Private Landowner Network: The Internet destination for conservation information, resources and contacts.

    Search Options
PLN Blog the PLN Blog
Home | Help | Why PLN | Support PLN | Read our current newsletter
Land and Energy Conservation Toolbox Land and Energy Conservation Toolbox
Print Page E-mail Page Newsletter Sign-up Add Article to PLN Add Me to PLNPLN FeedbackBookmark and Share

A Working Forest Check out this website and get yourself a DVD video produced by Robert R. Williams CF, RPF Our world’s forests and forestry itself, are at a crossroads. As we enter the second decade of the 21st century, it is essential the larger populous begin to understand the importance of the stewardship of our forest resources.

The world’s forests remain under siege, and their ecological and economic integrity are both at risk. This siege is relentless, and is coming from both extremes. Wealthy countries such as the United States are loving many of their forests to death with a lack of active stewardship, while poorer nations are physically destroying their forests simply to survive or export their forest products to the rich countries.

In the bigger picture, the decisions being made with regard to protecting the world’s forest resources are not being made by trained forest ecologists, professional foresters or biologists. The future of forest resources is now in the hands of a global, political and social structure that has little understanding of forests and their critical importance to the world’s survival.

This issues dealing with the world’s forests are complex with no simple answers, yet our working forests are speaking to us every day, and we need to start listening.


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


Built in partnership with the Mississippi Wildlife Foundation with a grant from the Walton Family Foundation. RFF created the Mississippi Conservation Center to address the conservation needs of Mississippi’s private landowners. Connecting people to conservation, this website is designed to support the agricultural and forest sectors, help keep families on their farms, ranches and forests, through passing generations, and keep the land healthy and sustainably productive. Visit the site


RFF created the California Conservation Center to address the conservation needs of California’s private landowners. Connecting people to conservation, this website is designed to support the agricultural and forest sectors, help keep families on their farms, ranches and forests, through passing generations, and keep the land healthy and sustainably productive Visit the site


Built with a grant from the Walton Family Foundation. RFF created the Arkansas State Conservation Center to address the conservation needs of Arkansas’s private landowners. Connecting people to conservation, this website is designed to support the agricultural and forest sectors, help keep families on their farms, ranches and forests, through passing generations, and keep the land healthy and sustainably productive. Visit the site


The National Conservation Easement Database (NCED) is the first national database of conservation easement information, compiling records from land trusts and public agencies throughout the United States. Voluntary and secure, the NCED respects landowner privacy and will not collect landowner names or sensitive information. This public-private partnership brings together national conservation groups, local and regional land trusts, and state and federal agencies around a common objective. The NCED provides a comprehensive picture of the estimated 40 million acres of privately-owned conservation easement lands, recognizing their contribution to America’s natural heritage, a vibrant economy, and healthy communities. Visit the site



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/

The Agricultural Marketing Resource Center is an electronic, national resource for producers interested in value-added agriculture. The site works to provide unbiased, science-based marketing information for U.S. farmers and ranchers. There is information related to commodities and products, market and industry trends, business creation and operation, research results and value-added resources.

This site is an on-going project of the Iowa State University and partially funded by USDA Rural Development.
Check it out here:Agricultural Marketing Resource Center (AgMRC)


The Value Added Agriculture Program at the Iowa State Extension has created a website to help educate Iowa farmers in agritourism opportunities and to promote agritourism to potential tourists of Iowa farms.

The site offers listings of over 300 farms in Iowa grouped by Type of Services, Regions, and Amenities offered.

Additionally there is information on agritourism for producers such as;

  • Producer Regulations
  • Business and Marketing Planning
  • Legal Considerations
  • Linked Resources
  • Training Resources


Ties to the LandDeveloped at Oregon State University, the TIES TO THE LAND succession planning program can help families all across the nation communicate better about what to do with their property and how best to get it done.

Communication may be the difference between an estate plan, which directs the transfer of assets, and a succession plan that helps transfer, from one generation to the next, the vision, the passion and the skills needed to be stewards of the land.

TIES TO THE LAND is a project funded and developed in Oregon, but they designed the curriculum with the intent that it be broadly relevant. Yes, tax laws and other rules and regulations are specific to a place, but family dynamics are universal.

TIES TO THE LAND is a collaborative project of Oregon State University Forestry Extension, the Austin Family Business Program at Oregon State University, the Oregon State University Forestry Media Center, and the Oregon Forest Resources Institute with assistance of members of the Oregon Tree Farm System and Oregon Small Woodlands Association and others.
Meet the development team that created TIES TO THE LAND

Check out samples of the curriculum here

The Downstream Project The mission of The Downstream Project is to promote natural resource conservation by stimulating awareness, action and alliances through visual arts and technology.

Our Focus Our Project focus is to increase awareness of environmental issues at local and regional levels and how they cumulatively affect us globally. As the saying goes “we all live downstream.” And in the words of TDP founder George Ohrstrom "the hope is that people will educate themselves and stand up and become a voice for downstream issues because they are exceedingly important to all of us." Our strength lies in an independent message. A credible voice not swayed by politics or a parent corporation.

Check out their Current Projects. They are actively researching and assessing new Downstream Project opportunities all the time.
The Streamside Livestock Exclusion Project is their latest effort. Here you will find new media resources on the subject of livestock exclusion initiatives designed to preserve freshwater resources and support livestock agriculture.


