The Nature Conservancy in Maryland and DC

🌎 The science is clear: we must act now to halt catastrophic climate change and biodiversity loss. Our actions between now and 2030 will determine whether we can limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius—the level needed to avoid the worst impacts of climate change. At The Nature Conservancy, we leverage decades of experience and collaboration. Working with partners, communities and decision-makers globally, we aim to conserve enough land and water to curb species loss and protect people from the disastrous effects of these crises. Click below to learn about our 2030 goals and how you can get involved. Let’s create a sustainable future together.

Such a cool event by our colleagues in Virginia. If you find yourself near Richmond in September, definitely consider stopping by! 🍺🌲 #OktoberForestFest2024 #ForagedFlavors

Over the last several decades, Crisfield, Maryland has experienced trends toward higher tides that are resulting in more frequent and problematic nuisance flooding. These events are sometimes extreme enough to temporarily shutter businesses and schools, and damage cars, buildings, and properties, which costs the town economic development opportunities and increases stress on residents. TNC identified Crisfield as a place where they could help improve community resilience to flooding. Starting in 2022, TNC collaborated with UMD EFC and GMU to begin a NOAA-funded project to assess the benefits of potential new flood adaptation strategies to support the City’s planning efforts. The team hosted a series of workshops with a Community Advisory Committee to ensure Crisfield’s social and economic goals were an integral part of Crisfield’s flood planning initiatives, which were supported by funding from Lockheed Martin. You can learn more about our work in Crisfield in our StoryMap, which outlines our collaborative process working with a number of partners and community stakeholders to ensure a positive future for the residents of Crisfield. Check out the StoryMap here: https://lnkd.in/ebcrKJxS 📸 Photo by Jay Fleming #coastalresilience #sealevelrise #climateadaptation #flooding

REMINDER: Applications for the Leopold Conservation Award are due in 1 week from today! If you or someone you know would be a good fit, please complete the application by Thursday, August 1, 2024. Good luck! #LeopoldConservationAward #conservationsuccess #landownerconservation

What a win for nature on the east coast! 🍃 The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Monday announced a $421 million grant for a coalition of #Maryland, #Virginia, #NorthCarolina, and #SouthCarolina working with nonprofit organizations like The Nature Conservancy for conservation and restoration projects that reduce carbon emissions and make communities more resilient to natural hazards. 🎉 As part of the Atlantic Conservation Coalition (ACC), The Nature Conservancy was awarded $200 million dollars for forest and wetland restoration projects across the four coalition states. Each of the four state governments was also awarded $50 million for shovel-ready projects. This grant will allow TNC to sequester an estimated 200,054 - 507,871 extra metric tons of carbon annually across the four states between now and 2050. In Maryland, the Nature Conservancy has designated $42.5 million of the grant to support land protection and improved forest management on 28,897 acres of forest located in the Appalachian Mountain range by 2030. Here's how it will be put to work: 🌎 TNC’s work in Maryland will sequester an estimated 667,000 extra metric tons of carbon between now and 2050. 🌎 The improved forest management will also help to improve forest resilience to climate change and other stressors and support native wildlife and plant species. 🌎 The grant will also support the protection and improved management of an additional 38,750 acres of Appalachian forest in Virginia, for a combined total of 67,647 acres across both states. A huge thank you to our coalition partners and everyone who was involved in the proposal process. We are super excited to work hard to protect important lands and waters in Maryland and across the coalition! Learn More: https://lnkd.in/e-4NnRac #ClimatePollutionReductionGrants #InvestinginAmerica #EPA

Last week was a significant step for environmental progress in #Pennsylvania and the #ChesapeakeBay. The Nature Conservancy had the honor of participating in a pivotal event featuring key figures such as #USDA Secretary Thomas Vilsack, White House National Climate Advisor Ali Zaidi , Congresswoman Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, and Pennsylvania’s Secretary of Agriculture Russell Redding. TNC staff members joined the event, which centered around climate smart agriculture. In addition to #InflationReductionAct funding being put to use in Pennsylvania to support farms and the environment, a CIG grant was awarded for the Chesapeake Bay to meet our clean water goals with buy-in from farmers, who not only produce our food but take the extra effort to provide clean water, protect biodiversity, and increase resiliency to out changing climate. Increasing precipitation and heavy rain events is going to make meeting our goals even harder. So to continue to make progress, we need to continue to find ways to keep nutrients in our fields growing crops and restoring nature in key locations to filter water before entering our streams and the Bay. Farmers should benefit from providing environmental outcomes that benefit all of us. We’re excited to be at the forefront of these transformative initiatives, driving positive change for our #environment and #economy. USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, Maryland NRCS, Rosetree Consulting, Willard Agri-Service, GROWMARK FS, LLC 📸: Michelle Giles/TNC

