Author: Site Owner

The therapeutic uses of many forest plant species, such as those pictured above in a local market in central India, are based on generations of experiences by traditional medical practitioners, and represent an important component of traditional forest knowledge. Photo by John Parrotta

People around the world manipulate ecosystems for their own purposes. It’s what you leave behind when you’re finished working or living in the area that determines whether the ecosystem survives or is irreparably harmed for future generations.

For scientists like John Parrotta, national program leader for international science issues with the U.S. Forest Service, knowing what to leave behind is not always found in a college textbook or scientific journal.

“We can do sustainability science better if we learn from traditional ecological knowledge,” Parrotta said. “These knowledge systems typically have different roots than western science. They are more holistic in their thinking.”

Traditional ecological knowledge, or TEK, does not always come from indigenous peoples such as Native American tribes. The sources for this knowledge exists in many rural communities around the globe.

People in many parts of Europe who own forests in addition to farmland have for centuries managed their trees to supply their needs for small timber, fence posts, and firewood as well as to improve wildlife habitat for hunting purposes.

“Most of the agroforestry practiced today throughout the world is rooted in traditional ecological knowledge,” Parrotta said. “Scientists have only recently translated these generations-old insights and practices into scientific language in an effort to promote these sustainable practices more widely”.

An example of agricultural practices that embody the long-range perspectives typical of traditional knowledge holders is the shifting cultivation system used for decades in the mountainous region of northeast India. Farmers there cultivate an area of forest land for a few years before moving on to a new location. Before leaving, they plant a variety of trees and shrubs to prevent erosion and help restore the soil’s nutrients. Years down the road, when they return to the area, the land is in better condition than it would be if they’d just abandoned it.

Traditional ecological knowledge is not just about food. A number of Forest Service scientists have been studying how traditional knowledge can contribute to finding sustainable solutions to pressing forest management and conservation issues. For example Frank Lake, a scientist with the agency’s Pacific Southwest Research Station in California, studies traditional fire-management practices in Oregon and gives practical recommendations to fire managers.

“This is truly innovative work that combines the best of generations-old wisdom and modern forest science,” Parrotta said.

USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service will hold its annual Data Users’ Meeting, followed by a live Twitter #StatChat at 6 p.m. ET on Tuesday, October 18.

As I’ve learned over my years with the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), in order to make an impact, our information needs to meet the needs of the people who use the data we produce. And while we constantly try to gauge and meet their needs, it is imperative to speak to our data users directly to get their input. We are open to feedback all the time and we hold annual special Data Users’ Meeting in Chicago every October.

Of course face-to-face interaction has its limitations since not everyone can travel to Chicago to meet with us. To address this concern, for the first time this year, we are also adding a social media component to our Data Users’ Meeting. Immediately following the panel session at the meeting, from 5 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Central Time, I will be answering questions via Twitter during our monthly #StatChat.

This interaction, both in person and online, affords NASS, as well as other statistical agencies, a unique opportunity to hear how our data are used and how program changes impact various individuals and groups that rely on accurate agricultural statistics. This is also a fantastic platform to find out what additional programs are desired and which programs need to be adjusted to become more useful.

At this year’s meeting, which will be held later today, NASS will be joined by other agencies that work with agricultural statistics, including the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service, Economic Research Service, Farm Service Agency, and the World Agricultural Outlook Board along with the U.S. Census Bureau. As you can imagine, with so many major agricultural data providers at one table, there is a broad range of topics, covering both domestic and international production as well as international trade, to discuss.

For example, one of the key topics I’m looking forward to discussing is the new program focused on the costs of honey bee pollination. This was a highly requested program, which we introduced in January 2016, and I am looking forward to hearing how well it meets the needs and expectations of our data users. NASS is also looking into making changes to our price program. We’re currently testing data collection for fertilizer, chemicals, farm machinery, seed, and feed prices. Publishing these price indexes for farm inputs should be a big step forward in keeping up with the fast changing pace of agriculture in the United States.

