STEWARDING LANDS, RESTORING OUR ECOSYSTEMS

By John Bradley

In the past year Claverack and neighboring towns have launched initiatives to update their comprehensive plan. In addition, the Columbia Land Conservancy (CLC) developed a regional conservation plan. Climate change figures prominently in these planning discussions, an important new development from a decade ago. Resilience in the face of climate change and ecosystem health are now becoming key considerations.   

The CLC’S Plan to Conserve Columbia County (CLC Plan ‘26 ) sets four goals, two of which are central to our discussion here:

Goal 1 is to conserve high quality and large forest areas and

Goal 4 is to demonstrate best habitat management practices

To identify the most resilient and ecologically healthy areas in the county, the plan uses GIS maps that have assigned ecological ratings (Healthy Habitats Scoring) to land areas, ranging from highest, higher, high, average and below average for ecosystem health and resilience. Their methodology is well designed. Healthy resilient areas are characterized by strong forest cover, high biodiversity of all life forms, rich nourishing soil, good water flow and retention, low levels of invasives, various microclimates, contiguous landscapes or connectedness and minimal disruption from development. The CLC plan, for instance, identifies the heavily forested mountainous area along the eastern border of the county as highest priority for conservation. 

The mapping methodology used in these planning processes can be useful in other ways. It is essential that planners understand the ecological and resilience issues relating to the two thirds of the landscapes that have scored average and below average. Any land development entails disturbing the ecosystems – clearing vegetation, disrupting water flow, reducing biodiversity, etc. The status of land and its ecosystems in developed areas varies according to the land use – residential, commercial, agricultural or industrial. These are important aspects of sustainability. 

Let's look at the CLC’s climate resiliency map being used in Claverack’s comprehensive planning process which will be completed by the end of 2026.

The map is less useful when we look at land areas with average or below average resilience. The least resilient areas, in shades of brown, are the built up residential and commercial areas.  These areas do not provide the ecological services of the most resilient lands, but they should be stewarded and can be improved to provide more ecosystem services. The neutrally shaded areas (yellowish) areas are mostly agricultural.  Residential, commercial and agricultural land use generally entail ecological degradation just by the nature of development. Effective stewarding generally requires multiple types of action to restore ecosystem functions.  

The ecological status of agriculture depends on the type of crop and the farming practices. For instance, orchards are a carbon sink because trees remove CO₂ from the atmosphere and tilling the soil is not required. Some farming practices have a negative impact due to frequent tilling, overuse of chemicals (pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers), lack of cover crops, soil loss or degradation, water pollution, and heating bare ground. In Claverack and across the County there are many farms which follow organic, biodynamic and other regenerative practices which enhance ecosystem services and minimize negative impacts. Other land uses such as residential, commercial and industrial need a more granular evaluation to identify the opportunities for improving ecological health. The built environment often requires some re-engineering to mitigate its effects on climate such as releasing heat, CO₂ emissions or water loss. Many cities invest in green infrastructure to improve water retention (slow it, spread it, sink it) and increase biodiversity. These mitigation and regeneration efforts can be applied at almost any scale and are often included in towns’ plans.

Upgrading the ecological status of many of these land uses is doable and resources are available. Here are a few resources for help in upping one’s game for ecosystems improvement: 

• Homegrown National Park is a practical approach to restoring local ecosystems starting in your backyard, initiated by the prominent entomologist Doug Tallamy. His book, Nature’s Best Hope: A New Approach to Conservation that Starts in Your Yard, Timber Press, 2020 and his videos (including Nature’s Best Hope Video) discuss how to create home landscapes that enhance local ecosystems.

• Columbia County Soil and Water District (https://www.ccswcd.org/) is ‘a local governmental unit that provides technical assistance and education on water, soil, and related natural resources.’ Of particular relevance for climate resilience are programs to support cover crops, rotational grazing, methane capture and water management.

• Columbia Greene Cornell Cooperative Extension (https://ccecolumbiagreene.org/) provides educational programing on agriculture and natural resources, Master gardening, water quality and watershed resiliency, invasive species, Climate Change and the Environment, and more.

