New England Policy Chronicle
Updates from Around the Region
Editor’s Note: Though it may take years to realize exactly how this November’s federal elections will shape the future of conservation, land use, and agricultural policy in the United States, it is safe to assume that major changes are on the horizon. The incoming administration has made public commitments to expand domestic fossil fuel production, to dramatically cut the capacity of federal agencies in oversight or regulatory roles, and to roll back federal rules limiting carbon emissions, all while new reports from the scientific community predict that our planet will exceed the 1.5 degree warming threshold outlined in the 2016 Paris Accords before the end of this calendar year. With such a dramatic shift in federal policy priorities, there is a clear opportunity for state and local governments, the philanthropic community, and grassroots advocates to ensure that we continue to build the infrastructure necessary for a resilient future.
Each of the New England states has seen shifts in their legislative bodies as well. Here, as in each issue, we share policy-related stories from the six states that intersect with themes of conservation, land use, and efforts to build a thriving future for human and wild communities. Advancing an integrated approach to our relationship with the lands and waters that surround us will become more challenging, as it requires policy change at the local, state, federal, and global levels.
Find other examples of how allies around the region are approaching policy change in our Policy Desk Archive. - Alex Redfield, Co-Director of the Integrated Policy Program for Wildlands, Woodlands, Farmlands & Communities and Food Solutions New England
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Connecticut
The purchase of a conservation easement on a 52-acre parcel adjacent to Jones Family Farms in Shelton, Connecticut, marked a cumulative total of 50,000 acres protected by the state’s Farmland Preservation Program. Photo courtesy of the Jones Family.
Farm viability and farmland protection advocates around New England might find inspiration in Connecticut’s Working Lands Alliance (WLA), a coalition of land trusts, farmers, food system organizations, and policymakers. For 25 years, the WLA has effectively brought together a diverse coalition of partners to support a key suite of policies and investments that keep agricultural land available to farmers. Governor Ned Lamont, Senator Chris Murphy, and Department of Agriculture Commissioner Bryan Hurlburt were among the dignitaries who offered remarks at November’s WLA Annual Meeting, congratulating partners on protecting 1,560 acres of working farmland in 2024, more than in any other year since the state’s Farmland Preservation Program was launched in 1978.
The real estate market in Connecticut, and in the other parts of New England seeing significant jumps in housing and land prices, poses significant challenges for agricultural conservation advocates. The cost of farmland in Connecticut is tied for third highest in the nation, at an average price of $13,400 per acre. This means conservation investments just don’t protect as much as they might elsewhere in the region. Though agriculture in Connecticut plays a key role in preserving the state’s diverse landscape and in building a resilient food system in the face of climate change, conservation easements and fee acquisitions require larger capital investments as markets push prices up. To that end, one of the WLA’s policy priorities for the coming year is to remove the statutory price cap of $20,000/acre that the Connecticut Department of Agriculture is authorized to spend to protect farmland via fee acquisition. Even with last month’s record-breaking authorization of $9.4 million for farmland protection from the Connecticut State Bond Commission, federal and private dollars will need to play a major role in supporting the state’s progress toward its goal of protecting 130,000 acres of farmland.
Maine
The Saltmarsh Sparrow is one of eight new additions to Maine’s Endangered Species list in 2023. Photo courtesy of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
In October of 2024, the scientists, industry leaders, policymakers, and citizens that compose the Maine Climate Council reconvened to review suggested updates to the state’s 2020 climate action plan, Maine Won’t Wait. This four-year plan update is intended to explore the current and projected impacts of climate change across the state, outline policy and programmatic recommendations, and provide a progress report on the plan’s initial goals and targets. Though the final language will be adopted after this issue’s publication date, the draft update provides both bold new targets (a suggested appropriation of $100 million for farmland protection efforts by 2030, for example) and, via an updated Scientific Assessment of Climate Change and Its Effects in Maine, a comprehensive analysis of the social, economic, and ecological impacts of climate change already felt across the state.
This Scientific Assessment, authored by the 46 members of the Climate Council’s Scientific and Technical Subcommittee (STS), is a 254-page deep dive into how climate change shapes the current and future outlook of Maine’s coastline and marine industries, human health outcomes, the viability of Maine farms, the integrity of the state’s rivers and lakes, the economic and ecological potential of Maine’s forests, and more.
Some findings in the updated STS report include:
In 2024, Maine homeowners will see the second largest home insurance rate increase in the United States, largely driven by increased storm severity and associated damages.
