#Maine - #Agricultural #ConservationEasements

"The primary purpose of an Agricultural Conservation Easement is to protect the agricultural soils, agricultural viability, and agricultural productivity of a property in perpetuity by limiting non-agricultural uses of the property.

What is it?

"It is a voluntary, legally recorded permanent deed restriction place on the property. The easement or 'development right' may be donated or sold (or a combination of the two) usually to a land trust which then holds (and manages) the easement. Land protected from development with an easement remains in private ownership.

Agricultural easements help farmers balance goals of:

- generating revenue for farming or retirement;
- making their land more affordable to future farmers;
- keeping their farmland in farming;
- maintaining a treasured legacy of #SustainableFarm #stewardship.

"Agricultural conservation easements are private transactions, entered into for perpetuity, and thus harder to undo compared to other land protection land use strategies.

"The process can take some time to negotiate and carry out. The cost of buying easements on a significant scale can be prohibitive. It is also important that the 'holder' of the easements has the capacity to ensure that the agricultural land is managed as intended.

"You can contact your local #LandTrust or the statewide #MaineFarmlandTrust when considering easements as a farm viability and farmland protection tool."

Read more (via #GrowSmartMaine):
https://growsmartmaine.org/agricultural-conservation-easements/

Learn more about Maine Farmland Trust:
https://www.mainefarmlandtrust.org/farmland/protect-farmland

#FarmsForMainesFuture #SaveTheFarms #Sprawl #LandPreservation #SolarPunkSunday #Farmland #FoodSecurity #MaineFarms #GrowLocal #EatLocal

Australia’s addiction to mega roads continues despite the spectre of climate change.

" The stream of projects shows Australia’s approach to urban transport is stuck in the car-obsessed past. It’s an approach at odds with state planning policies that prioritise other less-polluting transport modes, such as train and tram extensions, bike lane infrastructure and better pedestrian footpaths.

As the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has warned, roads hinder national efforts to meet climate targets. They “lock in” emissions, by establishing long-term infrastructure that commits societies to greenhouse gas emissions for decades to come...Globally, roads account for 69% of transport emissions, and this is growing. "
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https://theconversation.com/australia-why-are-you-still-obsessed-with-freeways-when-theyre-driving-us-away-from-net-zero-262129
#cars #vehicle #pollution #GHG #climate #roads #highways #CarDependency #MobilityDesign #Sprawl #PacificHighway #CoffsHarbour #bypass

The extinction of experience
The Human-Nature Relationships from 1800 to 2020

There is a "disappearance of natural words from books between 1800 and 2020, which peaked at a 60.6% decline in 1990...The modelling predicts an ongoing “extinction of experience” with future generations continuing to lose an awareness of nature because it is not present in increasingly built-up neighbourhoods, while parents no longer pass on an “orientation” towards the natural world."
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https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/aug/09/human-connection-to-nature-has-declined-60-in-200-years-study-finds
#nature #metabolism #language #experience #culture #decline #IntergenerationalTransmission #children #parenting #ScreenWarehousing #sprawl #SUVs #roads #biodiversity #habitat #books

Developing Coffs Harbour foreshore will amount to a ‘desecration of the land’, traditional owners say

"We need to have cultural spaces preserved, and no one is listening."
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https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/aug/10/coffs-harbour-foreshore-development-traditional-owners
#CoffsHarbour #NSW #MidNorthCoast #coast #sprawl #JettyForeshore #Gumbaynggirr #IndigenousPeoples #consultation

Young endangered cassowary dies after ingesting fish hook

"Listed as endangered, the southern cassowary's greatest threats are habitat loss, traffic and domestic dog attacks."
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-08-07/juvenile-cassowary-fish-hook-death-prompts-fresh-warnings/105619400
#birds #cassowary #fishing #harm #dogs #pets #cars #sprawl

The disappearing coastal habitat of migratory shorebirds
The black-tailed godwit has been listed as endangered in New South Wales

"The Australian numbers of the black-tailed godwit have fallen by a minimum of 52 per cent to as high as 77.5 per cent in 23 years... Its habitat at stopovers on its long-haul journey are shrinking, competing with humans for the preferred coastal locations, and climate change and water management impacting on inland wetlands."
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https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-08-03/black-tailed-godwit-joins-endangered-species-list/105585910
#birds #coast #NSW #WaterbirdsTravellingRoute #wetland #biodiversity #coastal #sprawl #pollution

Along the NSW and Queensland coast there are stunning beaches lined with multi-million-dollar homes and polluted creeks

"Burgess Creek runs from Noosa Junction to the beachfront. Burgess Creek runs 5 kilometres from heavily commercialised Noosa Junction to the otherwise idyllic beachfront, and contains signs warning against swimming and human consumption. Burgess Creek does contain treated sewage effluent. Signs indicate "creek water contains treated sewage effluent", but compounding issues include fertiliser run-off, historic landfill sites, erosion, invasive flora, animal excrement and household run-off."

"When they took the sewage out to sea, it was a revelation because there was no more crap coming back on to the beach."
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https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-08-02/burgess-creek-bondi-solution-for-brown-water/105594070
#sewage #pollution #sprawl #NSW #coast #sanitation #SewerSystems #crap #waste #runoff #wasteland #weeds #creeks #rivers #water #wildlife #Noosa #CoffsHarbour #beaches #civilisation
Images: Coffs Harbour Jetty Dune care and a polluted creek for wildlife.

Habitat for coastal wetland birds

New South Wales coastal roads from the Mid North Coast to the Northern Rivers have giant traffic roundabouts. Most have a lot of masked lapwings and some white-faced herons huddled in the middle looking lost. Some are hanging out in the road drains that used to be small creeks.
#Birds #habitat #NSW #wetland #coast #roads #cars #sprawl #values

Groundwater depletion is a big problem globally, including #Arizona where it has gotten very bad. (Since this is negative climate/ecology news posted by #NASA, you can expect imminent firings and removal of the data from public access.)

https://www.naturalhazards.nasa.gov/images/154567/arizonas-declining-groundwater

#climate #groundwater #sprawl #waterusage