco Creek Brook watersheds.
The final pitch came from Julia Rogers and Paul Mailhot-Singer of the Housatonic Valley Association (HVA). The team spoke about HVA’s Follow the Forest project, which aims to connect and protect forests from southern Hudson valley to Canada. Much of their project area includes the H2H region, making it a great partner in this effort. HVA has already developed an exercise that assesses wildlife linkages and scores them based on viability and are looking to use this to set conservation priority areas. The team also plugged their new Follow the Forest film which launched on January 14th.
If you’re interested in connecting with any of these projects summarized above or are an H2H partner with a pitch of your own, contact H2H Coordinator Katie Blake at kblake@highstead.net. The main goal of H2H All-Partner Meetings is to improve networking and collaboration among partners and share the range of available resources that exist within the group. This meeting successfully connected three ongoing projects with other partners who can aid in the expansion and realization of their conservation plans. H2H also has a range of other upcoming in-person and virtual programming in 2022 that will advance these networking and sharing opportunities.
In conservation funding news this week, Build Back Better bill negotiations continue to bubble as we head into 2022. With the infrastructure bill passed, New England states are beginning to consider how to distribute the funding.
Below are three articles that take a closer look at the ongoing negotiations, implementation plans, and emerging policy discussions.
Delegated as the state’s lead on infrastructure funding, Connecticut’s Commissioner of Revenue Services Mark Boughton is considering s how to allocate infrastructure funding in Connecticut. Commissioner Boughton emphasizes a regional approach, signaling the need for collaboration within New England. – The Connecticut Examiner
Following a heated political debate at the end of 2021, Senator Joe Manchin has returned to the Build Back Better discussion. As his vote is key in passing the legislation, Manchin is voicing his demands from the bill, including a reduction in the Child Tax Credit. – Axios
Despite doubt that the Build Back Better bill will pass, the Senate is committed to getting a vote on the bill. The bill might have to undergo a significant amount of change to get the go-ahead from Senators Joe Manchin and Kristen Sinema, but hope remains that the legislation will be agreed upon in the coming months. – The Washington Post
Continuing Coverage of Infrastructure Legislation
Highstead has been following the developments in Washington closely and providing ongoing coverage of developments regarding the Bipartisan Infrastructure bill as well as Build Back Better.
Highstead would not be what it is today without the steadfast leadership and diverse experiences of its team members. Meet the people of Highstead: experts, conservation leaders, scientists, and staff that embody Highstead’s mission to build a healthier, more livable world for all in our staff interview series.
Bill: Initially, it was Highstead’s willingness to play a supportive but leadership role as coordinator of the Wildlands and Woodlands Partnership. At the time, I was a regional planner in Western Massachusetts. I was interested in the overlap between local and regional planning, forestry, and collaborative landscape conservation. I had studied a model for collaborative landscape conservation and wrote about it for my masters’ thesis that I later called a regional conservation partnership or RCP. The idea that I could work to better understand and help evolve RCPs was very exciting to me.
What are your favorite parts of your job?
Bill: I get to work across spatial (parcel to national), temporal (hours to decades), and implementation (on-the-ground to vision) scales through teams and networks. I feel that almost none of my time is wasted or without purpose, and we are advancing what we collectively care about. When I hear that what we’re doing is what someone had dreamt about their whole lives but never thought possible, that gives me so much joy; when our team is taking calculated risks to advance our partners’ causes in ways that almost no one else can do; when I see a colleague succeeding in something they’ve worked very hard to do and know that their success helps advance our collective efforts; at the end of the annual RCP Network Gathering, knowing that we did, in fact, advance the practice of collaborative landscape conservation in one day.
3-Minute Highlight Reel: RCP Network Virtual Gathering 2021: Land Justice: The Heart of Resilient Regions and Communities
Where does your motivation come from?
Bill: When I understand that something could and should be different based on what our partners and we know to be true, and I can envision how to move it forward, I’m motivated to make a solid commitment even if I can’t see the whole path. The thought of the world my kids and their kids will inherit from us motivates me to evolve my thinking and actions such that I can help be a change agent to what must come next if we’re going to have a fighting chance.
What is the professional accomplishment you are most proud of?