I hope meeting both in-person and on Twitter #StatChat will help us strengthen our relationship with all of our data users. I’m looking forward to hearing from you!

Raven’s Nest is one of two ranches that will protect more than 15,000 acres of grassland in southeastern Colorado. Photo by Michael Menefee.

By keeping their grasslands intact, two Colorado ranches are reducing greenhouse gas emissions and protecting vital wildlife habitat, all while earning additional revenue.

It may seem too good to be true, but it is thanks to a unique partnership spearheaded by the Climate Action Reserve, one of North America’s leading carbon offset project registries.

With the help of a Conservation Innovation Grant (CIG) from USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), the Climate Action Reserve listed Raven’s Nest and Heartland Ranch, both owned by the Southern Plains Land Trust (SPLT), as the first two grassland offset projects developed and executed under a new Grassland Project Protocol.

North American grasslands have tremendous potential for storing carbon in healthy soils and biomass, providing a climate-smart conservation solution that halts greenhouse gas emissions.

When grasslands are tilled and converted to croplands, they release large amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide is one of the leading greenhouse gases contributing to global climate change. By not converting their grasslands to cropland, farmers can earn offset credits that can be sold in a carbon market. Under this arrangement, the lands remain working lands and can be grazed as prescribed by a grazing management plan, and the grassland can even be enhanced with additional conservation practices. The only prohibition is that the grasslands cannot be tilled, which would release the carbon stored in the soil.

The grasslands of Heartland Ranch have tremendous potential for storing carbon in healthy soils and biomass. Photo by Nicole Rosmarino.

NRCS is a federal leader in supporting the development of environmental markets, largely through its CIG program.

“Through the CIG program, NRCS leverages environmental markets to achieve our mission of getting more conservation on the ground,” said NRCS Chief Jason Weller. “This partnership with CAR demonstrates how ranchers can keep ranching and benefit from new revenue streams while ensuring that grasslands provide nesting habitat for wildlife, are more resilient to extreme weather, and reduce carbon emissions to the atmosphere.”

Raven’s Nest and Heartland Ranch, with help from The Climate Trust and the Environmental Defense Fund, will protect more than 15,000 acres of grassland, including 2,100 acres that are under threat of being converted to cropland in southeastern Colorado. These acres will generate offset credits that can be sold by the farmers for revenue in the carbon market, and SPLT can continue earning revenue from ranching on the land as prescribed in their grazing management plan. SPLT has plans to enroll an additional 7,600 acres in 2017.

The Conservation Innovation Grant is supporting the development and third-party verification of the grasslands projects, helping farmers and ranchers navigate the mechanics of engaging in carbon markets.

“Protecting grasslands presents a tremendous opportunity to make ranchers and land owners powerful forces in addressing climate change, and by using the carbon market as a tool to fund the protection, there is a win-win-win situation,” said Craig Ebert, President, Climate Action Reserve. “We are honored to work with SPLT and the EDF on this pioneering initiative and commend SPLT for being a pioneer. We encourage other ranchers and landowners to explore this new opportunity.”

Since 2009, NRCS has awarded more than 400 Conservation Innovation Grants to support innovative conservation approaches and technologies that develop new ways to attract private investment in natural resource conservation and help farmers and ranchers make their operations more resilient to climate change. Find out how farmers and ranchers in North Dakota and rice growers in California and the Mid-South are benefiting from carbon markets and CIG projects.

For the latest selection of Conservation Innovation Grants, view the 2016 award announcement or to find out more about current and past projects, visit Conservation Innovation Grants on the web.

Protecting Grasslands to Protect our Environment infographic (Click to view a larger version)

October 18th, 2016|Tags: American Forests|0 Comments

By Doyle Irvin, American Forests

Doyle Irvin.

The truth is that I like murky weather. I cannot explain what it is about me that feels at home in the fog, rain and snow, but it is undeniable. I feel in my element when I can simply zip up my jacket and follow my feet, seeing where they take me, and hopefully get lost. My favorite hikes take me in and about the fog line, allowing me to glimpse the underworld, purgatory and what feels like heaven.

