Wealthy white homeowners more likely to see financial benefits from land conservation, study shows

Land conservation projects do more than preserve open space and natural ecosystems. They can also boost property values for homeowners living nearby. But a new study finds that those financial benefits are unequally distributed among demographic groups in the U.S.The study, by researchers from the University of Rhode Island and University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, found that new housing wealth associated with land conservation goes disproportionately to people who are wealthy and white.

Improving Georgia land conservation through algorithms

A team of University of Georgia researchers has created a model to help land developers and public officials identify the land that is best suited for conservation. Led by Fabio Jose Benez-Secanho, a former UGA graduate student, and Puneet Dwivedi, associate professor in the Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, this first-of-its-kind algorithm considers a variety of factors not included in other models when calculating the value of land for conservation.

ESF’s Center for Native Peoples and the Environment and The Nature Conservancy Embark on Transformational Partnership

A new partnership between the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry’s (ESF) Center for Native Peoples and the Environment (CNPE) and The Nature Conservancy (TNC) will serve as a bridge between traditional ecological knowledge and Western scientific approaches, embracing a “two-eyed” way of seeing and informing conservation.

“Ghost Forests” Expanding Along Northeast U.S. Coast

Why are “ghost forests” filled with dead trees expanding along the mid-Atlantic and southern New England coast? Higher groundwater levels linked to sea-level rise and increased flooding from storm surges and very high tides are likely the most important factors, according to a Rutgers study on the impacts of climate change that suggests how to enhance land-use planning.