Bill: I am most proud of being a relatively early and consistent cultivator of collaborative landscape conservation culture who helped lay the foundation for more and more people to find success in working well with others and diminishing unnecessary silos. Part of my early work involved researching and writing about what led to the success of regional conservation partnerships (RCPs), and these led to new collaborations and initiatives that ended up serving the larger WWF&C Initiative in often unintended and unexpectedly supportive ways, namely advancing activities and delivering meaningful outcomes through nested networks.
Who are your conservation heroes throughout history and today and why?
Bill: When I was a kid, I learned about Henry David Thoreau and wanted to be like him—comfortable in nature and observant of all its changes. Later, my scoutmaster, Mr. Dan Bowers, was a mentor in all things outdoors—fishing, canoeing, adventuring. More recently, two people have inspired me: David B. Kittredge in how to communicate about my passion for the woods with people of all ages, and Anthony Sanchez who models how to hold and act on his deeply held understanding that all people belong in nature.
Oil pastel of American elm leaves by Bill Labich
What are some challenges you see facing the conservation and stewardship community in the next ten years?
Bill: While more and more conservationists are recognizing the need to address injustice and advance diversity, equity and inclusion, we may not fully grasp how dramatically we must change to truly advance justice and equity in our efforts. I believe the broader conservation community can help advance justice at the societal level, as we look at our beliefs and behaviors individually and within our organizations. We need to see land conservation as being integral to a more complex societal land system that includes all land ownership, planning, and development. And we need to actively listen to the people and communities who have been historically excluded from the land and the movement.
Do you recommend any books, podcasts, or other resources that have had an impact on your life or work?
Bill: Books that made me think differently about the world and my journey are Ishmael by Daniel Quinn, The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell, The Sea Wolf by Jack London, and Never Cry Wolf by Farely Mowat. Poetry can be transcendent for me. I think any poem you read that speaks to you is something to value forever. One podcast that made me reconsider my opinions about what life was like in the past is Hardcore History by Dan Carlin.
What is the most important/useful strategy in your conservation and stewardship toolbox?
Bill: A useful strategy in my conservation and stewardship toolbox is building and cultivating productive relationships between people and the organizations, agencies, partnerships, and networks they represent.
Where is your favorite place to recreate in the Northeast? What makes it special?
Bill: Anywhere that has one-hour-to-day-long+ hikes and bike rides and Cape Cod and the Islands. I like the feeling of moving autonomously through space and time, especially if I can do so for hours and hours. I like to clear my mind and either observe nature and people or let my mind wander and consider things, patterns, and relationships of importance. I like the Cape and Islands for the interface between ocean and land, for ecosystems very different than what I typically see and experience, and for the ability to harvest food from the sea through hard work and skill.
What advice would you give to the next generation of conservationists?
Bill: Before becoming a conservationist in a paid or volunteer capacity, do something else in another field that involves land directly or tangentially. This type of experience would provide you with a different but valuable perspective to any future-leaning enterprise. Disciplines like planning, finance, organizational leadership, sustainability, community development, affordable housing, transportation, historical resources, and, of course, forestry, ecology, agriculture, and food sovereignty are critical elements in land protection efforts.
What advice have you received that has stuck with you?
Bill: You can have a greater positive impact on a system by acting from within than acting upon it from outside.
Every aspect of our work in the Regional Conservation Program is designed to move a lever to help partners succeed and, in so doing, achieve these two visions and initiatives. We help build the capacity of RCPs through training, peer learning, research, coordination of multi-RCP initiatives, and fundraising. We convene policy groups from across the Northeast to raise awareness of the value of forests to people’s lives through coordinated messaging campaigns and calls to action. We’re attracting other networks with scores of stakeholders who have yet to be at the conservation table. All this to advance us collectively towards a more just, livable, and sustainable region.
The federal government is poised to invest billions of dollars into conservation efforts over the next several years through the infrastructure bill and, potentially, the reconciliation bill. Land Justice will be an important factor given the enactment of Justice40, the Biden administration’s Executive Order that requires 40% of the benefits of federal investments on climate and clean energy to go to communities that have been “historically marginalized, underserved, and overburdened by pollution,” attempting to ensure vulnerable communities share in the benefits of that funding. These two developments are driving organizations to dig deeper into the possibilities of advancing land justice in New England and beyond.
Last month at the RCP Network Gathering, New England conservation leaders and practitioners from all backgrounds came together to discuss and collaborate around centering justice and equity in their work. Many of the themes that emerged at the Gathering also surfaced in our recent conversations with New England conservation leaders.
This environmental justice map was created by researchers at Amherst College, Harvard Forest, and StarLuna Consulting.