Growing up in Oakland and Berkeley, Calif., this kind of atmosphere was familiar — frequent even. The days had a routine: every morning would be fogged over — sweatshirt weather — and by the afternoon it would have burnt off. You knew that if you drove up to the Grizzly Peak cliffs at night you would be submerged in a 5 m.p.h. soup, the fog so obscuring your vision that anything faster would be absurdly dangerous. Even though I traversed these areas hundreds of times, they always retained a sense of discovery. What was just behind this shroud? What adventures lay behind the next bend in the road? What kind of new trees and vines had grown since my last visit?

I left California for college six years ago, and the California that I left is not the California that exists today. Before college, I had what I would now call an “eco-subconscious.” I knew that the environment was important, and that it required protecting, but I hadn’t experienced a first-hand “moment” that really drove home the reality of the rest of the world. Conservation was some big thing I agreed with but would let other people handle.

There were two moments that woke me up. One was a gradual realization, drawn out over the course of a season, and the other moment was a stark second. The former happened when I returned home after college to work in the Bay Area for a few years. As summer wound down, I greatly looked forward to what the Bay gently calls “winter,” which is not really a winter at all, but instead a more intense submersion into its normal fog. This simply didn’t happen. The weather had noticeably changed because of the severe drought that had begun afflicting California while I was away at school. Gone was the rain, and with it, much of the fog. Gone was the sweatshirt weather. The days were hotter, and it felt like San Francisco was slowly but surely turning into Los Angeles. The whole winter felt like a held-in breath, anxiously waiting for something to happen that never came.

The second moment, that stark second, is intrinsically informed by the first, because everything is interconnected. My brothers and I love to snowboard. I especially like floating through the trees, gliding on un-combed terrain, powder snow keeping me afloat. Sometimes I take my time in the forest, turning a run into 45 minutes, sitting and enjoying the utter quiet that being a little off the beaten path affords you. The silence is extraordinary. That first winter back from college, I drove up to Lake Tahoe with my older brother, excited for a few long days on the mountain. We parked at the resort and saw familiar snow on the runs. And then, I turned around. Bare rock, as far as the eye could see. The mountains were naked. The only snow for miles was man made and manicured. My brother and I kept doing 180s, turning and turning, unable to believe how bare California had become.

My experience with the drought in California really brought home to me how real and already present climate change is. It brought conservation out of the abstract subconscious, out of the place in my mind that felt comfortable saying “someone else will do it.” I heard about American Forests through the father of one of my friends, who had planted trees as a volunteer. It’s clear just how important our forests are with regards to our water, our atmosphere and our future. When I saw that there was an opportunity to contribute to the work done by American Forests, I decided that I would no longer leave it for someone else to do. The tragic part of this story is that it took my own life being interrupted for me to see the necessity of taking action. Hopefully my work in communications here at American Forests can help reach people in ways where they would not require a first-hand experience in order to understand the urgency of our shared situation.

The post Why I’m Here: Taking Responsibility for Our Planet appeared first on American Forests.

USDA National Cooperative Month Proclamation (Click to view a larger version)

October is National Cooperative Month, and this year, USDA is helping to focus attention on the multiple ways cooperatives help build more vibrant communities and improve the livelihoods of their members. USDA’s theme for the annual celebration is: “Co-ops Empower America, USDA Empowers Co-ops.”

Cooperatives are a versatile business model that can address many needs, such as affordable housing, utility services (including electricity and broadband), agriculture production (including local foods) and can help convert existing businesses to worker ownership.

USDA fosters and supports cooperative development by providing professional technical assistance, providing co-op education and research materials, forging partnerships with rural development organizations, and by helping to secure funding for projects in underserved areas.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack recently signed a Cooperative Month Proclamation that salutes the nation’s entire cooperative business sector of about 30,000 co-ops. These co-ops generate $650 billion in revenue and more than $75 billion in wages, according to a study conducted by the University of Wisconsin Center for Cooperatives, with support from USDA Rural Development.

