Land Conservation Tools

Land Conservation Tools

Tool Comparison Summaries

Massachusetts Land Conservation Tools - Cheat Sheet

Massachusetts Land Conservation Tools: Exploring Climate Adaptation

This portal website compiles land conservation information resources, mapping products, and other tools, developed by a variety of organizations, that are available to guide the decision making of Massachusetts practitioners. We have summarized these tools, organized them in different ways to help you more easily choose the one(s) best suited to your conservation needs, and provided website links for direct access.

A variety of interests that can inspire and inform land conservation, and the tools included on this website tend to have a wildlife and habitat conservation perspective, rather than being focused on other important land conservation issues such as water supply or recreation.

The resources can be filtered by: 

(1) Conservation Tasks:

Some tools are more suited to supporting certain conservation purposes, such as applying for or awarding grantsland stewardship, land (open space) protection, assessing landscape connectivity and public outreach.

(2) Conservation Phases:

Some tools are better suited to certain stages of the conservation process: 

  • Motivation: Increasing awareness of conservation needs and inspiring people to engage in conservation planning and action.
    For example, using NELF Explorer to see how different patterns of land development and land conservation could affect the New England landscape.

  • Assessment: Using conservation data to better understand the landscape and create a blueprint for action.
    For example, using data from MassCAPS to inform the development of your own land conservation plan.

  • Plan: Adopting a conservation blueprint to guide action.
    For example, adopting BioMap2, that uses data from MassCAPS and other sources, to guide your land conservation efforts.

  • Action: Implementing actions such as habitat management or land protection.
    For example, using MAPPR, that uses data from BioMap2, to identify specific parcels for strategic land conservation.

 

Motivation

Awareness and inspiration leading to a Plan and Action

Assessment

Analysis and data generation to inform a Plan

Plan

Selecting a blueprint to guide Action

Action

Specific implementation measures

 

This website is an output from a University of Massachusetts Amherst Extension project studying how these tools are used by those engaged in land protection and stewardship, with a particular focus on forest conservation with a climate adaptation lens. We hope that our work increases and improves the use of these tools through building practitioner awareness and understanding, influencing tool outreach efforts, and informing future versions of the tools - with the ultimate aim of improving the future of Massachusetts ecosystems. To learn more about our research project, please visit the Research section of this website.

To learn more about terminology used in this website, see the Glossary.

Please provide feedback that will help refine this website by emailing Scott Jackson, University of Massachusetts Extension, conservation[at]umass[dot]edu 

Explore the Tools

The below dropdown filters can help you explore and identify the land conservation tools most appropriate for different conservation tasks and phases:

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    Adaptation Workbook website

    Adaptation Workbook

    Conservation tasks: Grants, Land stewardship
    Conservation phases: Action

    Helps identify and tailor climate adaptation actions for given land management goals, with a focus on forests, agriculture and natural resources, at a location of interest in the Northeast or Midwest.

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    View of the Connecticut River from on top of Mt. Holyoke

    BioMap

    Conservation tasks: Grants, Land (open space) protection, Land stewardship, Landscape connectivity, Public outreach
    Conservation phases: Motivation, Assessment, Plan, Action

    Designed to guide strategic biodiversity conservation by focusing land protection and stewardship on the areas that are most critical for ensuring the long-term persistence of rare and other native species and their habitats, exemplary natural communities, and a diversity of ecosystems, and intact landscapes in Massachusetts.

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    DSL - Designing Sustainable Landscapes

    DSL - Designing Sustainable Landscapes

    Conservation tasks: Grants, Land (open space) protection, Landscape connectivity, Public outreach
    Conservation phases: Assessment

    Provides data and assessments for strategic habitat conservation, by assessing the ecological integrity of ecosystems, evaluating regional connectivity, assessing risk of development, and modeling climate niche and landscape capability for key wildlife species in the Northeast.

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    MAPPR - Mapping and Prioritizing Parcels for Resilience

    MAPPR - Mapping and Prioritizing Parcels for Resilience

    Conservation tasks: Grants, Land (open space) protection, Landscape connectivity
    Conservation phases: Plan, Action

    A decision support tool informing parcel based land conservation prioritization decisions in Massachusetts.

    *NOTE* The MAPPR website is being updated as of Spring 2023 and links to their tool may be unavailable for a time.

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    Massachusetts Climate Action Tool

    Massachusetts Climate Action Tool

    Conservation tasks: Grants, Land (open space) protection, Land stewardship, Landscape connectivity, Public outreach
    Conservation phases: Assessment, Action

    Provides access to information on climate change impacts and vulnerability of species and habitats, as well as adaptation strategies and actions to help maintain healthy, resilient natural communities, with a focus on Massachusetts.

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    MassCAPS - Massachusetts Conservation Assessment & Prioritization System

    MassCAPS - Massachusetts Conservation Assessment & Prioritization System

    Conservation tasks: Grants, Land (open space) protection, Public outreach
    Conservation phases: Assessment

    Calculates an Index of Ecological Integrity (IEI) based on human impacts and landscape characteristics, to highlight examples of ecosystems that are likely to maintain their natural composition, structure and function over time, in Massachusetts.

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    Nature’s Network

    Nature’s Network

    Conservation tasks: Grants, Land (open space) protection, Landscape connectivity, Public outreach
    Conservation phases: Assessment, Plan

    A suite of decision support tools and datasets, including a conservation design that depicts a network of connected, intact, and resilient areas -- both lands and waters -- that are considered the best places to begin strategic conservation planning to support a sustainable future for both human and natural communities across the 13-state Northeast region.

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    Resilient and connected landscapes graphic wordmark

    Resilient and Connected Landscapes

    Conservation tasks: Grants, Land (open space) protection, Landscape connectivity, Public outreach
    Conservation phases: Assessment, Plan

    Highlights resilient areas of diverse geology and topography, and the nature of their connections, with national coverage (excluding HI and AK).

Other Resources

  • At a Glance: Massachusetts Land Conservation Tools

    Resource category: Tool Comparison Summaries

    This ‘cheat sheet’ provides an overview of the information sources and tools available to inform land conservation (protection and stewardship) decisions in Massachusetts (from our UMass Extension team).

  • Forest Carbon Market Solutions

    Resource category: Other Massachusetts Resources

    This publication is a guide to help municipalities consider about how they could engage with forest carbon markets associated with their landholdings (by Mass Audubon and MA DCR).

  • Forest Carbon: An essential natural solution for climate change

    Resource category: Related Tools

    This publication provides a framework for understanding the role carbon plays within forests, and the impacts and trade-offs of various land use options and decisions on forest carbon balances in New England (from UMass Amherst and the University of Vermont).

  • Increasing Forest Resiliency for an Uncertain Future

    Resource category: Related Tools

    This publication provides a framework to help landowners assess and address a variety of stressors, including climate change, on their forest land in New England (from UMass Amherst and the University of Vermont).

  • Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness Program Transferable Tools

    Resource category: Other Massachusetts Resources

    "This webpage features deliverables from projects funded by Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness Program Action Grants that can be useful tools, templates, and examples for municipalities to use for climate resilience projects." Please note the TNC Nature-based Solutions tool, and the MAPC Climate Resilient Land Use Strategies.

  • Resilient MA

    Resource category: Other Massachusetts Resources

    "Climate change clearinghouse for the Commonwealth" including curated information, interactive mapping, and grant funding opportunities.

Contact us
Scott Jackson, University of Massachusetts Extension, conservation[at]umass[dot]edu