We're hiring! Are you interested in cutting edge forest restoration projects, GIS, remote sensing, and silviculture? Consider applying to join TNC's Maryland and DC Chapter as a WLCC Member Forest Technician! This role will assist with forest restoration projects in western Maryland, West Virginia and Pennsylvania with a focus on leveraging technology like GIS and drone-based remote sensing to support forest management. This is a learn-while-doing opportunity, where you will acquire and practice skills key to your success in the field of conservation. You will work side-by-side with experienced TNC staff on area-wide conservation planning and late successional forest restoration projects in the Appalachians. Specific applied learning goals for the WLCC Member Forest Technician include: 🌳 Increase proficiency in geospatial technologies, including GIS and drones (UAVs), for mapping and monitoring. 🌳 Gain familiarity with various mobile applications for field data collection. 🌳 Acquire competence in ESRI dashboards and spatial tracking systems. 🌳 Gain hands-on experience in silvicultural techniques including non-commercial thinning, prescribed burning, tree planting, and invasive species management. This is a hybrid position working some days in our Cumberland, MD office and other days remotely within western Maryland. Learn more and apply here today! https://lnkd.in/ecQFxP8e #hiring #conservationcareers #forestry

Offshore wind is a complex topic that raises numerous questions. From its environmental impact to the economic feasibility, there’s much to explore. TNC invites you to join us for a seven-part series on offshore wind, where experts in the field will convene to provide insight into the complexities of this topic, from environmental impacts to economic considerations. 🍃 Join us on Thursday, July 18, 12 p.m. ET, as we hear from Sarah K., Staff Attorney with the Sierra Club Environmental Law Program, and Susan Muller, Senior Energy Analyst of Union of Concerned Scientists, to learn about the results of their recent analyses on why offshore wind is so important for New England, especially during the winter, and how it can reduce energy costs for New England ratepayers. Register for the webinar here: https://lnkd.in/emk6CEMs #offshorewind #renewableenergy #webinarseries

Ten years ago, Washington D.C. established the Stormwater Retention Credit (SRC) market, a program that allows developers to meet a portion of their stormwater retention requirements by purchasing credits generated from green infrastructure projects built elsewhere in D.C. This model has distributed green infrastructure throughout the District, increasing the amount of stormwater-capturing green space in historically under-resourced areas and improving local water-quality. To date, more than 1.7 million credits have been sold, representing over 40 million gallons of runoff captured and cleaned annually. The SRC market incentivizes voluntary stormwater projects to be built where development is unlikely to occur, such as cemeteries and churches. Here are some green infrastructure project highlights that TNC and local partners have worked on since the SRC Market’s inception: 💧 Faith United Church of Christ and Northeastern Presbyterian Church: Magnolia and its project partners completed the construction of these two rain gardens in the Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) in Northeast DC. These projects generated over 44,500 stormwater retention credits. (Photos: Magnolia Mitigation) 💧 Mount Olivet Cemetery: The Nature Conservancy and the Catholic Archdiocese of Washington collaborated on the very first voluntary credit-generating project at Mount Olivet Cemetery, where raingardens were installed at various locations to capture runoff. (Photo: TNC) 💧 St. Luke Catholic Church: Green Compass installed a rain garden at the church, planting 39 trees and retaining 950,000 gallons of stormwater in the area. (Photo: Green Compass) Learn more about the SRC Market’s 10-year anniversary here: https://nature.ly/3xOSL8h Department of Energy & Environment (DOEE) #greencities #stormwater

The Nature Conservancy and a variety of partners have been working with the Town of Crisfield and members of its community over the past few years to address flooding challenges due to its low elevation and proximity to the Chesapeake Bay. In recent years, the town has become increasingly vulnerable to flooding, which is impacting the community and hampering economic growth. As in many small coastal communities, the severity of these impacts has been disproportionate to the resources available to address them. The City of Crisfield has now announced more than $36 million in Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) funding for the Southern Crisfield Flood Mitigation Project. This funding will help the city reduce tide and flood water entering the city and develop a way for getting it our quickly in storm events. TNC is proud to have been involved with flood mitigation projects in Crisfield and excited to see how this grant can help the city become even more resilient to the effects of climate change. 🌎 Read more about our work strengthening Maryland's coasts: https://nature.ly/4cVMU0d https://nature.ly/4cFVoIy #coastalresilience #FEMA #climatechange