Putting a “Climate Change Filter” on Stewardship and Conservation
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Land Trust Alliance Rally, November 2017. Land trust activities are constantly changing to accommodate new challenges and issues, and it’s becoming increasingly important to develop and implement conservation activities that consider the challenges of a changing and uncertain climate. This fast-paced, dynamic workshop will lead participants through a five-step process to consider how climate change will affect their lands and conservation goals. This “climate change filter” will then be used to identify actions that enable forest ecosystems to adapt to changing conditions. The session will also identify strategies to engage woodland owner networks in these important stewardship activities, including climate change communication to key audiences and stakeholders.
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Putting a “Climate Change Filter” on Stewardship and Conservation
- 1. Putting a “Climate Change Filter” on Stewardship and Conservation #RALLY2017 Christine Cadigan, American Forest Foundation Lisa Hayden, New England Forestry Foundation Maria Janowiak, Northern Institute of Applied Climate Science, US Forest Service October 27, 2017
- 2. Today’s Presenters: Maria Janowiak Deputy Director Northern Institute of Applied Climate Science Christine Cadigan Director, Woodlands Conservation, NE U.S. American Forest Foundation Lisa Hayden Landowner Outreach Coordinator New England Forestry Foundation Making climate change manageable. Scaling up for impact. Lessons from My MassConn Woods.
- 3. Making climate change manageable
- 4. Big Questions • How do you integrate climate change into your activities? • How to you talk to you partners and stakeholders to help them do the same? 4 #RALLY2017
- 5. 5 #RALLY2017 Desired ConditionsNatural Forest Dynamics Wildlife Habitat Legacy of Past Land Use Invasives Timber Sale Revenue? Community Conservation Value Recreation Forest Health And more!! Climate Change Conservation Restrictions
- 6. A process for putting a “Climate Change Filter” on stewardship and conservation Adaptation Workbook Strategies & Approaches Menu of adaptation actions Swanston et al. 2016; www.nrs.fs.fed.us/pubs/52760 • Structured process to integrate climate change considerations into management • Workbook approach
- 7. Resource: Climate Change Assessments Resource: Adaptation Strategies & Approaches www.adaptationworkbook.org A process for putting a “Climate Change Filter” on stewardship and conservation
- 8. 1. Where are you and what do you care about?
- 9. 1. Where are you and what do you care about?
- 10. 1. Where are you and what do you care about? • Privately-managed refuge with >8,000 acres in MA and CT • Upland & aquatic habitats • Heart of Emerald Forest within MassConn region • Active implementation of sustainable forest management on some portions of Sanctuary NORCROSS WILDLIFE SANCTUARY
- 11. 1. Where are you and what do you care about? Ensure that the sanctuary provides the widest possible range of habitats to support diverse community of plant and animal communities • Increase old forest characteristics through natural stand development > Minimize fragmentation > Incorporate natural disturbances > Increase open and young forest habitats • Keep mid-aged forests productive and healthy > Thinnings, harvests NORCROSS WILDLIFE SANCTUARY – GOALS
- 12. 1. Where are you and what do you care about? FOLDED HILLS LOCATION – OBJECTIVES • Perpetuate a vigorous, structurally complex, species-rich forest • Preserve interior forest habitat • Establish wildland reserves for old forest • Anticipate climate change impacts and respond
- 13. Putting it together: Folded Hills Forest Wildlife habitat conservation Climate- informed Forest stewardship
- 14. 2. How is this particular place vulnerable to climate change?
- 15. 2. How is this particular place vulnerable to climate change? REGIONALLY • Less snow, more rain • Risk of summer drought • Rising sea levels • Longer growing season • Changes in habitat for plants and animals • Invasive plants • Forest pests and diseases • Extreme events, disturbance
- 16. 2. How is this particular place vulnerable to climate change? REGIONALLY • Less snow, more rain • Risk of summer drought • Rising sea levels • Longer growing season • Changes in habitat for plants and animals • Invasive plants • Forest pests and diseases • Extreme events, disturbance LOCALLY @ NORCROSS • Extreme precipitation • Common northern species, such as maple, birch, and beech are likely to experience greater stress • Oak-hickory forest species may have increased habitat
- 17. 3. What challenges or opportunities does climate change present?