New England’s Nature Gap
Working towards land justice provides an opportunity to address the distribution of benefits from conservation and who has been underserved in the past – a topic explored by Parker McMullen Bushman, keynote speaker at the RCP Gathering and founder of Ecoinclusive Strategies. She explained how “The environmental justice movement was founded because there was not a fair distribution of environmental goods and bads … and the negative impacts of environmental issues were affecting some groups more than others.” Environmental injustice, which is prevalent all around the world, can be seen across the New England region.
Accompanying a report recently published by Harvard Forest, a map illustrated New England’s environmental injustice areas, where there is both a high degree of social marginalization and a low amount of protected space. The study that underlies that map found that the benefits of conservation have not been made available to these communities. For example, communities in the lowest income quartile have half as much nearby protected land as those in the highest quartile, and communities with the highest proportions of people of color have less than 60% as much protected land. Dr. Neenah Estrella-Luna, co-author of the study and environmental justice scholar and advocate, stressed that “Environmental Justice is a civil rights issue. It is about people having access to the same conditions and the same rights that wealthy and white people have always had access to.” As McMullen Bushman and Estrella-Luna pointed out, environmental justice requires a redistribution of benefits that have traditionally only been made available to a select few.
Opportunities in New Funding
Both the infrastructure and reconciliation bills allocate significant amounts of funding towards conservation, offering an opportunity to address some of the environmental inequities in New England. Kristen Sykes at the Appalachian Mountain Club spoke about how the funding can help address the lack of equitable access to nature in New England: “For a long time, the conversation has been focused on creating new natural spaces. But we’ve found that a lot of folks are surrounded by public lands, but they don’t have the means to access it. Conservation is a really key piece as well, but there’s also the ability to actually get to protected lands.” Sykes highlighted the infrastructure bill’s opportunity to fund more equitable access to nature through a 70% increase in the $1.44 billion per year that goes to the transportation alternatives program, which funds bike lanes, trails, sidewalks, and other active infrastructure. The infrastructure bill will also allocate $200 million a year to the Reconnecting Communities pilot program, which addresses damages inflicted on BIPOC and low-income communities by the highway system, with projects such as highway removals and pedestrian bridges. Complementing this program would be the $3.95 billion Neighborhood Access and Equity Program, proposed in the reconciliation bill, which is still being debated in the senate. If passed, the program would fund a larger range of restorative projects in communities negatively affected by highways.
In alignment with Justice40, significant portions of conservation funding in both bills require that underserved communities be prioritized. This goal, while potentially transformative, currently lacks specific criteria and action steps. Dr. Estrella-Luna emphasized that “One of the biggest challenges around [Justice40] is defining what we mean by benefits. We might need to redefine what we actually mean, and what we have been suggesting is that benefits should always be defined in terms of protecting the most vulnerable people.” Justice40 creates an opportunity to redistribute the benefits of conservation, but how effectively it will accomplish that remains to be seen.
Disparities in Funding Opportunities
Despite the potential funding for underserved communities coming out of the infrastructure and reconciliation bills, some leaders have voiced concern about the funding actually making its way into communities. Amber Arnold, co-founder of the SUSU commUNITY Farm, echoed that concern. “I don’t feel excitement because that money rarely actually reaches projects like ours,” said Arnold. “If that money was actually to go to organizations like mine, Black and Brown organizations, there would be a lot of really powerful work.” Kristen Sykes highlighted many reasons communities may not receive funding: “there are a fair amount of barriers, [including whether] people know about the funding, can apply for it, and have the capacity to apply.” A recent article from the New York Times demonstrated the many obstacles that stand between the most vulnerable communities and infrastructure funding. The article went on to explain that historically, wealthy, white communities with the resources to apply to competitive grants and programs receive the bulk of federal grants. This is because municipalities must be aware of grant programs and have the resources and staff to keep track of them. Another barrier is match– which requires communities to pay a share of the project- which is not possible in towns without available funds. Policy experts are unclear on whether the playing field can be leveled in time for new funding allocations. Awareness of these barriers across the conservation community is a first step in finding ways to overcome them and ensure more equitable distribution of resources.
