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Land and Energy Conservation Toolbox Land and Energy Conservation Toolbox

Maine State Conservation Center
The Maine State Conservation Center is the flagship website for StateConservation.org with the purpose of providing a comprehensive menu of conservation services and support for private landowners interested in sustainably managing the natural resources and open space on their land.

With additional funding, more states will be added to StateConservation.org. This will help to empower a nationwide network of citizen stewards with tools and resources to support wildlife habitat, open space, ecological and economic health, and energy efficiency. Providing the private landowner with conservation and estate planning information is a necessity to help maintain our nation's rural heritage as well as its ecological and economic sustainability. Visit the site

Farm and Ranch Alternative Enterprise and Agritourism Resource Evaluation Guide

This guide is designed to assist farmers and ranchers in taking the first step in identifying alternative enterprises and agritourism opportunities on their farm or ranch. It is designed to provide a basic understanding of how the interaction of soil, water, animals, plants, air, and human resources, and the conservation of them, provide opportunities for the development of alternative enterprises and agritourism. Changing to a new enterprise involves different production techniques, processing methods, and marketing activities.

This is an interactive web-based tool based on the NRCS publication Taking the First Step: Farm and Ranch Alternative Enterprise and Agritourism Resource Evaluation Guide dated January 2004 on the NRCS website here It is a database driven application that allows users to collect and store the information for each farmer's and rancher's assessment of their natural, family, and community resources.

The tool can be accessed here: resourcesfirstfoundation.org/aea/

Find ACF Foresters
The Association of Consulting Foresters of America, Inc. (ACF) was founded in 1948 to advance the professionalism, ethics, and interests of professional foresters whose primary work was consulting to the public. The ACF is the only national association for consulting foresters. Currently, there are more than 675 members in 38 states and 1 Canadian province.

ACF members operate in corporations, partnerships, and sole proprietorships with 1 to 100+ employees. Many are general foresters while others have professional specialties within forestry. Clients include landowners, forest industries, investment & financial industries, attorneys, government agencies, bankers, trusts, Native American corporations, and many others. Many operate within their own localities, while others consult worldwide.


CE Paragraph Databank
Ann Taylor Schwing is generously donating her time to manage the Conservation Easement Paragraph Databank. The CEPD is a growing document of leagal language used for drafting conservation easements. She looking to build a catalog of language that covers most, if not all, conditions covered in easements that have been drafted. The CEPD document is available for download and use on her firm's website here.

The CEPD is a work in progress assembled by the Stanford Conservation and Climate Change Drafting Committee and a number of CE professionals assisting in the work. Additional paragraphs will be added as they become available, and existing paragraphs will be edited or commentary added when reasons to do so become apparent.

Ann is requesting that users send any additional paragraphs and material to be added to the commentary and, most important, any corrections or qualifications that need to be added. With the help of Stanford Conservation and Climate Change Drafting Committee, and other conservation easement professionals, she hopes to be incorporating new and corrected material weekly so that the CEPD can become a more valuable tool for the land trust community.

Please send your comments and additions to Ann.

Please note: The CEPD is also not legal advice; various paragraphs conflict and many would be inappropriate to specific circumstances or under the law of particular States.

Check out the CEPD here


Learn About Conservation Districts
For over 65 years, conservation districts have worked in partnership with state and federal agencies and private organizations to deliver conservation assistance to private landowners nationwide. There are nearly 3000 conservation districts--one in almost every county. Now expanded to serve all the conservation needs of our nation, districts educate and help local citizens conserve land, water, forests, wildlife and other natural resources.Learn More »

Find your local Cooperative Extension office
The cooperative extension service is designed to help people use research based knowledge to improve their land. Administered through thousands of county extension offices, extension brings land-grant expertise to the most local of levels in affiliation with the state's designated land-grant universities.
Learn More »
Wildlife Action Plans
For the following states, we have read through their complete wildlife action plans and have pulled out the information that is directly applicable to private landowners. Click on the state's name below to link to a synopsis of thier plan.

California Wildlife Action Plan synopsis
Iowa Wildlife Action Plan synopsis
Maine Wildlife Action Plan synopsis
Mississippi Wildlife Action Plan synopsis
Nebraska Wildlife Action Plan synopsis
Texas Wildlife Action Plan synopsis

Find Your State's Complete Wildlife Action Plan
Find Your State's Wildlife Action PlanClick a state on the map to link to that state's Wildlife Action Plan.
Select a State

Climate Change, Carbon Management, and Green Resources
We are starting to provide listings of resources that will help you investigate your options and identify people or companies that can help you with your goals relating to sequestering carbon on your land, minimizing your carbon footprint, alternative energy options, and green building resources.
Take a look through some innovative energy saving / green products.
Find Green building professionals in your area.
Find Lawyers specializing in Climate Change

