MLTN Infoline – October 2, 2023
Regional Land Trust Meetings Begin | |
| Each fall, Maine Coast Heritage Trust organizes land trust meetings throughout Maine to bring land trust staff, board members, and volunteers together. It’s a chance for land trusts in each region to discuss issues of common interest in their specific area. This year, it will also be a chance to meet MCHT’s new Land Trust Program Director Angela Twitchell. Angela will be using this year’s meetings to hear your concerns, challenges, and ideas on how the Network can support your work. Meetings in Downeast and Penobscot Bay regions have been scheduled for October 4th and October 11th respectively. RSVP by emailing us. Be sure to include which meeting you’d like to attend. Attendees should send discussion topics suggestions as well. Meetings in the Midcoast, Western & Inland, and Southern regions will be schedule in the coming weeks. Details will be available on the MLTN events page as they are set. We look forward to seeing many of you at the meetings this fall! Angela, Jeff, and Donna | |
Managing Your Trails with AllTrails | |
Wednesday, October 18, 2023 via Zoom 12:00-1:00pm Cost is free but registration is required. Hosted by Maine Land Trust Network and Maine Trails Coalition You’ve likely heard of AllTrails. It’s a web application and online community where people can share information about trails they’ve visited and enjoyed. Sounds like a great idea, right? In practice, however, there have been some problems since trail managers were kept out of the loop. They struggled to keep users safe and maintain the lands they have promised to protect in perpetuity. Responding to feedback and requests for more control, AllTrails has created a Public Lands Program. Land trusts and other trail managers can set up an account and then be able to make changes to their trail listings, post alerts, and even get access to useful data. MLTN and the Maine Trails Coalition have teamed up to offer this Lunch & Learn Zoom meeting with Pitt Grewe, Head of Public Land Partnerships at AllTrails. Pitt will explain how the program works, describe how you can participate, and answer questions. Visit the MLTN website for details and to register. | |
The Role of the Board Chair | |
Tuesdays, October 3 through October 24 via Zoom 3:00-4:00pm Cost: $60 for MANP members*, $120 for non-members This event is possible thanks to a partnership between Maine Association of Nonprofits and Nonprofit Association of Washington Whether you’re just stepping into this leadership role or are a seasoned board leader, this training will help you be more effective in your role. You’ll learn how to bring your best leaderful self to the board chair role, artfully facilitate meetings that net results, and improve the leadership work of the board as a whole. Participants will learn about the chair’s responsibility in strengthening and improving the leadership work of the board as a whole. Visit MANP’s website for details and to register. *Most MLTN members are MANP members. Contact Donna to check on your MLTN membership status. | |
The Community Forest Program for Land Trusts | |
Wednesday, October 11, 2023 via Zoom 2:00-3:30pm Cost: FREE The USDA Forest Service’s Community Forest Program is a competitive grant program that provides financial assistance to tribes, local governments and qualified conservation non-profit organizations to acquire and establish community forests that provide community benefits. This Land Trust Alliance webinar will be focused on the role of land trusts in facilitating successful projects through the Community Forest Program. Presenters will share how land trusts can develop strong projects through intentional and inclusive community engagement. Learn more and register on LTA’s website. | |
Visioning a Resilient Future: The Role of Farmland Protection in Reaching Maine’s Climate Goals | |
Wednesday, October 11, 2023 1:00-2:30pm Cost: FREE, registration required Brought to you by Maine Farmland Trust, American Farmland Trust, and Maine Sierra Club Maine is grappling with a changing climate, landscape, economy, and other forces that threaten our regional food system, and way of life, for all people. Maine’s agricultural land is the base of our local food system – what happens to farmland in Maine is critical to securing a vibrant future for farming across the New England region. This Zoom discussion will be useful for Maine stakeholders as well as partners focused on advancing conversation and policy to protect farmland, and by doing so, increase natural solutions to mitigate and combat climate change. Register by clicking here. If you are unable to attend but would still like the information, the recording with be shared with all individuals who register. | |
Maine Volunteer Leadership Conference | |
Wednesday, October 11, 2023 8:00am-5:00pm Snow Pond Center for the Arts, 8 Goldenrod, Sidney Cost: $100 before $40 discount (code Climate23) Land trusts use a lot of volunteers to get their work done! So the Maine Volunteer Conference is a great opportunity in and of itself, but this year it’s especially pertinent because keynote speaker Daniel Zamarrón will be speaking about his “Parks Club” model for stewarding his city’s parks. Use the discount code Climate23 to receive $40 off the registration fee. Get all the conference details, learn about the breakout sessions, and register at VolunteerMaine’s website. | |
Cultivating Strategic Water & Climate Partnerships | |