USDA has also released its annual Top 100 Agriculture Co-op list, which shows that Iowa is home to more Top 100 co-ops (15) than any other state. These co-ops had $149 billion in business volume (counting sales and other income) and had record net income of $4.9 billion in 2015.

Co-op Month celebrations will take place across the country in recognition of the multiple ways co-ops empower local communities. They do this by creating jobs and marketing opportunities, and by boosting the income of member-owners. Co-ops also enhance community members’ leadership skills and promote civic engagement.

You can be a part of the co-op movement by participating in USDA’s series of webinars and other events that will address key issues facing cooperatives. Topics include how to start a co-op, the legal basics of co-ops, and ways to finance co-op businesses. Stories will also be shared about how co-ops can promote social justice, resource conservation, youth engagement, and entrepreneurship. A full calendar of events for Co-op Month can be downloaded here – we look forward to your participation!

A woman picking apples—one of many specialty crops—grown in New England. Since the beginning of the Obama administration, USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service has awarded $455.5 million in Specialty Crop Block Grants to all 50 states and several U.S. territories. These grants have supported 6,138 projects that increase capacity, opportunity, and economic success for America’s specialty crop growers. Photo courtesy Alberto Romero.

Specialty crops—fruits, vegetables, nuts and nursery crops—are an agricultural and dietary staple.  They’re a central part of a healthy diet and are vital to the economic success of American agriculture and to the farmers and businesses that rely on them for their livelihoods.

That’s why my agency, USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service, works to support and expand markets for specialty crop growers and producers.  This year, through our Specialty Crop Block Grant Program, we awarded $62.5 million to all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and five U.S. territories to support critical work related to this segment of the agricultural industry.

USDA’s investments are funding a total of 690 projects that will help growers tackle a variety of issues—from food safety training to setting up shared processing centers.  These block grants give states and territories vital resources to invest in their growers, build stronger markets and strengthen rural America.

At USDA’s Fall Forum in New Hampshire today, I had a chance to visit with local producers and talk about some of the key issues that will impact the future of agriculture. I heard about the many opportunities and challenges that local farmers are facing, including challenges for small and midsized produce growers.  The conversation focused on how we can build on our successes, address the changing landscape and continue to build a strong partnership to support this sector long into the future.

While the Specialty Crop Block Grant program supports a wide range of efforts, some projects help build the capacity of communities to produce and market specialty crops locally and regionally – and there’s a lot of that work taking place in the Granite State.

One project funded this year is led by the Small and Beginner Farmers of New Hampshire in partnership with Merrimack County Conservation District. It will increase access to freeze drying and flash freezing equipment for specialty crop growers. This project will help farmers offer more products beyond the season for locally grown fresh produce, increase farm profits and provide local products to New Hampshire residents throughout the year.

USDA is a committed partner and supporter of American producers regardless of their size, shape or market share.  Since the beginning of the Obama administration, AMS has awarded $455.5 million in Specialty Crop Block Grants to support 6,138 projects.  USDA continues to partner with state departments of agriculture to increase opportunities for specialty crop producers by supporting projects that create new business opportunities, expand local food systems and improve food safety.

USDA’s Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food Initiative (KYF2) coordinates the Department’s strides to develop strong local and regional food systems – including SCBGP projects.  Information on local and regional supply chain resources is available on the KYF2 website, and the KYF2 Compass can help users locate USDA investments in their community.

More information on how USDA investments are connecting producers with consumers, expanding rural economic opportunities, and increasing access to healthy food is available in Chapter IV of USDA Results on Medium.

Materials from state agencies are displayed at the annual USDA Farm to School Grantee gathering.

