setting a course for a sustainable landscape

Setting a Course for a Sustainable Landscape

• Results of efforts to engage the Cultural Resource Stakeholder Community

• Initial work toward integrating cultural resources into LCC work

• Next steps

Common Ground• 89 million acres • Over 18,000 miles of

shoreline– (calculated from the NOAA

Medium Resolution Digital Vector Shoreline

• 92% private land

• Temperature Increase• Sea Level Rise• increase in urban area

– (120% by 2050)

• Visit our website for more info:

www.southatlanticlcc.org

Common Ground in our MissionMission: Create a shared blueprint for landscape conservation actions that sustain natural and cultural resources

Blueprint Definition:An interactive, living plan that describes the places and actions needed to meet the SALCC’s conservation objectives in the face of future change.

Common Ground in Goals• Provide support for partners’ conservation

investment decisions• Facilitate collaboration between interested South

Atlantic partnership organizations to maximize conservation investment

• Promote data integration and sharing of landscape level data sets

• Evaluate and report progress toward creating a South Atlantic blueprint useful to partners

Engaging the Cultural Resource CommunityMet with National Park Service Southeast Region Cultural Resources team.

Held a workshop with State Historic Preservation Offices.

Attended Gullah Geechee Management Plan Roll-out meeting.

Met with the Catawba Indian Nation.

Invited all these organizations to a meeting to report on our engagement efforts and set direction

Proposed Role of the South Atlantic LCCApply and share data about the threats on the landscape.

Promote and educate about the sense of place.

Connect, facilitate, and develop Positive partnerships

(natural+cultural = landscape conservation).

Promote the preservation of traditional ecological knowledge.

Proposed Ways to collaborate

o Form coalitions where important natural and cultural resources come together on the land.

o Bring together outdoor recreation and historic resource tourism.

There should not be a distinction between natural and cultural resources.

Help to Conserve…IMPORTANT CULTURAL LANDSCAPES

Rural Farms

Rice Fields

Battlefields

Longleaf Pine

NATURAL RESOURCES FOR LIVING CULTURES

Clean Water Longleaf

Sweetgrass Clay

Shellfish HuntableSpecies

Some early steps

• Apply and share data about the threats on the landscape to identify cultural resources that are particularly threatened by urbanization, sea level rise, and other risk factors that arise from climate change like wildfire risk.

• Integrated cultural resource data from a diversity of cultures into SALCC conservation planning models.o Density of archaeological siteso Gullah Geechee National Cultural Heritage Corridoro National Register of Historic Places

Recently Completed Project:Threatened Cultural Resources

• Literature Review of how climate change affects cultural resources

• Piloted a predictive model for the state of South Carolina which highlighted both specific cultural resources and geographic areas of the site most threatened by some of the factors of climate change

Next Steps 2013

• Identify and facilitate participation from a broad cultural resources community (State and displaced Tribes, non-profits).

• Develop a cultural resources conservation approach for the Blueprint.

• Work with individual data managers to integrate the Conservation Planning Atlas into existing cultural resource online GIS data sets.

SOCIOECONOMICS

Incorporating Social Vulnerability Into Conservation Planning

30 socioeconomic variables indicating uneven capacity for preparedness and response to hazards

• Race• Wealth• Elderly• Hispanic• Special needs• Native American• Service Industry

Employment

Social Vulnerability Index

Vulnerability

Ecosystem Service ScienceHuman Wellbeing is Directly Related to

Conservation through Four Groups of Ecosystem Services

Four Groups of Ecosystem Services: ● Supporting services (nutrient cycling, soil

formation, primary production)

● Provisioning (food, fresh water, wood and fiber, fuel)

● Regulating (climate regulation, flood regulation, disease regulation, water purification)

● Cultural (aesthetic, spiritual, educational, recreational)

How

are E.S. Related to

Conservation?Ecosyst

emServices

.

Question to Team: How can Ecosystem Services be Used to Further the Mission of the South Atlantic LCC?

• Scienceo Understand links between urban growth, transportation, development, agriculture, and ecosystem services.o Figure out what makes land owners manage responsiblyo Look at equity of distribution of Ecosystem services

• Applicationo Sell water filtration services to municipalities.o Guide prioritization for restoration and conservation.o Define adaptation – the actions that need to be taken.o Use Ecosystem Services to drive planning and policy frameworks, determine how to integrate ES into current processes.o Develop information database about ongoing ES projects in SALCC.o Local Planning for best use of resources.

• Promote Conservation Investmento Use recreation to sell conservationo Promote property values (2)o Make transparent the value of natural resources to our economyo Figure out how to use ecosystem services to facilitate investment in conservation actions coming out of the blueprint.o Influence legislation.o Set up carbon sequestration.o Increase well-being and safety (2)o Stakeholders (Investors?) include: utilities, local governments, planners, Red Cross, FEMA

Next Socioeconomic Team Meeting:Focus on Conservation Investment• Use Ecosystem Services to Promote Conservation

Investment

What are people willing to pay for?

What motivates compatible landuse?