- 18. 3. What challenges or opportunities does climate change present? CHALLENGES: • Increased risk of extreme precipitation events threatens infrastructure and water quality • Interactions among climate change and forest health issues (e.g., hemlock wooly adelgid) reduce habitat for some species • Uncertainty of future impacts creates additional challenges for planning
- 19. 3. What challenges or opportunities does climate change present? CHALLENGES: • Increased risk of extreme precipitation events threatens infrastructure and water quality • Interactions among climate change and forest health issues (e.g., hemlock wooly adelgid) reduce habitat for some species • Uncertainty of future impacts creates additional challenges for planning OPPORTUNITIES : • Managing for diversity and natural processes allows managers to work with extreme events and other disturbances • Climate change provides another lens with which to evaluate stewardship actions
- 20. 3. What challenges or opportunities does climate change present?
- 21. 4. What actions can help systems adapt to change?
- 22. 4. What actions can help systems adapt to change? Same actions– climate change just makes them that much more important Small “tweaks” that improve effectiveness New & different actions to consider, even some that may seem wild & crazy *individual results will vary Adaptation actions are designed to specifically address climate change impacts and vulnerabilities.
- 23. 4. What actions can help systems adapt to change? Thinning: Favor mast-producing species, increase diversity Improve growth & health of remaining trees
- 24. 4. What actions can help systems adapt to change? Retain: Den trees, snags, coarse woody debris for habitat Protect: Establish riparian wetland reserve
- 25. 4. What actions can help systems adapt to change? Infrastructure Replace undersized culverts and bridges
- 26. 4. What actions can help systems adapt to change?
- 27. 5. How can you know whether those actions were effective?
- 28. 5. How can you know whether those actions were effective? NORCROSS MONITORING • Use forest inventory to evaluate site • After harvest • Again 5 and 10 years after harvest
- 29. Wildlife habitat conservation Climate- informedForest stewardship Putting it together: Folded Hills Forest
- 30. Scaling up for landscape impact
- 31. Who owns most of the land?
- 32. Connecting with Norcross’ neighbors
- 33. How do we engage family and individual landowners? 1.Find out what they think, what they care about, and what they need. 2.Equip professionals to work one-on-one.
- 34. 1. Find out what they think…
- 35. Artwork by Michael Sloan
- 36. 1. …what they care about… Early bud break Wash-outs Extreme weather Moisture stress
- 37. 1. …what they care about… Protecting and improving wildlife habitat is an important reason family woodland owners own their land (85%) and a large majority of them are concerned about the loss of wildlife habitat (77%) and want to take steps to protect it.
- 38. 1. …and what they need.