From organizing statewide conferences, to training farmers and child nutrition professionals, to developing farm to school curricula and resources, state agencies are playing a big role in bringing the farm to school. This fact sheet describes effective strategies state agencies are using to help community food systems take root. Here’s a sampling of three ways state agencies are making an impact.

1. Coordinate Statewide Networking and Goal Setting

State agencies are strategic stakeholders in farm to school initiatives as they offer vital connections to the many groups and organizations engaging in food systems across the state. By facilitating a collective vision, coordinating statewide goal setting and strategic planning, and tracking state progress, agencies understand the wide breadth of activities and partnerships and can identify stakeholders who are not yet at the table or part of networks.

The South Carolina Department of Agriculture established a partnership between GrowFood Carolina and the South Carolina Department of Education to develop local food procurement resources for a pilot “farm to freezer” project. Thanks to the partnership, frozen blueberries are now available for schools beyond the traditional growing season.

2. Host Local and Statewide Trainings

State agencies identify needs among stakeholder groups and host statewide conferences and events. Training events can include a wide variety of audiences including educators, farmers and producers, school nutrition professionals and non-profit and cooperative extension professionals. Trainings often focus on delivering technical assistance to help schools purchase local foods; build and maintain school gardens; and integrate agriculture, nutrition and health education into school curricula.

In Nevada, the Department of Agriculture provided Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) training and on-site group mock audit demonstrations for schools and farmers, ensuring both groups understood the certification process. In 2015, the Minnesota Department of Agriculture delivered 15 on-site workshops on maintaining and connecting school gardens to curriculum standards. State agencies such as the Washington State Department of Agriculture and the Wyoming Department of Education have also hosted regional and statewide conferences to engage new stakeholders and provide technical assistance on supply chain connections and procurement.

3. Develop and Share Resource Materials

State agencies develop resources such as state procurement guides, farm to school curricula, school garden guidance and local food promotional materials. In Alabama, the Department of Agriculture and Industries and the State Department of Education partnered with other organizations to develop a farm to school website that surveys farmers and enables schools to find farmers who match their procurement needs.

State agencies also create websites or devote portions of their websites to disseminate farm to school related resources and information. For instance, West Virginia’s Departments of Agriculture and Education collaborated with partners to create the Grow.Educate.Sell website that connects farm to school practitioners across the state.

Dig in!

Since 2013, the USDA Farm to School Grant Program has funded 36 state agencies in 25 states and the U.S. Virgin Islands with nearly two million dollars to expand statewide initiatives including training and technical assistance, increasing capacity for incorporating local foods into school meals and connecting school gardens and culinary activities to classroom curricula. In September, USDA began accepting applications for Fiscal Year 2017 Farm to School Grant Funding. State agencies are eligible to apply for training and support service grants and USDA strongly encourages state agencies to apply. Applications are due December 8, 2016.

October 14th, 2016|Tags: Forest Digest|0 Comments

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Find out the latest in forest news in this week’s Forest Digest!

Credit: Yinghai Lu

• The importance of urban forests: why money really does grow on trees — The Guardian
  Despite the benefits trees provide, such as cleaning our air, lowering stress levels and reducing flood risks, they are constantly cut down to make room for urban development. This article looks at how the UN’s new urban agenda should help protect city trees.
• 7 superlatively spooky forests — MotherNatureNetwork.com
  With Halloween on the horizon and spooky stories filling the airways, take a look at some of the spookiest —and supposedly haunted — forests around the world.
• Climate Change Blamed for Half of Increased Forest Fire Danger — New York Times
  A new study published Monday by scientists at the University of Idaho and Columbia University reveals that more than half of the “dryness of Western forests,” as well as the lengthened fire seasons, since 1979 can be attributed to human-caused climate change.
• Here’s when the beautiful fall colors on trees will peak in your area — Business Insider
  This article includes a map that will help you identify peak fall color in each region across the United States.

The post Forest Digest — Week of October 10, 2016 appeared first on American Forests.

