For over 40 years, Groundswell Conservancy has been protecting special places in and around Dane County. Now, they are focusing on how land trusts like theirs can help mitigate climate change.
Land trusts are community-based nonprofits that work to permanently conserve land. One method operates by land trusts buying land outright and managing it themselves. Another method is purchasing conservation easements. These voluntary legal agreements with landowners permanently limit uses of the land to preserve its conservation value. Groundswell conserves land both ways, but typically does not hold on to the land it helps protect. Instead, land purchased is usually gifted to conservation-minded managers such as the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. In the case of conservation easements, Groundswell ensures the land remains privately owned with those protections in place.
Protecting land is becoming increasingly important in fighting climate change. Land protection can make our landscapes and communities more resilient to climate impacts. One of Groundswell’s priorities—keeping farmland, farmland—helps protect soil and water quality and ensures places to grow local food. Farm soil is a limited resource; once converted to another use, it is gone forever.
Dane County and the surrounding area is home to some of the richest farmland in the United States. As some regions of the U.S. are projected to struggle agriculturally, farmers here are able to grow a wider variety of crops than those in many other regions. Unfortunately, in a span of only 20 years, Dane County lost 95,500 acres of crop and pastureland.
Groundswell uses conservation easements to help conservation-minded farmers protect productive soils forever. Farmland preservation creates farm-friendlier communities and helps maintain the agricultural infrastructure necessary for our society’s food supply.
Groundswell is also helping address equitable access to farmland. New American farmers, farmers of color, and urban farmers in general all face barriers to securing land to grow food. Steep land prices, limited-term leases, and lack of infrastructure can prevent these farmers from investing in their farming success. Groundswell helps address equitable land access, tenure, and even ownership.
One example of that addressing ownership is their Buy, Protect, Sell (BPS) program. BPS is a land transition model that can help farmers without heirs transfer property to a new generation of producers. Farmers can sell their land to Groundswell at full market value. Groundswell then places an agricultural easement on the property, which reduces its value. Groundswell then sells the land at the reduced value to a farmer in need of land.
At its Westport Farm property in Waunakee, Groundswell addresses land access and tenure. This 10-acre farm is reserved for immigrant HMoob (Hmong) farmers to grow vegetables and flowers for themselves and to sell. These farmers also receive training in land management and soil health. Groundswell’s Community Director Yimmuaj Yang consults with farmers to provide services that bridge language and cultural differences. As Groundswell increases its programming, they will provide more opportunities for HMoob and other BIPOC farmers to access affordable farmland.
Groundswell Conservancy and other land trusts in Wisconsin are helping to build more robust food systems that are better for the climate, help drive rural economies, and keep Wisconsin’s agricultural heritage alive.