Where do existing investments come from?

How can we generate additional investment?

Conservation Investment Over Time (Acres)NC SC

GA FL

Conservation Investment Over Time (Dollars) NC SC

GA FL

NC

SC

GA

FL

$0

$500

,000,0

00

$1,00

0,000

,000

$1,50

0,000

,000

$2,00

0,000

,000

$2,50

0,000

,000

$3,00

0,000

,000

$3,50

0,000

,000

UnknownStatePrivateLocalFederal

Conservation InvestmentPrivate, Local, and Federal Conservation Investment by State

Acres

Dollars

*No Data Available for VA

NC

SC

GA

FL

0 200,000 400,000 600,000 800,000 1,000,000 1,200,000 1,400,000

UnknownStatePrivateLocalFederal

Conservation InvestmentTypes of Funds for Conservation

Direct Federal Grants

State Directed Federal Grants

Direct Federal Acquisition

Federal conservation easement tax deduction

State conservation tax incentives

$0 $500 $1,000 $1,500 $2,000 $2,500 $3,000

(S.C.)

Millions of Dollars(Annual Snapshot – any

known year 2005 – present)

Relative Funding SourcesSate Directed Federal Grants

Farm and Ranch Lands Protection

Wetlands Reserve Program

Forest Legacy Program

Coastal and Estuarine Lands Conservation Program

National Coastal Wetlands Conservation Grants

North American Wetlands Conservation Act

Urban Park Recreation Recovery Program

Cooperative Endangered Species Conservation Fund

Land and Water Conservation Fund

Transportation Efficiency Act

Clean Water Act

Land and Water Conservation Fund

Migratory Bird Conservation Fund

0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500

Millions of Dollars(Annual Snapshot – any

known year 2005 – present)

Average Annual Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Funds Over Time

0.00 0.50 1.00 1.50 2.00 2.50

Billions of Dollars1994

2000

2013

2014

• Intended to help meet CAA requirements

• Amount is set aside every year

• States have four years to spend it

• If a state accumulates 1.35 billion in their account, ½ can be used for other purposes

Funds may be used for transportation projects likely to contribute to the attainment or maintenance of a national ambient air quality standard, with a high level of effectiveness in reducing air pollution, and be included in the Metropolitan Planning Organization's (MPO's) current transportation plan and transportation improvement program (TIP) or the current state transportation improvement program (STIP)

• Work with Regulators to Plug the holes?

• Demonstrate how conservation mitigates air pollution (ecosystem service)?

Action ?

Action

?

Other Routes to Conservation?

• In depth conversation with Mikki Sager (The Conservation Fund)

o Award winner for demonstrated track record of pairing conservation with economic development in poor rural communities.

Increased Risk of

Development

Short Term

Turn the wheel of poverty by1. Document Traditional Ecological

Knowledge2. Document local ecological assets

(ecosystem services)3. Talk with the community, hear

their ideas4. Work with conservation

organizations to both conserve and promote the local economy

5. Work to restore sustainable small business activities that can be supported by the assets and local knowledge

6. Local wellbeing + land = long term decisionmaking and reduced risk of development

Incorporating Social Vulnerability Into Conservation Planning

30 socioeconomic variables indicating uneven capacity for preparedness and response to hazards

• Race• Wealth• Elderly• Hispanic• Special needs• Native American• Service Industry

Employment

Social Vulnerability Index

Vulnerability

Where does the blueprint overlap with areas with high poverty or high vulnerability?

Other Routes to Conservation?

Increased Risk of

Development

Short Term

Turn the wheel of poverty by1. Document Traditional Ecological

Knowledge2. Document local ecological assets

(ecosystem services)3. Talk with the community, hear

their ideas4. Work with conservation

organizations to both conserve and promote the local economy

5. Work to restore sustainable small business activities that can be supported by the assets and local knowledge

6. Local wellbeing + land = long term decisionmaking and reduced risk of development

Mitigation

• Met with:o Environmental Bank and Exchange (Norton Webster)o Willamette Partnership (Training in Conservation Mitigation)o Wildlands (Wayne White)

o How can the South Atlantic LCC work with the mitigation banking industry?

o Incentivize Collaboration• Streamline approval of banks that meet your priorities.• Provide us with the science or policy that says we can

get more credit for working where you need.

Drinking Water: One Ecosystem Service that’s not Free• Drinking Water is a clear standout for setting up “Payments for Ecosystem Services”

or “conservation investment for clean water” schemes.

o Providing a safe and reliable source of drinking water is a critical concern for all communities across the United States, particularly those confronting rapid population growth and development pressures. As communities experience losses of undeveloped land, they also may be at risk for compromising their water supplies. To address these challenges, communities are turning to a strategy that was popular a century ago – land conservation

• Broad-based public support

• Usually requires partnering between water utilities, local, state, federals, and non-profits

Next Steps

• Present conservation finance data for consideration by the Socioeconomics Team to identify and provide the steering committee.

o Actions to promote conservation financeo Actions to support compatible landuseo Actions to incentivize collaboration with mitigation banks