Redefining Conservation
One theme that emerged at the RCP Gathering was that conservation in the land justice context needs to encompass more than just land protection. Dr. Estrella-Luna highlighted that “Before money becomes available, you need to ask people, what is it that you need to create the conditions so that you can have healthy, safe lives and livelihoods? You need to ask the folks who live in those spaces, go to the community organizations that are serving those communities, and pay them to work with you to identify those solutions.” As Estrella-Luna emphasized, land justice can be accomplished in a number of different ways, and ideas for improving the system should come from communities that are experiencing the injustice. While land conservation efforts for underserved communities are well-intentioned, sometimes solutions are more complex. Ciona Ulbrich, Senior Project Manager at the Maine Coast Heritage Trust and member of the Conservation Community Delegation at First Light, explained “There’s a ‘Land Back’ movement happening where people want to give their land back to Tribes – an important goal. But it’s not as simple as just giving as much land back as possible – that can create problems such as unintended cost burdens. Maybe we can also create opportunities to secure cultural use access rights.”
Land Justice in Action
While the new legislation and funding streams are drawing attention to land justice, many organizations are already working towards making conservation more inclusive and redistributing benefits. Interviewees highlighted how they are tackling land justice in both traditional and alternative ways. “One of the efforts we’re working on is building a toolbox around cultural use,” said Ulbrich. “As examples, we are working with Wabanaki to build cultural access clauses into conservation easements, and with their help we have created a harvest permit that landowners or land trusts can issue to Wabanaki.” Amy Blaymore Paterson of the Connecticut Land Conservation Council pointed to their Regional Land Trust Advancement Initiative Program as another example. She said that “the focus area of the program has evolved to address inclusive conservation” — offering land trusts an opportunity to work with equity trainers to connect with more people, build local partnerships, and better serve their communities. Walker Holmes, Connecticut State Director at the Trust for Public Land, was involved in preserving the farm where Martin Luther King, Jr. worked for two summers in his youth. She says that “there are so many places of great significance to Black history and culture where the stories and sites are in danger of being erased. The terrifying statistic is that only 2% of sites on the National Register of Historic Places focus on the experience of Black Americans. Conservation can help to change that by protecting these places in perpetuity.”
Building Relationships at the Speed of Trust
A common theme echoed by regional leaders for advancing land justice and conservation together is the need to build trust and truly listen to the needs of organizations already doing the work. For conservation organizations and land trusts hoping to work towards a more just and equitable future for New England, there are a few key considerations. Amber Arnold emphasized that “Institutions that are committed to that work need to invest time and energy into building relationships with Black, Brown, and Indigenous people and organizations. They have to trust and allow resources to be distributed in a way that allows people to do the work they want to without having to answer or ask, or have to be in the relationship with these organizations to get the resources they need.” Arnold went on to emphasize that handing over decision making power and decreasing red tape are essential in establishing trust. Ciona Ulbrich recounts her experience in connection building with Wabanaki: “What you do is make mistakes, and keep trying. One of the key things we heard from them was that we kept trying, and we kept coming back. That built respect in our connection-building, because we kept showing up.” Katie Blake, conservationist at Highstead, spoke to the relationship building aspect of land justice. While many are eager to make new relationships, Katie reflected that “it’s urgent, but also must be slow. It’s all at the speed of trust. It can’t be transactional– it has to come from an authentic place.”Organizations already working in land justice, as well as those seeking to do more, agree that success will require coordinated efforts, long-term relationships and deep work. In the words of Parker McMullen Bushman, “When we think about how we solve these issues, we have to look within our organizations and say, how do we get everyone at the table? A lot of times, it takes a fundamental shift. If you aren’t making the changes internally and thinking differently within your organizations then it is harder to make change and sustain change.”
Author’s Note: While the Infrastructure bill has been signed into law, Build Back Better – the reconciliation bill – remains stalled in the U.S. Senate.
Maine’s forests play a critical role in filtering and supporting some of the highest water quality in the country, as well as securing recreation opportunities and access to nature. These reasons are why a group of conservation-minded organizations, federal agencies and private landowners have been working together in the Sebago Clean Waters coalition to protect thousands of acres of high-priority forests in western Maine.
Mill Brook Long Mountain, Courtesy of Sebago Clean Waters
Today, Mahoosuc Land Trust, Sebago Clean Waters, landowners Mary McFadden and Larry Stifler and The Conservation Fund, in partnership with the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and Portland Water District, announced the conservation of 12,268 acres of forestland in Oxford County. A conservation easement, held and stewarded by Mahoosuc Land Trust on this privately owned property will permanently protect the vast forestland from development and fragmentation, and preserve its ecological, recreational and water quality benefits for the community.