- 39. 2. Equip professionals to work one-on-one. • Day-long training • Tools for foresters and visits
- 40. Lessons from My MassConn Woods
- 41. My MassConn Woods Regional initiative focused on landowner outreach for conservation & forest management since 2013
- 42. MassConn Sustainable Forest Partnership
- 44. The MassConn RCP: • 38 Towns in Ct. and Ma. • 760,000 acres • 76% of the region, 581,000 acres, is forested • 23% is currently protected (177,000 acres) 2012 Conservation Goals: • 80,000 acres of new conservation land – which with current conservation land, would be 256,000 acres, or 33% of the region. MassConn = 1 of 42 Regional Conservation Partnerships (RCPs) MassConn Goal: 80,000 acres of new conservation land – (33% of region) Wildlands & Woodlands Goal: 30 million acres by 2060 – (70% of New England)
- 45. Targeting Outreach • Heat map: Ecological Priorities – Red = top 20% • Tool for strategic landowner outreach: Using GIS data to pull mailing list for forester visit offers from high ranking parcel ownerships
- 46. Engaging Owners Over Time • First phase: landowner audience research (surveys, focus groups) • “Touched” all landowners of 10+ acres in 10-town pilot region at least once, before expanding to all 38 towns • Creating a pipeline of repeated engagement – events, email tips & offers for information or experts … There when they need us! • About 400 landowners owning >10,000 acres responded to 1 or more offers or attended event
- 47. Wildlife Conservation Society grant 2016-2017 • Engaging private landowners through forester parcel visits & demonstration site walks • Social marketing to help owners adopt practices to keep their woods healthy & resilient Joined by New Partners: • Norcross Wildlife Sanctuary • Northern Institute of Applied Climate Science
- 48. 2016 – Free Forester Visit Offers • Direct mail to 613 MA, 424 CT owners of 30+ acres across all 38 towns in regional partnership
- 49. Recruiting the messengers • NEFF dispatches the trained foresters to schedule the visits • AFF reimburses them from the grant • Follow-up packets and email or phone calls – referral to right resource Multiple tiers of communication - Messaging to key stakeholders: • Foresters • Landowners • Land trusts
- 50. Healthy Woods Extreme Weather Wildlife Let’s talk climate change... What messages resonate? Wildlife friendly woods, today and into the future
- 51. Early Results Goal = 500 acres under climate- informed management To Date: • Engaging landowners owning 3,000 acres • ~40 parcel visits conducted by 6 trained consulting foresters • 47 forest resilience info packets to 2016 non-responders Next steps: • Individualized support for a dozen owners who want to pursue federal cost-share funding, implement on-the- ground practices
- 52. MassConn Hand-raisers (by mailing address) MassConn Info and Expert Requests 2014-17 Legend Green = Expert Requests Blue = Information Requests
- 53. Owner A - 29 acres Woodstock, CT Forester Recommended: Continue to remove invasives, replace with natives (protect soil, H2O) Thin, release crop/mast trees (prepare for weather; promote strong trees) Release white pine regeneration (promote diversity of tree species) Goals: • Donate land to abutting town park • Manage for recreation, wildlife, pollinator habitat Considerations for Your Woodlot
- 54. Visit Follow-Up – Supporting Actions on the Land • Forester completed 8-hour adaptation workbook • Climate planning incorporated into management plan • Applying to NRCS for invasives treatment, habitat practices
- 55. Harvest & Habitat Walks at Norcross Sanctuary Folded Hills Forest 40-acre management site August 2016 Whaleback Ridge Forest 20-acre harvest site May 2016
- 56. • 3-years through June 2020 to old & new partners • Complete MassConn outreach, identify new demo sites in key CT & MA landscapes OUTCOMES: • Prioritize parcels that rank high for TNC Climate Resilience • Train 25 more CT & MA foresters • Adaptation assessments on 2500 acres; 50 owners with management plan or added climate component What next? New Forest Service Grant!
- 57. Conclusions • We can manage for climate change – and our other objectives. • Families and individuals provide tremendous opportunity for landscape-scale impact. • We can reach and engage this critical ownership audience – even on complex issues like climate.
- 58. Considering how climate change may fit into your work?
- 59. Interested in climate change planning? … CONTACT US! Maria Janowiak, Northern Institute of Applied Climate Science: mjanowiak02@fs.fed.us Christine Cadigan, American Forest Foundation: CCadigan@forestfoundation.org Lisa Hayden, New England Forestry Foundation: 978-952-6854, Ext. 121 lhayden@NewEnglandForestry.org Want to talk climate outreach?
Editor's Notes
- 5:35 Question 1. Where are you and what do you care about? Think about a place you care about OPTION TO INTRODUCE HANDOUT EXERCISE EARLY – BY IDENTIFYING 2 OR 3 REAL PLACES TO USE THE WORKSHEET… MAYBE PLANT SEED OF HOW IT’S RELEVANT TO THEM?