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.


Check out the new Farm Risk Planning Website
Farm Risk Planning Website Explore your risk management options and access information and tools to help you to better understand areas in your operation where you might have downside risk exposure, and evaluate where you might have upside opportunities. The site provides many links to other websites you can use to investigate resources to help you manage risk and plan for success. They offer some tools and worksheets that will walk you through potential areas of risk and help you evaluate the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) involved in any business enterprise. You can print out the complete the Risk Management Checklist (PDF), and the SWOT Analysis. Working with your family, or business team, these tools can be valuable in assessing vulnerabilities in your operation.
The site is grouped into four sections:
Risk Management Planning Marketing Planning Enterprise Planning Farm Planning


National Woodland Owners Association
National Woodland Owners AssociationThe National Woodland Owners Association (NWOA) is a nationwide organization made up of non-industrial private woodland owners with offices in the Washington DC area. NWOA understands, assists, and brings people together who are stewards of wooded lands and care deeply about the future of forests, forestry and land use.


Fieldprint Calculator
The Fieldprint Calculator is an educational tool designed to help you assess how some of your operational decisions affect overall sustainability performance. We have identified methodologies for estimating the key performance areas at the national level. The Calculator is an easy way to find out how your current land use, energy use, water use, greenhouse gas emissions, and soil loss compare with state and national averages.

The Fieldprint Calculator is a simple tool designed to help you begin to look at how your crop production operations impact the sustainability of your farm. This calculator is directly correlated to Field to Market's national level outcomes indicators for corn, cotton, soy and wheat. It provides general information based on the practices that are mostly likely to influence your energy use, climate impact, soil loss, and water use. They also consider your land use with respect to your level of productivity associated with the amount of acres in production. Future versions will include modules that factor in impacts to water quality and biodiversity as well.

Why is this a trial version?
These are complex topics, and we would like to get growers' feedback on what information and comparisons will be most helpful to them. Using that feedback we will continue to add information and functionality to the tool. Also, the calculator is incomplete as it does not have metrics to reflect the impact different practices have on water quality or biodiversity. As the Field to Market Alliance defines these metrics at the national level, they will be added to future versions of the calculator. Further, there are areas where scientists are evaluating the relationships between agricultural practices and environmental outcomes. For example, there is a recent debate on how much carbon is stored in conventional tillage systems. At this time, the calculator only assigns credit for no-tillage systems, and refinements will be made as additional studies are published. Check it out »

This site offers advice on how to save money by saving energy. Learn proven tips that cost nothing to implement and require very little lifestyle change that have the potential of cutting your electric bill significantly. For the more energy conscious homeowner, there are discussions on more advanced topics like residential wind power, home solar energy, and low energy lighting. Be green and save green!
Take me there »


Find a BioDiesel retail location in your area
Biodiesel is a clean-burning replacement for petroleum diesel that can be used in virtually any diesel engine without modification. Biodiesel is produced from a variety of domestically available, renewable sources including vegetable oil, biomass (such as wood chips) and animal fats. It acts like diesel fuel, but produces fewer harmful emissions, is biodegradable and nontoxic, and is safer to use the diesel fuel.

Find a biodiesel retail location in your area »



CE Paragraph Databank
Ann Taylor Schwing is generously donating her time to manage the Conservation Easement Paragraph Databank.
This Databank 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.

The Databank assumes its users are knowledgeable and thoughtful conservation easement professionals or volunteers. It is not a teaching text. Instead, it offers source material and ideas, sometimes conflicting and inconsistent ideas, that may be appropriate to adapt into particular conservation easements in certain circumstances. The Databank is also not legal advice; various paragraphs conflict and many would be inappropriate to specific circumstances or under the law of particular States.

The Databank has been updated and expanded.

Please continue to send corrections, additions and suggestions to Ann Taylor Schwing.
If you wish to run comparisons or see the original version,

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 »


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

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


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

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

 

California Nevada Oregon Washington Hawaii Alaska Arizona New Mexico Colorado Utah Wyoming Idaho Montana Texas Oklahoma Kansas Nebraska South Dakota North Dakota Louisiana Arkansas Missouri Iowa Minnesota Illinois Wisconsin Mississippi Alabama Tenneessee Kentucky Indiana Michigan Ohio Florida Georgia South Carolina North Carolina West Virginia Virginia District of Columbia Maryland Pennsylvania Delaware New Jersey New York Connecticut Rhode Island Massachusetts Vermont New Hampshire Maine
Print Page Print PageE-mail Page E-mail PageNewsletter Sign up Newsletter Sign-upAdd Article Add Article to PLNAdd Me Add Me to PLNFeedbackPLN Feedback
Affiliated Sites:
Conservation Tax CenterConservation Tax Center Cooperative Conservation AmericaCooperative Conservation America Maine Conservation CenterMaine Conservation Center Houston Intra-MetHouston Intra-Met California Conservation CenterCalifornia Conservation Center Mississippi Conservation CenterMississippi Conservation Center Arkansas Conservation CenterArkansas Conservation Center Resources First FoundationResources First Foundation
Home | PLN Help | Why PLN | Contact | Support PLN Find Resources
Terms of Use | Privacy Policy
©2006 Private Landowner Network. All rights reserved.