Highstead has been a key partner in advancing the Sebago Clean Water collaborative under the leadership of Spencer Meyer, Highstead Senior Conservationist and Co-Chair of Sebago Clean Waters (SCW). Tara Whalen, Highstead Conservationist provided significant contributions to the application process and Highstead’s ongoing relationship with SCW and its partners. .
The vision and dedication of married philanthropists Mary McFadden and Larry Stifler spurred the acquisition of this land, known to its owners as Northern Retreat. In the 1970s, the couple started acquiring parcels of forestland in Albany Township with a plan to conserve them for future generations. In a region where forest fragmentation is common, McFadden and Stifler made it their goal to “un-fragment” the property to keep it conserved and available for public recreation, establishing numerous hiking and biking trails designed by Bruce Barrett.
McFadden and Stifler donated the vast majority of the conservation easement’s value to make this collaborative conservation effort possible and to inspire others. “Our donation on this land was to ensure it will be permanently conserved,” McFadden and Stifler said. “We and our three children are also pleased to protect the Sebago watershed and the extraordinary resources and beauty of this area for generations to come. We’re excited to share this land with the public and make this statement for conservation.”
The landowners worked closely with various nonprofit partners to make this goal a reality. Kirk Siegel, Mahoosuc Land Trust’s executive director said, “Western Foothills Land Trust and Inland Woods + Trails jumped at the opportunity to work with The Conservation Fund and our other partners to help conserve the Chadbourne Tree Farm lands last year. The creativity that came out of that partnership is what made it possible to complete this historic project with McFadden and Stifler, while we continue working on conservation of the entire 15,000-acre Chadbourne Tree Farm lands.”
Over 7,500 acres of this project are located within the Crooked River watershed, and the easement project is called the Crooked River Headwaters. As the largest tributary to Sebago Lake, The Crooked River is essential to area water quality. The lake is the primary drinking water supply for over 200,000 Maine residents in the greater Portland area and one of only 50 public surface water supplies in the U.S. that requires no filtration before treatment.
The property is located in the territory of the Wabanaki people in what are now the towns of Waterford, Greenwood, Norway and Albany Township. It contains exceptional forests that the landowners have left to mature for 40 years, optimizing the forest’s ability to grow and sequester carbon and filter water. The landscape is abundant with critical wildlife habitat and awe-inspiring mountain views, and features nine pristine ponds, approximately six miles of frontage on the Crooked River and intact forestlands that are crucial for local resiliency against the effects of climate change.
Identified as a top conservation priority by Sebago Clean Waters, this property achieves 21 percent of the coalition’s goal to conserve 35,000 acres in the Sebago Lake watershed to protect the area’s water quality. “This historic project marks a significant milestone in our efforts to conserve Sebago region forests to protect water quality, wildlife and the Maine way of life,” said Karen Young, partnership director of Sebago Clean Waters. “It demonstrates the power of collaboration and the collective Sebago Clean Waters vision to inspire action to protect places that are critical to our well-being.”
Sebago Clean Waters was able to contribute major funding for this project using a portion of a five-year award from the NRCS Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) Alternative Funding Arrangement (AFA) program, which was authorized through the 2018 Farm Bill. Spencer Meyer of the Highstead Foundation and co-chair of Sebago Clean Waters said, “NRCS has generously invested in our vision and partnership and we are pleased to be able to kick off a new five-year initiative with such an impactful conservation project working with so many partners.”
As part of their efforts to conserve the forests that filter the water flowing to the lake, Sebago Clean Waters founding member Portland Water District provided additional funding. Their support was made possible by a loan from the Maine Drinking Water State Revolving Loan Fund.
“Undeveloped forests treat our drinking water naturally and are a critical first step to providing clean, safe and affordable drinking water,” said Carrie Lewis, general manager of the Portland Water District. “As the local public water supplier, we are pleased to be able to join forces with Sebago Clean Waters, landowners and others to support conservation efforts like this. We all benefit from clean water.”
Funding was also provided by Maine Community Foundation, The Nature Conservancy and Maine Mountain Collaborative, along with additional Sebago Clean Waters funding.
About Mahoosuc Land Trust
Mahoosuc Land Trust is an accredited land trust founded in 1989 that has conserved 9,000 acres to benefit the communities of the Mahoosuc region and its globally significant ecosystem in Maine and New Hampshire. MLT welcomes visitors at Valentine Farm Conservation Center, 13 preserves and four Androscoggin River boat landings, and engages hundreds of volunteers each year to care for them.
