H. Scott Butterfield, T. Rodd Kelsey, and Abigail K. Hart, Editors
As the world population grows, so does the demand for food, putting unprecedented pressure on agricultural lands. At the same time, climate change, soil degradation, and water scarcity mean that productivity of many of these lands is deteriorating. In many desert dryland regions, drinking wells are drying up and the land above them is sinking, soil salinity is increasing, and poor air quality is contributing to health problems in farm communities. "Rewilding" the least productive of these cultivated landscapes offers a sensible way to reverse the damage from intensive agriculture. These ecological restoration efforts can recover natural diversity while guaranteeing the long-term sustainability of the remaining farms and the communities they support. Rewilding Agricultural Landscapes, a new book from Island Press and edited by TNC staff, examines what it would take to retire eligible farmland and restore functioning natural ecosystems. Rewilding Agricultural Landscapes uses the southern Central Valley of California, which is one of the most productive and important agricultural regions in the world, as a case study for returning a balance to agricultural lands and natural ecosystems. The lessons in Rewilding Agricultural Landscapes will be useful to conservation leaders, policymakers, groundwater agencies, and water mangers looking for inspiration and practical advice solving the complicated issues of agricultural sustainability and water management.
Visit Island Press to learn more and for ordering information.
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Golet G.H., Kristen E. Dybala, Joeseph G. Silvera, Adam Henderson, Jennifer Isola, David H. Wright, Ron Melcer Jr., and Danika Tsao.
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A.D. Binley, J.O. Hanson, O.J. Robinson, G.H. Golet, J.R. Bennett
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Nisi A, H Welch, S Brodie, C Liephardt, R Rhodes, E Hazen, JV Redfern, TA Branch, A S Barreto, J Calambokidis, T Clavelle, L Dares, A de Vos, S Gero, J A. Jackson, RD Kenney, D Kroodsma, R Leaper, DJ McCauley, SE Moore, E Ovsyanikova, S Panigada, CV Robinson, T White, JR Wilson, B Abrahms
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The Nature Conservancy
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Michael J Clifford, Peter Gower, Tanya Anderson, Jaina Moan, Mickey Hazelwood, Sophie S Parker, Laurel Saito
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Bryan DeAngelis, Elliot Hall
We must radically increase the pace, scale, and impact of restoration to recover the abundance, resilience, and benefits of coastal ecosystems. This project explored the current size of the…
Carrie A. Schloss, D. Richard Cameron, Bradley Franklin, Christoph Nolte, Scott A. Morrison
In response to biodiversity declines worldwide, over 190 nations committed to protect 30% of their lands and waters by 2030 . As these jurisdictions move from planning to implementation, we propose a…
Erin. E. Conlisk, Gregory H. Golet, Mark D. Reynolds, Nathan Elliot. and Matthew E. Reiter
Shorebirds are the second fastest declining group of birds in North America. To reverse this trend, The Nature Conservancy has been implementing BirdReturns, a habitat incentive program that pays…
William T. Bean, H. Scott Butterfield, Jeanette K. Howard, Thomas J. Batter
In this paper, the authors used a variety of habitat suitability modeling approaches to begin to understand where pronghorn may exist in the future in California under different climate change…
Lucy Genua, Brad Anderson, Meghan Bowen, Genelle Ives, Owen Liu, Thomas Paschos, H. Scott Butterfield, Kelly Easterday, Mark Reynolds, James H. Thorne
In this paper, the authors used historical vegetation data, from both aerial photographs and field transects, to assess the change in major vegetation types at the Dangermond Preserve over the last…
Kate Kauer, Lyall Bellquist, Jenn Humberstone, Vienna Saccomanno, Dwayne Oberhoff, Sherry Flumerfelt, Mary Gleason
This 2024 paper by TNC staff and partners represents the first U.S.-wide synthesis of fisheries trusts – which are community-based entities that acquire and manage fishery privileges with the…
Michael J. Clifford, Sophie S. Parker, Laurel Saito, Brian S. Cohen, Naomi S. Fraga
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Nicholas A. Povak, Patricia N. Manley, Kristen N. Wilson
This study presents a methodology to integrate spatial assessments of current and future forest conditions to understand the potential to achieve desired conditions under climate change with ongoing…
Sophie S. Parker, Michael J. Clifford, Brian S. Cohen
To address climate change, the United States is incentivizing the production of electric vehicles containing domestically derived lithium batteries. Extracting this lithium may have environmental…
Michael Clifford, Sophie Parker, Matt Rader, Lydia Bailey, Naomi Fraga, Chris Hass, Estella Hernandez, Jan Kempf, Lois Merkler, Michael Swink
The Amargosa River supports one of the most outstanding suites of endemic and imperiled species in the world. In 2019, TNC acquired the Atwood Preserve in the river’s headwaters, the…
Claire L. Schollaert, Jihoon Jung, Joseph Wilkins, Ernesto Alvarado, Jill Baumgartner, Julien Brun, Tania Busch Isaksen, Jamie M. Lydersen, Miriam E. Marlier, Julian D. Marshall, Yuta J. Masuda, Charles Maxwell, Christopher W. Tessum, Kristen N. Wilson, Nicholas H. Wolff, June T. Spector
By modeling six scenarios of forest management, wildfire, and health impacts from smoke from 1981-2020, we found that moderate amounts of prescribed fire can decrease harmful particulate matter…
William T. Bean, H. Scott Butterfield, Craig Fiehler, David Hacker, Jeanette K. Howard, Russell Namitz, Brandon Swanson, Thomas J. Batter
TNC launched a Water for Wildlife project motivated by understanding the importance of standing free water across the season for wildlife in general, but most importantly for those species sensitive…