Land Trust eNews: February 2022

Maryland Department of Natural Resources sent this bulletin at 02/18/2022 10:29 AM EST

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Monthly News & Updates

February 2022 | Land Trust eNews

Maryland Environmental Trust Spotlight

Land Trust Survey

Please complete this short 6 question survey! Maryland Environmental Trust (DNR), Chesapeake & Coastal Service (DNR) and Resource Conservation Unit (MDP) are teaming up and reaching out to land trusts protecting land in Maryland. We hope to get a better picture of the lands that are protected and solely held by local land trusts. To help move this project in the right direction this team created a short 6 question survey. The survey, Assessing and accurately mapping the land protected by local land trusts, should take less than 10 minutes to complete. Please visit the survey link for more information and to complete the survey by March 14, 2022.

Land Trust Roundtable on Remote Monitoring

On February 15, Maryland Environmental Trust hosted a virtual Land Trust Roundtable, "Remote Monitoring". Eastern Shore Land Conservancy, Lower Shore Land Trust and MET shared their successes and challenges using state-of-the-art technology to complete site evaluations instead of traditional “boots-on-the-ground” monitoring visits. More than thirty representatives from Maryland land trusts, governmental agencies, and other conservation partners joined the event. For more information on this and other Land Trust Roundtables visit MET’s events page.

Land Trust Monitoring Reports

THANK YOU to all land trusts who submitted their co-held easement monitoring reports to Maryland Environmental Trust for CY2021! Co-held reports are being processed. Also, there's still time to send to send your reports to MET if you missed the January 31 deadline. If you have questions please contact Michelle Grafton at michelle.grafton@maryland.gov.

Land Trusts in Action

Patuxent Tidewater Land Trust Awarded Funding To Acquire Conservation Easements

On December 1st the Maryland Board of Public Works approved an award of $2,217,053.00 to the Patuxent Tidewater Land Trust (PTLT) to acquire conservation easements in the Huntersville Rural Legacy Area in Northern St. Mary’s County. PTLT plans to apply this funding toward acquiring conservation easements on several important properties including a 437-acre waterfront parcel that will significantly help protect the environment and wildlife habitat in St. Mary’s County. Read more.

Harford Land Trust Opens New Office

Harford Land Trust celebrated the opening of its new office on West Pennsylvania Avenue with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Friday, January 28. After outgrowing their space on Hickory Avenue, the land preservation nonprofit moved to the street-level office in between Main and Bond Streets in late 2021. The land trust was recognized for their work to preserve land throughout the county with proclamations presented by County Executive Barry Glassman and Chief Advisor Billy Boniface, County Councilmen Chad Shrodes and Tony Giangiordano, Delegate Mike Griffith, and Roni Cassilly on behalf of Senator Bob Cassilly. Read more.

News You Can Use

Maryland Releases First-of-its-Kind Coastal Adaptation Report Card

The Maryland Coastal Adaptation Report Card was developed by the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (UMCES) Integration and Application Network, with support from the Adaptation and Resiliency Work Group (ARWG) of the Maryland Commission on Climate Change (MCCC) through the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.

With more than 3,000 miles of shoreline and 72% of the state’s population living and working along the coast, Maryland’s coastal communities face particular risk to the impacts of a changing climate. The University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science releases the first-of-its-kind Maryland Coastal Adaptation Report Card that gives a snapshot of the current adaptation status in Maryland’s coastal counties and establishes a framework for measuring future progress.

Read more.

Learn and Explore

LTA Complimentary Webinars

February 23 -24 | Free

A signature program of the Land Trust Alliance is its annual webinar series that includes 30+ webinars every year. Next week the Land Trust Alliance will host two complimentary webinars for its land trust members and Affiliates — register now for Transforming Your Organizational Culture on February 23 and Staying Connected While Working Remotely on February 24.

Building Better Boards Workshop Series

Next Workshop on February 28 | Free

Forever Maryland is excited to announce a new leadership training program to help local land trusts in Maryland (and a few land trusts in Delaware) build stronger boards of directors and expand the strengths, capacity, and diversity of board candidates and local land trusts. Building Better Boards for Local Land Trusts: Training and Toolkit program provides a pathway for any local leader interested in conservation to learn about best practices for board governance, fee and easement transactions, the roles of monitoring and stewardship,
and the importance of financial oversight. Learn more.