About Sebago Clean Waters
Sebago Clean Waters is leveraging the power of partnership to conserve 35,000 acres of Sebago region forests for water quality, community, economic and ecological benefits. Established in late 2017, the 10-member coalition has engaged 10 business partners, secured nearly $10 million in funding, inspired landowners to conserve over 14,000 acres of high-priority forestland and received national recognition as a model water fund.
About The Conservation Fund
At The Conservation Fund, we make conservation work for America. By creating solutions that make environmental and economic sense, we are redefining conservation to demonstrate its essential role in our future prosperity. Top-ranked for efficiency and effectiveness, we have worked in all 50 states since 1985 to protect more than 8.5 million acres of land across the U.S., including nearly 480,000 acres in Maine.
Rich Cochran President and CEO Western Reserve Land Conservancy
Rich is President and CEO of Western Reserve Land Conservancy (WRLC). In 1996 he was the first employee of the organization (FKA Chagrin River Land Conservancy) and led its growth through corporate mergers of 13 land conservancies. Today WRLC generates more than $20 million annually, employs 50 people, and has preserved 70,000 acres valued at $700 million. WRLC launched a major urban initiative in 2011, which led to the development of programs, partnerships, and strategies to make Cleveland the greenest and healthiest city of America. Rich also serves as the Founding Chairman of the Cleveland Tree Coalition Executive Committee.
George Dusenbury VP for the Southern Region The Trust for Public Land
George is celebrating his 5th year with The Trust for Public Land, a national organization dedicated to creating parks and protecting land for people. Before joining TPL, he served as Commissioner of the Atlanta Parks & Recreation Department (2010-2014), Executive Director of Park Pride, a nonprofit dedicated to building civic and corporate support for Atlanta’s parks (2004-2010), District Director for Congressman John Lewis (2000-2004) and in Congressman John Lewis’s legislative team (1993-1999). George also serves on the Decatur, GA, City Commission. He is a graduate of Cornell University and Emory University School of Law.
Wendy Jackson former Executive Director Freshwater Land Trust and former Executive Vice President Land Trust Alliance
Wendy is retired after 35 years in conservation and spends her time sharing expertise through service on nonprofit boards, speaking engagements, and consulting. She was the Executive Vice President at the Land Trust Alliance from 2016-2020, Executive Director of the Freshwater Land Trust from 2001-2016, and Director of Land Protection and Government Relations with the Alabama Chapter of The Nature Conservancy from 1993-2001. During her tenure as Executive Director, the Freshwater Land Trust became their state’s first accredited land trust and protected or helped protect over 10,000 acres throughout Central Alabama.
Isaac Robb Vice President of Planning & Urban Projects Western Reserve Land Conservancy
Isaac has significant experience with real estate transactions and project management. He has successfully led close to a dozen property inventory projects throughout Ohio, including working on the first citywide inventory of Cleveland. Most recently, Isaac and the Land Conservancy team have successfully completed the Brighton Park project, which has transformed a 25-acre former landfill into a vibrant urban park with multipurpose trails and habitat restoration, as well as the Garden of Eleven Angels project which converted eight vacant residential lots to a stunning memorial for the victims of the 2009 murders on Imperial Ave.
Co-Hosts
Spencer Meyer Senior Conservationist Highstead
Dr. Spencer Meyer leads the conservation finance and science program at Highstead—a New England-based conservation organization. He is a leader within the Wildlands, Woodlands, Farmlands and Communities initiative and is a co-founder of the Sebago Clean Waters water fund in Maine. Spencer is on the editorial board of the Conservation Finance Network and is a frequent advisor to conservation NGOs and foundations on opportunities to finance natural solutions to our environmental and social challenges. Spencer lives between the woods and the sea in Guilford, CT.
Leigh Whelpton Executive Director The Conservation Finance Network
As Executive Director, Leigh leads the Conservation Finance Network‘s (CFN) effort to enable collective impact for the field of conservation finance. Through technical assistance, coaching, and convening programs, CFN helps to increase the amount of capital deployed for social equity and ecological resilience. Prior to CFN, she managed professional training programs and applied conservation initiatives for the Cheetah Conservation Fund in Namibia. Leigh holds an M.E.Sc. from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and a B.S. from the University of California at Berkeley.
