A SUCCESSFUL PUBLIC-PRIVATE CONSERVATION

PARTNERSHIP

Jens C. Hilke

Integrating natural resource and transportation agencies into the Staying

Connected InitiativeVT Fish & Wildlife

Department

Today Vermont Is 80% Forested

81% of Land in Vermont Is Private.

Climate Change Forecasts

From Union of Concerned Scientists – Confronting Climate Change in the Northeast (NECIA 2007)

Current: Temperatures have increased 1.8°F since 1970, with winter rising faster.

Projected: Average temperatures are projected to rise 9°F to 13° F in winter by late-century.

Current: Precipitation has increased 15-20% over the past 50 years with 67% of this falling in heavy precipitation events.

Projected: Winter precipitation will increase on the order of 20-30% with less snow - more rain.

Projected: Short-term summer droughts are projected to occur 2x as often

Map: Progress Report of the Interagency Climate Change Adaptation Task Force: Recommended Actions in Support of a National Climate Change Adaptation Strategy, October 5, 2010.

Changes in Precipitation

Connecting the Blocks

Mansfield

Worcester

Groton

West Mountai

n

Stannard

Laraway

Landscape Scale

EcoRegional Vision to Local Implementation

Connectivity at Multiple Scales

Regional

Local

Many ways of moving forward

Range of options

No one tool is right for every landowner or town

Byl

aws

Tow

n Pl

an

Zon

ing

Educ

atio

n &

O

utre

ach

Municipal

Inve

ntor

y

Con

serv

atio

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an

Land

Ac

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ition

Land

owne

r

Man

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ent

deci

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Man

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Agr

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Ince

ntiv

e Pr

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Con

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on

Ease

men

ts

Educ

atio

nLandowner

Staying Connected

Linkage Areas

• Greens to Adirondacks

• Greens to Taconics• North Greens• Worcesters to

KingdomBlue = SCI Linkage Area BoundariesRed = Structural Pathways

Primary Strategies

Conservation Science

Land-Use Planning

Road Barrier Mitigation

Land Protection

• Structural Connectivity Modeling

• Functional Connectivity Analysis

• Roadside Tracking• Tech. assistance on town plans & bylaws

• Work with Regional Planning Commissions

• Outreach and Education• Providing science to Transportation Agencies

• Project Review (FWD)• Identification of problem

infrastructure• Retrofits• New targets – roadsides &

connecting land• Adding on to core habitats• Landscape Scale

Convergent Strategies?

Transportation Case Study• Significant Investment in over-

sizing a box culvert to allow for deer movement to wintering ground

• Subsequent residential development (In accordance with Town Plan and Zoning)

Coordination at Multiple Scales

Maine Audubon Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and

Wildlife Maine Department of Transportation National Wildlife Federation New Hampshire Audubon New Hampshire Department of

Transportation New Hampshire Fish and Game Department New York Department of Transportation New York Department of Environmental

Conservation Northeast Wilderness Trust The Nature Conservancy (NY, VT, NH, and

ME) Trust for Public Land Tug Hill Commission Tug Hill Tomorrow Land Trust Two Countries, One Forest Vermont Agency of Transportation Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife Vermont Land Trust Vermont Natural Resource Council Wildlands Network Wildlife Conservation Society (Adirondacks)

Local Collaboration

Place-Based

Conservation science

• GIS modeling• Sharing Information

• Interpreting Results (unified data and results)

Partners• Two Countries

One Forest• The Nature

Conservancy (ME, NH, VT, NY & TNC Canada

• Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department

• Wildlands network

Land protection

• 79 permanent land protection projects (more than 288,000 acres)

• Ten projects covering more than 43,000 additional acres (pending)

Partners• The Nature

Conservancy • Trust for Public Land• Vermont Land Trust• The Conservation Fund• Northeast Wilderness

Trust• Vermont Fish &

Wildlife Department

Land Use Planning

• 41 communities • Seven regional planning commissions (RPCs)

• 13 towns (5 in works) town plans

• Six zoning and subdivision codes

• One (Three in works) regional plan

• Two new Conservation Commissions;

• One new Conservation Fund.

Partners• Tug Hill

Commission• Wildlife

Conservation Society-Adirondacks

• Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department

• Vermont Natural Resources Council

• The Nature Conservancy

• Wildlands Network

• National Wildlife Federation

• Maine -Beginning with Habitat

Road Permeability• Identified priority

road segments • Wildlife tracking • Data Sharing

Vermont Transportation and Habitat Connectivity Guidance Document

• Rapid assessment models in NY & ME

• Trainings for Agencies of Transportation

• Two Northeast Transportation and Wildlife Conferences.

Partners• Maine Department of Inland

Fisheries and Wildlife• Maine Department of

Transportation• National Wildlife Federation• New Hampshire Department of

Transportation• New Hampshire Fish and Game

Department• New York Department of

Transportation• New York Department of

Environmental Conservation• The Nature Conservancy (NY, VT,

NH, and ME)• Vermont Agency of Transportation• Vermont Department of Fish and

Wildlife• Vermont Natural Resource Council• Wildlands Network

Context for Restoration

Thank You

www.stayingconnectedinitiative.org