Seventy-five percent of the Northeast’s salt marsh area could be lost to ocean inundation unless the habitat is able to migrate landward into undeveloped natural areas.
At the current rate of protection, Maine will reach its 30 percent land conservation goal in 2047.
There is, not to be missed, a short but important chapter titled “Hope” at the end of the STS report that catalogs scholarly work exploring how to best encourage public engagement rather than driving readers to despondency. The authors recommend providing clear, measurable, actionable targets as a way to keep us all on track.
The final Maine Won’t Wait report will be delivered to Governor Janet Mills in December 2024. Recommendations will be introduced to the Legislature in the new year.
Massachusetts
$25 million in federal funding will support Mass Audubon’s efforts to protect sensitive natural and working lands along the Connecticut River. Photo courtesy of Mass Audubon and Kristen Foresto
In late October, the Healey-Driscoll Administration announced that over $45 million in funding had been secured through the USDA’s Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) to support two major environmental initiatives in Massachusetts. Nearly $20 million was awarded to the State’s Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA) to expand ongoing efforts to integrate environmental justice with land conservation and climate resilience across the state through the Resilient Lands Conservation Coalition. EEA leadership says the funding will accelerate the rate of land conservation in the Commonwealth by strengthening partnerships with land trusts and municipalities and introducing new easement tools to support underserved farmers in accessing agricultural land.
Additionally, Mass Audubon will receive $25 million in federal funding in support of the “Building Resilience in the Connecticut River Watershed” initiative. This project is designed to secure conservation restrictions on more than 10,000 acres of forest, riparian, and wetland habitats within the watershed.
RCPP is one of the primary mechanisms through which the Biden-Harris Administration supported land conservation efforts nationally. Though the program was created in 2014, funding for RCPP has expanded dramatically with direct allocations in the Farm Bill and additional funding set aside in the Inflation Reduction Act. Over $3 billion has been distributed since 2020, compared to a cumulative total of $1 billion in the program’s first six years. Future funding for the program is uncertain as the new Congress considers changes to the Farm Bill.
New Hampshire
Photo courtesy of Katie Goodall/@inkandlightcreative
In the effort to coordinate state-level strategies to support the state’s farms, fisheries, and food businesses, the New Hampshire Department of Agriculture, Food and Markets and NH Food Alliance, a food system-focused community outreach program based at the Sustainability Institute of the University of New Hampshire, are building a comprehensive roadmap to a sustainable agricultural future in the Granite State. The NH Food and Agriculture Strategic Plan will consist of 27 issue-specific briefs exploring the current conditions and future outlook for topics pivotal to a thriving food system, like land use planning, food waste policy, and institutional market access. The initial findings and recommendations are authored by a wide range of experts and advocates from around the state and are available for public comment and review as they are developed.
This planning effort mirrors similar initiatives in other New England states as the region works to build both state-level and regionally resilient food systems in the shared goal of producing 30 percent of New England’s food within the region by 2030. Read more about this effort in The “Other” 30 by 30: Progress Toward a Resilient Food System? elsewhere in this issue.
Rhode Island
The 2024 Green Bond authorizes $3 million in spending for coastline and beach restoration and improvements, as mounting repair costs consistently outpace local capacity. Photo courtesy of J.P. Walsh, The University of Rhode Island
Voters in Rhode Island demonstrated overwhelming support for land protection and renewable energy infrastructure in their endorsement of the 2024 Green Bond. By a 3-to-1 margin, voters authorized the state to issue $53 million in bonds to fund a number of diverse environmental initiatives, including $5 million for farmland protection, $3 million for open space protections through the State Land Acquisition Program, $5 million for forest and habitat restoration in state management areas, and a $10 million investment in the state’s Municipal Resilience Program toward matching grants for community-identified mitigation and resilience projects. The largest line item included in the 2024 Green Bond is a $15 million investment in Rhode Island’s offshore wind port infrastructure at Quonset’s Port of Davisville.
This result continues a stable trend of public support for land protection and spending for key environmental initiatives, marking five successive Green Bonds adopted by voters in the last eight years.
Vermont
Photo © Liz Thompson
Please see Land and Law: Putting Hope on the Ground, our interview with Representative Amy Sheldon, for a firsthand account of legislative developments relating to conservation, biodiversity, and growth management in Vermont.
Alex Redfield is the Co-Director of the Integrated Policy Program for Wildlands, Woodlands, Farmlands & Communities and Food Solutions New England. He lives in South Portland, Maine.