Recent Lecture Highlights the Crucial Role of Land Trusts

By Veronica Burns

On March 7, Libby Borden, president of the Norfolk Land Trust, welcomed two speakers from the Open Space Institute (OSI) to talk about land conservation at the Norfolk Curling Club. The event was focused on climate change and novel strategies for land protection. The large audience, including representatives from various land trusts in the Northwest Corner, learned that climate change leads to uncertainty but that “resilience science” offers a new approach, if not a solution, to the problem.

The main speaker, Peter Howell, OSI’s executive vice president, started by admitting to a “great affection” for our area, calling it “an extraordinary place.” He then introduced a “model” approach to land conservation, based on statistical and data analysis. This approach identifies places that are likely to retain and attract wildlife over a long period of time, even as the climate changes.

The model, developed by Dr. Mark Anderson at the Nature Conservancy, focuses on three elements: complexity, connectivity and geology. Complexity, said Howell, involves a diverse landscape with many microclimates. Connectivity refers to landscapes that enable species to move through them without interruption from development, roads, dams or similar obstructions. The final element, geology, suggests that the most resilient landscapes have a variety of land formations (slopes, ravines, valleys) and soil types.

Howell used a theatrical analogy to help his audience understand the resiliency concept. “We must preserve the stage for the actors,” he said. “The actors come and go, but it is essential that the stage be preserved.” A resilient landscape is therefore the stage, and the species that travel our wildlife corridors are the actors.

In an interesting Q & A following the presentation it was noted that none of OSI’s resiliency projects, which are funded by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and Jane’s Trust, currently involve land in Connecticut. The explanation was that funds are earmarked for particular areas, which lie elsewhere. But since Northwest Connecticut is “a critical linchpin in the Appalachian Corridor,” the region could figure in future initiatives.

Howell and Kim Elliman, the president and CEO of OSI, were full of praise for Great Mountain Forest and its work in land use and conservation. “Is GMF resilient?” asked Howell. “Yes, and if we were to fund it, yes, we would protect it, but it is already protected.” According to the resiliency criteria, GMF has a 70 percent complexity rating. Its connectivity rating is much lower, because of being so close to Norfolk and associated development. Geologically speaking, GMF sits on mid-elevation sedimentary rock, which is fairly extensive across the region. Its location, between two geophysical settings (mid- and low-elevation calcareous) that have not received significant conservation, makes it both a crucial link and a buffer.

For a detailed description of OSI’s Resilient Landscape Initiative and to learn more about how to map resilient lands in your region, go to the OSI website, www.osiny.org.