More than 300 attendees from across the Northeast and beyond joined conservation and Land Justice leaders on November 18 at the 2021 Regional Conservation Partnership Network Gathering.
Co-hosted by Highstead senior conservationist Bill Labich, and conservationist Katie Blake, the virtual Gathering program consisted of a keynote address and two moderated panel discussions designed to advance past Gathering conversations on equity and Land Justice by raising awareness and understanding of the legacy of racism and white supremacy in conservation, and examining actionable approaches for addressing this history while advancing land conservation goals. Dianne Russell, president of the Institute for Conservation Leadership led breakout sessions for peer connection and learning with a focus on what’s working to advance Land Justice across conservation and environmental organizations.
Keynote Address: Environmental Legacy: Justice, Land Use, and a History of Connection, Parker McMullen Bushman
In her keynote address, Parker McMullen Bushman, chief operating officer of Inclusive Journeys and founder of Ecoinclusive Strategies, outlined a legacy of racism in current environmental disparities and the connections between socio-cultural inequity and environmental issues. Parker drew from her personal history as well as her 24+ years of experience in the non-profit leadership, conservation, environmental education and outdoor recreation fields, and demonstrated why social justice and the environment go hand in hand.
“… I think it’s important for us to understand that people and the land are tied together and when we think about the land, and we think about management of the land, we cannot separate the impacts of people. If you have sick people, you often have sick land, and vice versa.”
Parker McMullen Bushman, Environmental Legacy: Justice Land Use, and a History of Connection at the November 18, 2021 Regional Conservation Partnership Network Gathering
Panel I: What Does Land Justice Mean, and How Does it Affect My Communities?
The first panel discussion focused on the history and personal impacts of land injustice, and what justice looks like in the panel’s communities. Speaker geographies encompassed urban and non-urban landscapes and communities, and demonstrated the importance of collaboration in conservation, food and land sovereignty, relationship building, and deep connections to the land.
“When I think about Land Justice I really think about land sovereignty, and when I think about land sovereignty, you know, seeing land as a sovereign being and not as a resource or transactional item, or an object, or something that we can take and own…”
Panelist Amber Arnold, Colaborative Director, SUSU CommUNITY Farm
Panel II: Guiding Principles for Scaling up Community-Driven Land Justice and Conservation Outcomes
What is working and connecting people to the land and Land Justice? How does change happen, and what does it look like at different scales? How do we get to a deeper sense of humility and get more out of the process to move toward more elements of change? The afternoon panelists met at the intersections of land planning, conservation, community, and health for a discussion on approaches to advancing hyper-local, community-driven Land Justice and conservation efforts.
“We need to think about how to scale out instead of up– and scale-out, meaning meet communities where they’re at in the stage of change that they’re at, and meet them for who they are, and let them lead the work.
The Leopold Conservation Award celebrates voluntary conservation and provides a prominent platform to recognize farmers, ranchers, and forestland owners as conservation ambassadors. Private landowners are nominated or apply for the award based on their land ethic and ability to showcase that conservation and production have a symbiotic relationship. The region-specific program represents the very best in conservation on private working lands.
“The Choinieres embody so much of the ethos and practice that Aldo Leopold taught and modeled, for generations. I cannot think of a more fitting way to celebrate two inspiring legacies than by recognizing the Choiniere Family Farm with the 2021 Leopold Conservation Award.”
To help us get on the same page before the Gathering, we released a story map that provides details on the Gathering and provides stories and context to illustrate the issues of Land Justice in New England.
Given in honor of renowned conservationist Aldo Leopold, the prestigious award recognizes those who inspire others with their dedication to land, water and wildlife resources in their care. Dairy farmers Guy and Beth Choiniere receive $10,000 and a crystal award for being selected.
“As the national sponsor for Sand County Foundation’s Leopold Conservation Award, American Farmland Trust celebrates the hard work and dedication of the New England recipient,” said John Piotti, AFT President and CEO. “At AFT we believe that conservation in agriculture requires a focus on the land, the practices and the people and this award recognizes the integral role of all three.”
“Recipients of this award are real life examples of conservation-minded agriculture,” said Kevin McAleese, Sand County Foundation President and Chief Executive Officer. “These hard-working families are essential to our environment, food system and rural economy.”