Delmarva Bird Conservation Series

Starting March 2 | Free

Are you ready to take a deep dive into bird conservation across Delmarva? Then this program is for you. The first three workshops focus on in-depth learning on topics related to bird banding, citizen science, and habitat restoration. These programs are funded through a grant from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and a partnership between Lower Shore Land Trust and the Eastern Shore Land Conservancy. Each program focuses on the land and conservation efforts that support bird populations. Learn more.

MPCA 38th Annual Conference Session and Presentation Recordings Now Available

Online | Free

Over three days in late October, the Maryland Planning Commissioners Association (MPCA) and its partners delivered timely and informative content for citizen and professionals alike and celebrated the important work of Maryland’s Planning Commissions and Boards of Zoning Appeals. If you were not able to join the conference, or simply want to look back once more at everything the conference had to offer, please visit the conference website, where you can download presentations and view the session recordings.

Delmarva GIS Conference

May 12-14 | Registration Fee

The 2022 Delmarva GIS Conference theme will be A Wave of Difference. The conference is organized and supported by staff from state agencies and universities in the Delmarva area, as well as regional and national GIS-focused corporations. Registration for the conference will go live March 1, 2022. Learn more.

2022 Maryland Land Conservation Conference

June 1-2, 2022 | Registration Fee

Forever Maryland invites you to attend the 2022 Maryland Land Conservation Conference, Celebrating Success. Planning for Change. This two-day, in-person, conference will examine the current state of Chesapeake Bay restoration, smart growth, and conservation successes, while discussing how to plan for climate change, fiscal uncertainty, and emerging environmental challenges. This event will include multiple education tracks, facilitated discussions, demonstrations, networking opportunities, and nearly 50 local, regional and national speakers. Learn more.

Tools, Tech and Tutorials

Using Environmental Justice Data to Help Prioritize Projects

The NPS Environmental Compliance and Cleanup Division utilizes data to inform decision-making and address both social impacts, including environmental justice, and resource impacts of contaminated sites across the National Park System. Join NPS on February 22 to learn how their team is using innovative data tools, which conservation partners can use as well, to improve how environmental justice is assessed in projects across the country.

Learn more.

EJSCREEN: An Overview of EPA’s Environmental Justice Screening Tool

Join EPA on March 8 to learn more about Tia Lung's work and the EJSCREEN tool. Mr. Lung's work focuses on the development of policies and tools that address low income and minority populations overburdened by disproportionately high environmental pollution. Tai leads EPA’s efforts on EJSCREEN, a mapping and screening tool that combines environmental and demographic data to highlight areas with potential environmental justice concerns.

Learn more.

Treemap: A One-of-a-kind Way to See the Forests and the Trees

For the first time, Treemap, which offers zoomed-in, tree-level information for forests across the conterminous U.S. Treemap was originally developed to help scientists understand the risks wildfire poses to carbon stored in forests, but it has broad applications for land managers. It is already being used to inventory wildlife habitat, map forest types, and evaluate how proposed management actions may affect carbon stocks and local hydrology.

Learn more.

Environmental News

DNR Secretary’s Message – February 2022

Harriet Tubman: Birth of a Legend (DNR Video)

Public Comment Sought for 2023 Maryland State Forest Work Plans (Deadline March 4)

Mid-Bay Island Ecosystem Restoration receives $37.5 million

Why we’re obsessed with nature’s water TREEtment plants.

The Results Are In! View Insights from MDP's Compatible Use Website and Handbook User Experience Survey

Can beavers help build a better Chesapeake Bay?

Learn More

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Share Your News

If you would like to share relevant conservation news, success stories, announcements or events with Maryland's land trusts and conservation partners through this publication, please contact Michelle Grafton by the first of each month at michelle.grafton@maryland.gov.

MARYLAND ENVIRONMENTAL TRUST | dnr.maryland.gov/met