A Quick Guide to Adaptation Planning for Land Trusts

Maria Janowiak, Danielle Shannon, Kristen Schmitt, Madeline Baroli, Leslie Brandt, Stephen Handler, Patricia Butler-Leopold, Todd Ontl, Courtney Peterson, Annamarie Rutledge, Chris Swanston
Posted on: 12/26/2023 - Updated on: 12/26/2023

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CAKE Team

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Abstract

Land trust activities are constantly changing to accommodate new challenges, and it’s becoming increasingly important that conservation and stewardship activities intentionally consider a changing and uncertain climate. 

This Quick Start Guide to Adaptation Planning for Land Trusts gives you a starting point to help you design and implement adaptation actions in your work, with a special eye toward stewardship activities. It draws on the five-step Adaptation Workbook process to help you consider how climate change will affect your lands and your associated goals for land conservation and stewardship. By intentionally considering the potential impacts, challenges, and opportunities from climate change, you can then use this lens to identify actions that enable ecosystems to cope with stressors and adapt to changing conditions, while also addressing conservation priorities.

This guide was developed to support land trusts and serve as a stepping stone for the process of adaptation planning. Information from this toolkit was adapted from the USDA Forest Service report, Forest Adaptation Resources: Climate Change Tools and Approaches for Land Managers, 2nd Edition and Adaptation Resources for Agriculture: Responding to Climate Variability and Change in the Midwest and Northeast.

Citation

Janowiak, Maria; Shannon, Danielle; Schmitt, Kristen; Baroli, Madeline; Brandt, Leslie; Handler, Stephen; Butler-Leopold, Patricia; Ontl, Todd; Peterson, Courtney; Rutledge, Annamarie; Swanston, Chris. 2022. A quick guide to adaptation planning for land trusts. NRS-INF-40-22. Madison, WI: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station. 14 p. https://doi.org/10.2737/NRS-INF-40-22.

Affiliated Organizations

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) works to support the American agricultural economy to strengthen rural communities; to protect and conserve our natural resources; and to provide a safe, sufficient, and nutritious food supply for the American people. The Department’s wide range of programs and responsibilities touches the lives of every American every day. This factsheet provides information about some of our agencies and offices, their missions, responsibilities, and services they provide.

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