- 5:35 Question 1. Where are you and what do you care about? Think about a place you care about OPTION TO INTRODUCE HANDOUT EXERCISE EARLY – BY IDENTIFYING 2 OR 3 REAL PLACES TO USE THE WORKSHEET… MAYBE PLANT SEED OF HOW IT’S RELEVANT TO THEM?
- 5:35 Question 1. Where are you and what do you care about?
- 5:35 Question 1. Where are you and what do you care about?
- Dan’s statement: “I am incorporating certain climate change adaptation strategies that are compatible with wildlife habitat conservation. In so doing I hope to demonstrate useful practices to foresters, land management professionals and other private woodland owners from throughout the MassConn region. Scientific and technical assistance for this endeavor is being provided by the US Forest Service Northern Institute of Applied Climate Science.”
- 7:15 Question 5. How can you know whether these actions were effective? Pose this question to audience. Discuss for ~5 minutes. Then talk about Norcross example (next)
- Alarmed are your low-hanging fruit. They want to take action now and will be most interested in preparing their land. For the next 2, need to make it real to them. They have slightly differing opinions that’s it happening or why, and aren’t sure how it will affect them. Concerned: The Concerned are convinced that global warming is happening, although they are less certain than the Alarmed. They are distinctly less involved with the issue than the Alarmed, yet they still have high levels of concern. Most of the Concerned believe there is a scientific consensus that global warming is happening, and overwhelmingly say human activities are the cause of the problem. They are less likely to view global warming as personally threatening or happening here and now than the Alarmed, but still distinctly more than members of the other four segments. Cautious: The majority of the Cautious say they believe that global warming is occurring, but this belief is relatively weak, with the majority saying they could easily change their minds. They haven’t thought much about global warming, and do not view it as personally important. Almost half, however, say that they do worry about the issue. They perceive themselves as having some information on global warming, but not as being very well informed. About half believe it has human causes, and over a third believe that scientists disagree a great deal on the topic. They do not perceive it as being dangerous to themselves or to other people alive today, but expect greater harm to future generations and to plant and animal species. At this point, you’ve addressed and engaged 75% of the population. 3. The Disengaged: They need more information—they don’t have time to think about these problems and need help figuring out why they are worth knowing about. The central distinguishing feature of the Disengaged is their lack of knowledge or opinions about global warming – as many as 100 percent of this group respond “I don’t know” to a range of questions about global warming, and most say they have given the issue little thought or attention. The majority say they don’t know whether global warming is occurring 4. The Doubtful: They disagree on the causes, but may agree that they’ve seen conditions change—they just don’t think these conditions will affect them—can you provide an example. The Doubtful are almost evenly split between those who believe that global warming is happening, those who don’t, and those who don’t know. They tend to believe that global warming is not personally relevant, or much of a threat to people in general. They are also more likely to say that global warming is caused by natural changes in the environment. 5. Dismissive probably won’t come around unless they are told to do so.
- Day-long training for foresters and woodland professionals covered local climate effects and adaptation responses 100% of foresters surveyed found this training useful Fact sheets for foresters Consider forester companion piece: “field” cheat sheet to adaptation workbook Landowner Leave-Behind Check List: “Considerations for Your Woodlot” Site-specific climate-informed practices for the MassConn Woods region 100% foresters surveyed found landowner activity checklist useful Landowner Fact Sheet: “Keeping Your Woods Healthy Through the Years Ahead” Companion fact sheet for landowners – translated into simpler language Reminder post-visit, opportunity to follow-up
- Road-testing outreach tactics in a key landscape where we can contribute to results and support regional conservation priorities
- MassConn includes 38 towns straddling the CT/MA border – sandwiched between urban / suburban sprawl zones. MassConn has done a strategic conservation plan, identifying high-priority lands for conservation with a current goal of conserving or protecting as working woodlands roughly 33% of the region, or just over 14 million acres of land.
