AGLT 2023 Annual Meeting

May 2 at Georgia Wildlife Federation

The Association of Georgia Land Trusts hosted its 5th Annual Meeting on May 2. More than 50 people were in attendance and 27 conservation organizations were represented. Thank you to McRae, Smith, Peek, Harman, & Monroe, LLP for sponsoring the meeting. Thanks to the Georgia Wildlife Federation for hosting us and to our many presenters and contributors for their excellent presentations and follow-up discussions.  

This year's meeting was packed with information and the opportunity to learn more about Georgia's land conservation landscape in 2023.

Presentations and discussion opportunities focused on:

  • Georgia's new PACE program, the Georgia Farmland Conservation Fund

  • Georgia DNR's land conservation GIS efforts

  • Updates on the Georgia Conservation Tax Credit

  • Georgia State Wildlife Action Plan (SWAP) revisions

  • Updates on the 2023 Farm Bill

  • Georgia Forestry Commission's Forest Legacy Program

Here is a link to all presentations and handouts from the meeting.

During the meeting, Lori Faeth with the Land Trust Alliance updated us on the collective effort to develop a Forest Conservation Easement Program (FCEP) within Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) to support private land conservation on working forests. Here are the FCEP fact sheet and FAQ.

Additionally, Katherine Moore of the Georgia Conservancy mentioned the organization's Georgia Now and Forever Initiative during her presentation on the new Georgia Farmlands Conservation Program. This presentation, which was given to the Georgia Chamber, includes a summary of the significant loss of ag and timberlands that drove Georgia Conservancy’s work in creating and working to pass the Georgia Farmland Conservation Bill/Program. This link will take you to the Georgia Now and Forever storymap, which provides a narrative and detailed mapping perspective on approximately 50 years of landcover change in Georgia.

Finally, Georgia Department of Natural Resources (GA DNR) is working on updates and revisions to the land conservation mapping data, which should be released later this year. AGLT will be following up with land trusts about submitting their conservation lands to GA DNR and reviewing existing data for accuracy.