• Columbia Land Conservancy - https://columbialand.org/get-involved/caring-for-land/  is a model conservancy with extensive resources and programing, including conservation areas throughout the County. Their web page section GOCOCO is a comprehensive guide map to access nature and recreation in the county.

In order to improve the local ecosystems of our landscapes, we need to consider the broad relationship between nature and climate. In the words of the Boston based organization Biodiversity for a Livable Climate,  

‘Biodiversity loss is not just the result of climate change, it is a primary driver of climate change. Only solutions that prioritize this web of life will create a truly livable climate for all’ (https://bio4climate.org/).  

Among environmentalists there is a well-established understanding that greenhouse gases play a critical role in warming the planet. Human development over millennia has destroyed the natural biodiversity that regulates climate. Restoring nature and its interdependent ecosystems may be just as important as reducing greenhouse gasses for a habitable and sustainable climate. This poster on stewardship illustrates some of the local ecosystem processes that require evaluation and restoration to attain a resilient environment.

Community and regional planning efforts will benefit from this trend to integrate ecosystem sustainability into local plans. It will enhance the community’s understanding of the insidiousness of climate change and help folks see opportunities to take positive action locally.  Isn’t this part of what planning is supposed to do?

Bibliography - References: 

 Alpha Lo,  On the nature of water and its stewardship , from the Substack   Climate Water Project.com; The importance of protecting and restoring the water cycle is often left out of the contemporary narrative on climate.

Biodiversity for a liveable Climate - https://bio4climate.org/ - A valuable website committed to planetary regeneration:  ‘Nature is climate….  Biodiversity loss is not just the result of Climate Change, it is the primary driver of climate change.  Only solutions that prioritize this web of life will create a truly livable climate for all.’ 

Gabe Brown, Dirt to Soil: One Family’s Journey into Regenerative Farming, 2020, Chelsea Press, a best seller and ‘holy text’ on soil from North Dakota.

Columbia Land Conservancy, The Plan to Conserve Columbia County, is available at: https://columbialand.org/countywide-conservation-plan/ . The CLC website page (https://letsgococo.org/) is a valuable resource for accessing the conservation areas and other recreation opportunity in the county .

The Claverack Climate Resiliency Map is on the town website. Go to: https://townofclaverack.com/documents/town-codes-laws/comprehensive-plan/ and then scroll down to ‘Click HERE’ to view the above maps via Googledocs”. It’s the third map.

Tim Flannery , The Weather Makers: How Man is Changing the CLimate and What it means for Life on Earth, Tim Flannery, 2005, Atlantic Monthly Press, NY;  see also  the  WIkepedia Article on the history of this classic  book.  

Christopher Haines,   Greenhouse Gases: True, but Not the Whole Truth,  Journal of Sustainability Education, July 7, 2022       This article summarizes the history and theory of the predominantly GHG  perspective. Haines was a founder of  https://bio4climate.org/?s=hainesa  a pioneer in publicizing the regenerative ‘Nature is Climate’  perspective.  

Paul Hawken Carbon:The Book of Life, 2025, Viking.  See my review of this book from an earlier Tri Town Newsletter (April-May 2025)  or listen to an Interview with Hawken

Rob Lewis - Millan Millan and the Mystery of the Mediterranean Storms - https://www.resilience.org/stories/2023-07-17/millan-millan-and-the-mystery-of-the-missing-mediterranean-storms/   This is an important story illustrating how land use changes since the Romans impact climate and weather in the Mediterranean basin and all of Europe, a serious omission in the prevailing climate narrative. 

The Nature Conservancy - https://www.nature.org/en-us/ - TNC website has many articles on building resilience in countries across the globe.

Doug Tallamy, Nature’s Best Hope: A New Approach to Conservation that Starts in Your Yard, Timber Press, 2020   Tallamy’s videos discusses how we can create home landscapes that enhance local ecosystems.  Video - https://www.caryinstitute.org/news-insights/lecture-video/natures-best-hope-conservation-starts-your-yard 

E.O. Wilson, Half-Earth: Our Planet’s Fight for Life, 2016, Liveright Publishing; see a summary of reviews - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Half-Earth . This is a compelling argument to conserve and restore a significant portion of the planet’s nature for our species’ survival.