(Pictured left to right) Jimmy Bullock with the Resource Management Service, Andrew Schock with The Conservation Fund and NRCS Alabama State Conservationist Ben Malone stand in one project area for the Coastal Headwaters Forest.

It takes time, patience and a committed partnership, but seeing thriving forests of longleaf pine trees return to Alabama’s Gulf Coast is well-worth the wait.

Longleaf pine forests once dominated the American Southeast, stretching across 90 million acres. A stronghold of the region’s environment and economy, longleaf was an essential building material used during the American Industrial Revolution. Today, only four percent of the original forests remain standing.

The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in Alabama is working with groups to revive this strong and resilient wood, while also providing environmental benefits for the Gulf Coastal Plain’s wildlife and water.

Through the Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP), NRCS is collaborating with The Conservation Fund (TCF), Resource Management Service (RMS), and many others on the Coastal Headwaters Forest, on a working forest project in Alabama and Florida.  The first RCPP phase is underway in Florida. The second phase in Alabama will use $5.1 million from RCPP, leveraged by $5.1 million in private and public partner funding, to protect and restore the longleaf pine ecosystem on 4,500 acres.

The Coastal Headwaters Forest Partnership offers a needed solution, bringing partners and resources together to conserve and restore longleaf pine habitat on private lands, where the majority of southeastern forest land is located.

NRCS will place a conservation easement on property in Alabama, providing protection and preventing land fragmentation. By preventing the forests from becoming fragmented into smaller parcels, the lands retain their ability to provide space for wildlife to live and migrate, as well as filter our water and remove CO₂ from the air is compromised. The private landowner, RMS, will retain ownership, restore longleaf pine, keep the land on the tax rolls, and continue its forestry work that benefits the regional economy.

Several partners attended a tour of the RCPP project area in the Coastal Headwaters Forest in Baldwin County, Alabama this summer.

During a site tour held in late June, several partners, including the Longleaf Alliance, Alabama Wildlife Federation and the E. O. Wilson Foundation joined NRCS, The Conservation Fund and RMS in visiting key areas that will see direct benefits of restoring the longleaf pine ecosystem.

“Restoring longleaf pine in Alabama’s Gulf Coastal Plain will preserve two major coastal river systems, Perdido and Escambia Rivers, in the Gulf Coastal Plain and protect habitat for the threatened gopher tortoise and approximately 250 other species related to longleaf pine habitat,” said NRCS Alabama State Conservationist, Ben Malone.

The private landowner’s commitment to longleaf pine conservation and restoration is critical to regional wildlife and water protection.  The keystone species include the gopher tortoise, cotton-tailed rabbit and indigo snake. The project will also help protect and filter the many miles of streams flowing to the Perdido River and into the Gulf of Mexico.

“With the RCPP grant, dozens of public and private partners are ready to meet, educate, make a change and be a model for restoring longleaf pine in Alabama’s Gulf Coastal Plain. The Coastal Headwaters Forests Partnership will make a difference in reversing the decline in longleaf pine and show large commercial timberland owners that longleaf pine can be a viable economic resource,” The Conservation Fund’s Andrew Schock said.

The Coastal Headwaters Forest Partnership will advance the goals of America’s Longleaf Restoration Initiative—a collaborative, public-private effort to restore the threatened longleaf ecosystems across eight million acres by 2025.

The Longleaf Pine Ecosystem is one of several “critical conservation areas”—or focal areas—for the RCPP, and this project will build on other RCPP longleaf efforts in the Southeast, along with other federal, state and private investments being made throughout a 9-state region to restore longleaf pine.

Created by the 2014 Farm Bill, RCPP investments of nearly $600 million have already driven 199 partner-led projects, including four projects in Alabama. The program leverages local leadership to establish partnerships that can include private companies, local and tribal governments, universities, non-profits and other non-government partners to work with farmers, ranchers and forest landowners on landscape-and watershed-scale conservation solutions that work best for their region.

This is an established longleaf pine stand located in the Coastal Headwaters Forest just off the Gulf Coast in Alabama.