In September, the Momentum team headed to Denver, Colorado to attend the Land Trust Alliance's annual Rally: The National Land Conservation Conference. Peyton, Lindy, and Jess joined 2,000+ members of the conservation community for shared learning; everyone left inspired by ideas about what kind of world is possible through this work. Below are just a few of the highlights from our team's learning!
- Foraging - The Conservation Foundation in Illinois has developed a foraging education and advocacy program that seeks to educate, encourage, and celebrate the history, opportunity, and health of foraging. Read about their program here.They are hosting a survey about foraging and would love folks from all over to participate - take the survey here and share your thoughts!
- Climate Vulnerability Assessment - Friends of Tryon Creek in Oregon recently completed a comprehensive climate vulnerability assessment in partnership with the state park they protect. As an Indigenous led and centering organization, they have embedded their values in this assessment and created an amazing document with beautiful illustrations accompanying important histories, resource assessments, and resilience plans.
- Traditional Harvest Project - a collaboration between Montezuma Land Conservancy, Trees, Water & People, and the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe to address habitat loss and degradation on Tribal lands, and to increase Tribal access to culturally significant plants off the reservation through relationship building with landowners in the region and voluntary access supported by MLC and TWP.
- Navigating Organization Growth - the Mojave Desert Land Trust shared about how they managed a period of immense growth for their organization and created the systems needed to sustain the organization and for staff to thrive in their roles. MDLT shared honestly about the challenges they overcame, the tools (like the decision-making tool R.A.P.I.D.) that they implemented, and the continued importance of having the “right people, in the right role”.
- State Trail Systems - Foothills Conservancy of North Carolina, Conserving Carolina, and Blue Ridge Conservancy presented on some of the opportunities and challenges of conserving land for state trail systems and balancing ecological protection with public access. Foothills shared about how a conversation with Enock Glidden of Outdoor Access Solutions inspired them to plan for an adaptive challenge trail - we love a Maine connection and how Foothills took on the call for accessibility as an exciting design puzzle and not an afterthought.
- Indigenous Knowledges Project - The Leelanau Conservancy from Michigan shared about the many facets of their Indigenous Knowledges Project, which emphasizes the importance of relationships and trust; they have created educational resources like this podcast, done impressive policy work about "Unanticipated Discoveries", and are expanding the ways in which they identify conservation values through a commitment to bring elders and Indigenous knowledge keepers on the land as a part of any new project.
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