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August 2023 | Land Trust eNews
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Maryland Environmental Trust Spotlight |
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Keep Maryland Beautiful Grant Program Opens Soon!
The Maryland Environmental Trust, Maryland Department of Transportation, Maryland Department of Agriculture and the Chesapeake Bay Trust are partnering to present this year's Keep Maryland Beautiful Grant Program. Grants through the Keep Maryland Beautiful program help nonprofit groups, communities and land trusts in Maryland to support environmental education projects, litter removal, community stewardship and to protect natural resources in urban and rural areas.
The Keep Maryland Beautiful Grant Program includes the Janice Hollmann Grant as well as the Aileen Hughes Award which are available to Maryland local land trusts. Remember, Maryland land trusts can apply for a Janice Hollmann Grant, and nominate an individual, from their own land trust or another Maryland land trust, for the Aileen Hughes Award. (Separate applications must be submitted for Hollmann and Hughes to be considered.)
Stayed tuned to learn more about changes to this year's upcoming grant program. Applications will be accepted online for the next round of Keep Maryland Beautiful Grants in September 2023.
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Co-held Monitoring Reports
THANK YOU to all co-holders who submitted their co-held easement monitoring reports to MET for the first half of CY2023! Co-held reports are being processed.
If you have not yet submitted your land trust's co-held monitoring reports please contact Michelle at michelle.grafton@maryland.gov.
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New Fact Sheet from UMD Extension: "Losing Your Trees to the Sea? Options for Maryland's Coastal Woodland Owners"
Woodlands in low-lying areas along Maryland’s Lower Eastern Shore face risks not only from flooding and salt water intrusion but from sea level rise as well. In this new factsheet from the University of Maryland Extension, Dr. Kate McClure, Coastal Climate Specialist with UME’s Sea Grant Extension Program, and former UME Forest Stewardship Educator Agnes Kedmenecz outline many of the challenges faced by woodland owners and managers in the Lower Eastern Shore area.
The authors provide an overview of how certain tree species succumb to salt water intrusion, creating “ghost forests” that eventually transition to saltmarshes. They also share a series of indicators that property owners can use to determine if coastal flooding and saltwater intrusion may be affecting their woodlands.
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2023 Maryland Land Conservation Conference
October 4-5 | Registration Fee
Forever Maryland invites you to attend the 30th Annual Maryland Land Conservation Conference, “Changing the Future, Now!” on October 4th and 5th, 2023 in Annapolis, Maryland. In addition to essential land conservation practitioner seminars, this two-day conference will focus on ways in which landowners, community leaders, governments, and average citizens can utilize land conservation to enhance water quality, sequester carbon, increase native species, and help transform communities for the better. Learn more.
Maryland Planning Commissioners Association Conference
October 24-26 | Registration Fee
The 40th annual conference will offer topics of interest to the more than 1,400 citizen planners serving Maryland's counties and municipalities. The 2023 conference agenda is still being developed, but in addition to the state-mandated Planning Commissioner Training Course and the Open Meetings Act Training, session topics will focus on how planning commissions and boards can collaborate with planning staff, elected officials, and other stakeholders to address and prepare for the opportunities of the next 40 years. Learn more.
Case Studies in Collaborative Land Conservation: Lessons on Tackling the Climate Change and Biodiversity Loss Crises
Multiple | Webinar Series
Land conservation organizations play a vital role in planning and implementing nature-based solutions that are needed at scale to address both the climate and biodiversity challenges. The Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, in partnership with the Network for Landscape Conservation (NLC) and the University of Montana, recently published a report examining how U.S. land conservation collaborative partnerships are addressing climate change. The Salazar Center for North American Conservation is partnering with NLC to share the findings of the report through an interactive webinar series. Learn more.
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Tools, Tech and Tutorials |
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Artificial Intelligence, or AI, has been in the news a great deal lately, but like a lot of technology, bits and pieces of it have been part of our lives for years. Do you send text messages, choosing the words suggested on the screen based on the first two or three letters you typed? That “predictive text” is AI.
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 USFS Urban FIA Program
The US Forest Service's Forest Inventory and Analysis program sets out to explore in its' rural based inventory. The Forest Inventory and Analysis program has three components: Forest Inventory and Analysis, National Woodland Owner Survey, and Timber Products Output.
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 Newly Released Resources Planning Act Assessment
The US Forest Service's Resources Planning Act Assessment, published every decade, provides a snapshot of current U.S. forest and rangeland conditions and trends across all ownerships, identifies drivers of change, and projects conditions 50 years into the future.
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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.
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