This 2015 report by California FarmLink share nine case studies of how land trusts and other conservation groups are working to protect agricultural land by promoting secure tenure for the farmers and ranchers who steward them.
These model lease and model easement documents, developed by Equity Trust, are alternative ownership models designed to keep farms affordable for farmers and producing food for their communities.
This report by the National Young Farmers Coalition calls on land trusts and public and private funders to adopt and incentivize new conservation easements that keep land affordable for working farmers.
The State of the Sound report is intended to help our partners and decision makers better understand our current state of Puget Sound recovery.
While investing in farm & forestland is common, few organizations are set up to take donations of working lands. This report gives an introduction to organizations and programs currently receiving and managing working land donations.
This report authored by the National Audubon Society, represents the first comprehensive assessment of the complex & vital relationships that exist among birds, water, & climate change in the region.
This guidebook provides a practical synthesis of the best available science for using beaver to improve ecosystem functions. If you are a restoration practitioner, land manager, landowner, restoration funder, project developer, regulator, or other interested cooperator, this guidebook is for you. The Beaver Restoration Guidebook was prepared by US FWS, NOAA, University of Saskatchewan, and USFS.
This document from the Estuary & Salmon Restoration Program (ESRP) contains a fact sheet, project map, and ranked project list for ESRP in 2017-2019. PDF: 2017-19 Estuary and Salmon Restoration Program Fact Sheet
This factsheet details how the Recreation and Conservation Office awards grants for salmon recovery projects. PDF: Salmon Recovery Funding Board Factsheet Source: Washington State Recreation and Conservation Office
This factsheet describes the benefits of Puget Sound Acquisition & Restoration Fund (PSAR) investments. The PSAR focuses its efforts on critical habitat and salmon populations. PDF: PSAR General Factsheet Source: Puget Sound Partnership This factsheet outlines the PSAR grant funding priorities for 2017-2019, as well as return-on-investment stats. PDF: PSAR Funding 2017-19 Factsheet Source: Puget Sound Partnership
This factsheet describes the economic contribution of Outdoor Recreation for each activity type, and the breakdown from each county. Excellent source for stats. PDF: Economic Benefits of Outdoor Recreation Source: Washington State Recreation and Conservation Office
Private land owners, public land managers, land trusts, trail advocates, and others must be aware of the legal responsibilities associated with developing and maintaining trails. Although risks and responsibilities vary widely depending on the location and type of use, this topic has been addressed in all 50 states and is well-studied. This paper outlines basic
This book focuses on the study of the remarkable new source of geographic information that has become available in the form of user-generated content accessible over the Internet through mobile and Web applications. The exploitation, integration and application of these sources, termed volunteered geographic information (VGI) or crowdsourced geographic information (CGI), offer scientists an unprecedented
This regional Northwest Environmental Response Management Application (ERMA) allows stakeholders and communities to visualize ecological, human use and infrastructure data in a centralized location, potential vulnerabilities based on climate change forecast conditions, and the need for adaptive habitat restoration. Link: Explore Puget Sound – GIS Data. Source: NOAA’s Office of Response and Restoration.
This article examines the fundamental premises underlying agricultural easements and discusses key drafting issues that reflect those premises and objectives. Some of the key drafting issues include the easement purpose, construction of agricultural buildings and structures, construction of residential and farm worker dwellings, agricultural practices, subdivision and rural enterprises. Source: Farmland Information Center.
The Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP) is a voluntary federal conservation program implemented by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). The program protects agricultural land via the Agricultural Land Easements (ALE). Learn more from this ACEP-ALE factsheet.
This factsheet outlines the restrictions, rights, valuation, and tax benefits of placing conservation easements on agricultural land. Source: Farmland Information Center
This annotated model agricultural conservation easement is intended as a drafting guide for farmland preservation. Source: Washington State Recreation and Conservation Office.
The Future of Farming is a statewide strategic plan for Washington agriculture submitted to the Legislature and the Governor in February 2009. The plan was prepared by the Washington State Department of Agriculture in 2008 with guidance from an industry steering committee and input from about 2,000 participants from the industry’s many segments. The project
This source lists legislative statutes for conservation easements in Washington.