October 12, 17, 19, and 24, 2023 via Zoom 11:00am-12:30pm Cost: $95 for LTA members, $125 for non-members Climate change and water quality degradation are two of the most pressing problems facing our world. Land trust work provides key solutions to both, but the problems are too complex to handle alone. Collaborative conservation partnerships enable land trusts to make outsized contributions in fighting the climate crisis and improving water quality. Partnerships also enable land trusts to engage more of their communities and attract new funding opportunities to support this work. But effective partnerships do not just happen. They require concerted planning, strong leadership and ongoing commitment from everyone involved. This series of four, 90-minute webinars will be led by the Institute for Conservation Leadership. Through this series, participating teams of land trust staff, board and volunteers will:
Learn more and register at LTA’s website. | |
Developing Equity Informed HR Practices for Your Land Trust | |
Tuesday, October 17, 2023 via Zoom 2:00-3:30pm Cost: $70 for LTA members, $100 for non-members Your organization has recently embarked on a DEI assessment, established a DEI committee for your board, or maybe adopted a work plan to better incorporate equity into your conservation strategies. Now what? A review of your organization’s HR process may offer additional ways for leadership to adopt and maintain a culture of inclusion for your staff, volunteers and members. Following its own development of an updated DEI action plan, Conservation Trust for North Carolina partnered with Big Change Consulting to establish an equity-based employee handbook that is forward-looking, pro-employee, legally compliant and actionable. Hear from CTNC and Big Change about the steps they took to engage staff and board effectively, how the new handbook is continuing CTNC’s commitment to establishing an inclusive workplace environment and how your organization might assess if an HR review is the right next step for your team. Learn more and register on LTA’s website. | |
Succession Planning | |
Thursday, October 19, 2023 via Zoom 2:00-3:30pm Cost: $70 for LTA members, $100 for non-members No matter what, change comes to people and places. Whether by choice or circumstance, staff leaders will transition, and board members will come and go. What happens when a longtime executive director begins to think about retiring? Or an office manager or volunteer coordinator decides to leave for a different position? There are ways you can strategically and adaptively navigate planned and emergency staff or board leadership succession. This 90-minute interactive session will feature presentations, polls, individual reflection, small group conversations and a large group debriefing. Learn more and register on LTA’s website. | |
Increasing Trail Access | |
Thursday, October 19, 2023 9:00am-4:00pm Capital Area Technology Center/Cony High School Augusta Cost: $50 Instruction will be provided by Enock Glidden and Kara Wooldrik with Community Geographics and Maine Trail Finder What does it look like to create trails and outdoor spaces that are more inviting, inclusive, and supportive of people living with different disabilities? How can we rethink outdoor spaces and how can we communicate about them to welcome people who have historically been marginalized in conservation and the outdoors? This workshop combines a series of presentations, hands-on adaptive equipment use, and in-field trail assessments. The workshop aims to share the experiences, needs, and challenges of individuals living with disabilities, and provide concrete suggestions for how to identify, eliminate, and minimize infrastructure and informational barriers that prevent wider access to, and use of, trails and lands. Please note that this workshop is not designed to advise participants on how to build or modify trails to make them fully compliant with federal legislation; rather, instruction focuses on making immediate, attainable shifts to trails, infrastructure, and communications that begin to welcome and accommodate a greater number of people looking to be active outdoors. Details and registration on Maine Trail Finder’s website. Funding support to make this training possible was provided by the Onion Foundation. | |
Jobs in the Conservation Sector | |
Wow! Lots of amazing opportunities have been listed in just the past two weeks! Newest postings here and view the full list on the MLTN jobs page. Coastal Resiliency Specialist (Resource Management Coordinator) – Maine Dept of Marine Resources, Maine Coastal Program Finance Director – Northeast Wilderness Trust Digital and Technical Coordinator – Northeast Wilderness Trust Membership Associate – Maine Island Trail Association Executive Director – Midcoast Conservancy Chief Executive Officer – 7 Lakes Alliance Office Specialist II – Land for Maine’s Future, Department of Agriculture, Conservation, and Forestry Associate Director of Stewardship, Aldermere Farm/Erickson Fields – Maine Coast Heritage Trust Program Manager (Volunteer Services Coordinator) – Maine Conservation Corps Field Team Leader – Maine Conservation Corps 1700-Hour Environmental Steward – Maine Conservation Corps | |
Did You Know? Public Grant Funds List | |
Compiled by Maine Coast Heritage Trust staff, this Public Grant Funds Available for Maine Conservation spreadsheet outlines Federal and State government programs that provide grants for land conservation related activities in Maine. Begin your research here by getting a quick snapshot for each program, including eligible grantees, subject focus, and required match. You will also find web links that lead to more extensive background materials and contact information to help answer additional questions. The spreadsheet has just been updated and now includes a link to the recently released guidebook and interactive funding table that outlines $21.7 billion in funding around climate issues as part of the Inflation Reduction Act & Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. | |