- Location of the MassConn Region – overlaps with parts of “The Last Green Valley” – a national heritage corridor – This satellite view shows darker skies at night reflecting the relatively undeveloped region of Eastern CT north to the Quabbin Reservoir region in central MA. This green swath functions as an extended north/south wildlife corridor; with very large, relatively unfragmented forest blocks in the towns along the state border. 76% of the RCP is in Forest Cover – 581,000 acres – about 26% is currently protected.
- Wildlands & Woodlands – is a science-based study & vision for the future of New England by Harvard Forest that calls for both managed woodlands (63%) and wildland reserves (7%) to be conserved as forest for a total of 30 million acres by 2060. NEFF has adopted its Heart of New England initiative to help attain the Wildlands & Woodlands vision with Landowner Outreach one important pillar of this work.
- Cox funded MassConn Mapper to pair with outreach and communications tools. Properties that fall within these zones are priorities for conservation.
- The partners had been doing outreach with more general messaging about conservation & forest management for about four years in this landscape before broaching the climate conversation – and actually completed a series of five mailing campaigns with different calls to action … Owners can opt in to twice-monthly Email-updates: ~ 200 responders signed up to receive Tips, and invitations to local events (Open rates 33% - 53%) MassConn had already developed some relationships with large landowners – through a Woodland Ambassador program – and previous circuit rider visits from partner land trusts and foresters.
- Tri-fold mailers; business reply permit; postage paid return cards – with email & phone contact options
- We sought to identify and recruit foresters who walk the walk in their work, respecting owners’ goals, managing for the long-term health of the land. Licensed professionals who practice sustainable – or what NEFF calls “exemplary forestry” (protecting soil, water and promoting species diversity) are often already asking the kinds of questions that will lead them to good decisions regarding a climate-altered future. Adaptive management entails allowing for uncertainty – keeping options open. The team held small meetings and conference calls with the foresters before campaigns launched – and followed up to de-brief, review & improve the process.
- Through responses & message testing at events, the team found wildlife routinely performs well. Especially among larger acreage owners, family legacy can also be effective. In CT & MA, a large proportion of our owners fit into the Retreat owner segment – As TELE has shown, when you message effectively to one targeted segment, you also reach some others – because you are addressing real concerns and barriers. In MassConn, we’ve also had good success with absentee owners and working the land folks. “Ensure that future generations of your family can enjoy your woods.” “Don’t let your woods become a casualty to extreme weather.” When owners remember first-hand experiences, this can be a subject for common ground. For example, when tree branches broke under snow weight in an early season October snow storm, for example, this became a shared experience when communities had extended power outages. When the foresters are on site – it’s often a subtle climate message – how climate may amplify existing stressors – or how their goals might be affected by future conditions.
- This chart represents a series of direct mail campaigns with a variety of calls to action and offers – using Business Response Mail permit and pre-paid post cards – some visits also came from event sign-ups and word of mouth: Includes all campaigns from beginning of project – blue info responders; green – experts or professionals dispatched for visits
- Everything from barberry to bittersweet – invasives were one of the prime stressors on this property.
- These pictures are from a site walk led by the owners, who are passionate about this place, and the forester who did their visit and has just completed their forest management plan, for which they have been approved for federal funding support.
- Demonstration walks were held at Norcross sanctuary to see first-hand the harvest sites: Norcross conducted a moderate-intensity crown thinning on 40 acres at the Folded Hills Forest and a light- intensity crown thinning (the stand visited for Maria's field workshop). A clearcut/shelterwood harvest was completed on 20 acres of Whaleback Ridge.
- Core Partners: NEFF, AFF, MassConn, CT DEEP, NIACS with support of MA DCR, LGV, Norcross Landscape Scale Restoration – (State & Private)
- Cross promoting interest in conservation and forestry… for some owners who really want to avoid having their land developed – but they need income – or have heirs – outreach about stewardship and more active management can keep the conversation going until they can be connected with appropriate funding sources.