“The Choinieres embody so much of the ethos and practice that Aldo Leopold taught and modeled, for generations,” said Spencer Meyer, Senior Conservationist at the Highstead Foundation. “I cannot think of a more fitting way to celebrate two inspiring legacies than by recognizing the Choiniere Family Farm with the 2021 Leopold Conservation Award.”
“We are pleased to present this award to Guy Choiniere and the Choiniere Family Farm. I am thrilled that a dairy farm so devoted to conservation agriculture, and improving water quality has been chosen as the first New England Leopold Conservation Award recipient from Vermont,” said Nathan L’Etoile, New England Director of American Farmland Trust. “Not only does Choiniere Family Farm hold itself to a high standard, but Guy devotes his own time to teach tomorrow’s watershed stewards, elementary school students around Lake Champlain, the importance of conservation practices to keeping our lakes and rivers clean.”
Earlier this year, owners of forestland and farmland in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont were encouraged to apply (or be nominated) for the award. Applications were reviewed by an independent panel of agricultural and forestry conservation leaders.
The New England Leopold Conservation Award is made possible through the generous support of American Farmland Trust, New England Forestry Foundation; Wildlands, Woodlands, Farmlands and Communities; Sand County Foundation, Farm Credit East, David and Ann Ingram, Yale School of the Environment, and Whole Foods.
In his influential 1949 book, A Sand County Almanac; Aldo Leopold called for an ethical relationship between people and the land they own and manage. He wrote it was “an evolutionary possibility and an ecological necessity.”
Sand County Foundation presents the Leopold Conservation Awardannually in 23 states with a variety of conservation, agricultural and forestry organizations. For more information on the award, visit www.leopoldconservationaward.org.
About Choiniere Family Farm
Dairy farmer Guy Choiniere believes the health of the soil is the health of the farm. This land ethic drives his actions on a dairy farm that’s been in the Choiniere family since 1945.
While navigating changes in the farm economy, climate and farming practices, the Choiniere Family Farm has become a model of innovation and adaptability for other New England dairies.
Located four miles from Quebec, Canada, Choiniere Family Farm’s 242 acres of farmland and 70 acres of woodland is crossed by the Rock River and its tributaries. Soil health and erosion control practices have kept the farm productive and resilient despite an increase in severe storms, rainfall and periods of drought in northwest Vermont.
Guy’s parents, Henry and Raymonde, placed a conservation easement on the farm and sold its development rights before transferring it to him and his wife Beth in the 1990s. A generation later, Guy and Beth’s children, Matt and Hannah, farm with them. The Choinieres sell beef, milk, pork, chicken, eggs, honey and baked goods at a store located on their farm.
Prompted by an unstable market for conventional milk in the 1990s, Guy studied and then transitioned to organic production. It’s a move he said was good for his cows, land and bottom line. A few years later he seeded 25 acres of corn to permanent hay and pasture in order to convert his herd to 100 percent grass-fed. That move fetched an even better price for their organic milk.
After taking over the farm, Guy also began addressing environmental issues with assistance from the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service. The conservation plan he developed remains a work in progress today.
To prevent soil erosion and improve water quality, the Choinieres planted 5,000 trees along banks of the impaired Rock River. They also conveyed a 51-acre river corridor easement that designates an area where the river can meander naturally. The land can still be farmed, but the river will not be dredged. There is also a permanent 50-foot naturally vegetated buffer along 12,000 feet of the river’s bank.
Keeping nutrients on the farm and out of the river was also aided when Guy switched from conventional liquid manure storage to an innovative compost bedded pack system. During the winter the cows are fed hay in large hoop barns designed to mimic the comfort and atmosphere of being on pasture. Excess hay provides bedding and catches manure before being trod down into compost. When the cows resume rotational grazing in May, pigs are let into the barns to root around and expedite the composting process before it is spread on fields as nutrient-rich fertilizer. Guy is an ambassador to help other dairies manage bedded pack systems.
Guy is also an instructor for the Champlain Basin Watershed Initiative. This partnership between Vermont, New York and Quebec educates elementary school teachers participating in a course called A Watershed for Every Classroom. The teachers are then equipped to teach their students – future stewards of Lake Champlain — how agricultural conservation practices address water quality issues.
Choiniere Family Farm participates in Vermont’s roadside sign program that identify conservation practices like rotational grazing, cover crops, no-till and streamside plantings. The Choinieres, who were Vermont’s Conservation Farmers of the Year in 2009, are now the first New England Leopold Conservation Award recipients from the Green Mountain State.