Katrina Reforestation Outreach Program
PLN, Wildlife Mississippi, The Longleaf Alliance, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Alabama Forest Resources Center, and Tara Wildlife have joined together to help forest landowners in the hurricane ravaged gulf states replant the 19 billion board feet of timber spread over five million acres in Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama. The Katrina Reforestation Outreach Program provides you with information about federal assistance programs designed to help pay the costs for the clean-up and salvage efforts and replanting. The KROP will connect you with forestry professionals, consultants, nurseries, seedling suppliers, and local experts to help you plan for and execute your reforestation efforts. Learn More about KROP


U.S. Drought Monitor
The National Drought Mitigation Center, in conjunction with the USDA, DOC, and NOAA, produce the national drought monitor. Click here to learn more.








Energy Conservation Awareness Tools from the NRCS

Use online "energy estimator" tools to make energy-efficient conservation practice decisions. The NRCS has developed four on-line tools to help farmers and ranchers estimate the use and costs of their agricultural operations.
Read More »
Try the Tillage tool
Try the Nitrogen tool
Try the Irrigation tool
Try the Animal Housing tool

Find Maps and Aerial Photos
Enter a ZIPcode
or
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Some articles from the Library to get you started

Conservation Easement Quiz
So you think you already know everything there is to know about conservation easements? Take the Conservation Easement Quiz and test your knowledge!

Basic Steps to Conveying a Conservation Easement
How does one go about donating or selling a conservation easement? There is no one right way to go about it. Find out more»

Tax Aspects of Donating Land or Conservation Easements
Are you looking for a summary of the tax savings that are available to private landowners who donate conservation properties. See some hypothetical examples of how much one couple could save.

Bundle Of Rights Approach To Value
In the appraisal of real estate, it is important to distinguish between real estate and real property. The bundle of rights theory maintains that ownership of a parcel of real estate may embrace a great many rights, such as the right to its occupancy and use. Find out more»

Conservation Easement Questions and Answers
Landscapes protected from development provide, at the very least, scenic pleasure to the myriad of residents and visitors each year in perpetuity. Find out more»

Tools For Reducing High Property Taxes in Maine
Many owners of real estate in coastal Maine are facing dramatic increases in their property taxes, read this article to learn about some easy ways to reduce one’s real estate tax liabilities. Find out more»

Search our Partner Database of Conservation Success Stories
What is Cooperative Conservation America? CCA is a public forum for collecting and sharing the cooperative conservation stories, lessons, models and achievements of all Americans. It provides citizen conservationists from every walk of life an opportunity to contribute to, and learn from, a common pool of conservation knowledge, tools, and practices – a cumulative and evolving database of information that will advance citizen stewardship, foster community-based conservation, encourage and support the vital role of private lands and landowners, and expand and strengthen shared governance in the care and conservation of America’s lands, waters, and wildlife.

Search the Cooperative Conservation Database

View a sampling of Success stories

 

Hawaii Wildlife Action Plan Alaska Wildlife Action Plan California Wildlife Action Plan Oregon Wildlife Action Plan Washington Wildlife Action Plan Nevada Wildlife Action Plan Arizona Wildlife Action Plan Utah Wildlife Action Plan Idaho Wildlife Action Plan New Mexico Wildlife Action Plan Colorado Wildlife Action Plan Wyoming Wildlife Action Plan Montana Wildlife Action Plan Texas Wildlife Action Plan Oklahoma Wildlife Action Plan Kansas Wildlife Action Plan Nebraska Wildlife Action Plan South Dakota Wildlife Action Plan North Dakota Wildlife Action Plan Louisiana Wildlife Action Plan Arkansas Wildlife Action Plan Missouri Wildlife Action Plan Iowa Wildlife Action Plan Minnesota Wildlife Action Plan Mississippi Wildlife Action Plan Alabama Wildlife Action Plan Tennessee Wildlife Action Plan Georgia Wildlife Action Plan Illinois Wildlife Action Plan Wisconsin Wildlife Action Plan Florida Wildlife Action Plan Kentucky Wildlife Action Plan Indiana Wildlife Action Plan Michigan Wildlife Action Plan Ohio Wildlife Action Plan South Carolina Wildlife Action Plan North Carolina Wildlife Action Plan Virginia Wildlife Action Plan Puerto Rico Wildlife Action Plan West Virginia Wildlife Action Plan Maryland Wildlife Action Plan Pennsylvania Wildlife Action Plan New York Wildlife Action Plan Delaware Wildlife Action Plan New Jersey Wildlife Action Plan New York Wildlife Action Plan Connecticut Wildlife Action Plan Rhode Island Wildlife Action Plan Massachusetts Wildlife Action Plan Vermont Wildlife Action Plan New Hampshir Wildlife Action Plan Maine Wildlife Action Plan Washington DC Wildlife Action Plan
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