opinion: targets for protected lands could help slow climate and extinction crises, support local food production
Conserving land to save our future: A goal to protect 30 percent of lands from development by 2030
Marina Schauffler, Maine Monitor Sat, 04/17/2021 - 12:00pm
A view of Mount Katahdin from Abol Stream at the edge of Baxter State Park. (Photo by Wendy Almeida/Maine Monitor)
Extinctions since 1500. Courtesy of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services.
In a recent working paper, “Delivering on Biden’s 2030 Conservation Commitment,” researchers identified the most cost-effective lands around the U.S. that could contribute to four potential strategies for the 30×30 conservation target – minimizing acquisition costs, protecting species from extinction, protecting climate refugees and corridors, and protecting carbon sinks from land conversion. A large swath of Maine scored high on all those criteria, with much
Dear friends,
The work of a Representative is always predicated on representing the people and the towns that they live in. That’s why I wanted to write to you to share an update about some of the last couple of weeks of work in the Legislature and give a brief preview of what’s coming up on my schedule for this coming week.
These past couple of weeks have been quite busy. In the Agriculture Committee, I have been focusing on helping farmers succeed and future farmers access to the resources that need to get going. To help future farmers access to the resources that they need, I introduced legislation to establish a working farmland access and protection program. This will not only reserve more farmland for active farming, but will also preclude it from being developed and lost forever. This would be very similar to a working waterfront program that already exists with the Land for Maine’s Future Program.
Mt. Kineo BB
Bangor Daily News file photo
Mount Kineo, which was acquired through the Land for Maine s Future program in 1990, rises out of Moosehead Lake.
Bangor Daily News file photo
Mount Kineo, which was acquired through the Land for Maine s Future program in 1990, rises out of Moosehead Lake.
It’s time to pass a bond to fund the Land for Maine’s Future program Contributed • March 8, 2021
By James Cote
Many of us have been working to pass a Land for Maine’s Future bond for several years now, and for a variety of reasons, the timing just hasn’t worked in our favor. But this year, it seems like things could be different.