Farmland and the Resilient Lands Conservation Coalition (RLCC)
The Resilient Lands Initiative (RLI) is a vision and strategy document, released in early 2023, by the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA) in partnership with partners from across the Commonwealth. The RLI seeks to set goals for land conservation and stewardship in ways that maximize benefits for people, particularly in environmental justice communities, and that mitigate the impacts of climate change.
In 2024 a group of public agencies and private organizations started working together to advance the strategies of the RLI and related initiatives. This group is known as the Resilient Lands Conservation Coalition (RLCC). There are four focus areas: Coastal, Farmland, Forests and Landscapes, and Urban. Some of these focus areas have working groups that have recently started to meet.
For farmland the work will focus on the intersection of the Massachusetts Farmland Action Plan (MFAP) and RLI. The MFAP was designed to intentionally complement the goals of the RLI and some of the projects being suggested. The RLI proposes several strategies for farmland protection, which overlap with some tasks for land protection in the MFAP. In the near term the farmland part of the RLCC will be focusing on:
Farmland protection is more than just about the land, it is also about the people, the business, the food system and more. How do we support protection of farmland that also considers the long term viability and resiliency of sustaining a farm business on that land?
The following are some tasks from the MFAP Implementation Matrix which have notable overlap with RLI:
- Task 1432 - Build the capacity of restriction-holding entities to effectively identify, review, and acquire restrictions that allow agriculture
- Task 1095 - Build the capacity of restriction-holding entities to effectively hold and steward restrictions that allow agriculture.
- Task 1018 - Incentivize municipalities and regional planning agencies (RPAs) to develop local farmland protection plans reflecting local farming opportunities and priorities.
- Task 1254 - Enhance consideration of viability in the APR ranking process.
- Task 1345 - Develop online and print materials for outreach to landowners. Ensure that publications like Land Conservation Options: A Guide for Massachusetts Landowners and Your Land, Your Legacy are kept up to date and easily available digitally and in hardcopy.
- Task 1205 - Include outreach to farmer and non-farmer landowners around farmland transfer strategies as part of APR Program stewardship.
For farmland there will not be a formal working group with a small number of partners in the same vein as the other focus areas. Instead potential partners can connect into various projects being implemented from the Farmland Action Plan, including through those funded through the new Farmland Partnership Program. Updates and opportunities to connect with RLI will be shared via the MFAP newsletter and on this webpage.
Who is leading the working group? Who can I contact with questions?
The lead for farmland will be Katharine Otto, Farmland Action Plan Coordinator. There will be no single private co-lead. Instead a group of private partners will be consulted through implementation of the Massachusetts Farmland Action Plan.
For questions related to the more general RLCC, please contact Darya Mattes.
How can I connect in?
When there is a call to connect with the “Farmland Working Group” for their input alongside members of other RLI Working Groups, as appropriate Katharine will share opportunities with potential partners from the plan via the MFAP newsletter. Sign up for the newsletter here.
If there are events, the implementers of the identified tasks will be specifically invited, alongside a general invitation via the MFAP newsletter.
Where can I learn more about the rest of the Resilient Lands Initiative and RLCC?
Please visit this document, the Resilient Lands Webpage or contact Darya Mattes.