Land Stewardship in Southeast Michigan

Phosphorus Reduction Auction in the Kalamazoo River Watershed

This project aims to reduce excessive phosphorus loading in the Kalamazoo River Watershed associated with agricultural sources through a market and performance-based agricultural incentive program. Performance-based programs can provide a more targeted approach to investing in conservation when program funding is limited.

Pay-for-Performance Agricultural Conservation: Rabbit River Watershed

This project addressed sediment loading associated with agricultural sources, such as cropland erosion, livestock access, and road/bridge crossings that impacts habitat and water quality in the Rabbit River through a performance-based program for implementing agricultural best management practices. In addition to targeting sedimentation, the project also provided co-benefits of addressing other pollutants such as nutrients and pathogens, largely stemming from livestock access, and pesticides/chemicals, resulting from cropland erosion.

Examining the State of Land Stewardship in Illinois

Roughly 50,000 acres of the 1.5 million total acres of conserved land in Illinois are owned by non-governmental conservation groups, also known as conservation land trusts. Traditionally, conservation land trusts have protected land, often restored it, and later transferred it to government entities for long-term ownership, which effectively transfers the responsibility of land stewardship to those governmental entities.

Land Tenure and Conservation in Agriculture

Agricultural land management decisions are situated within a complex and interconnected system, influenced by a suite of social and economic factors, many of which are difficult to control. Landowners can, but often don’t, take it upon themselves to drive stewardship of their land. This report focuses on land ownership and tenure as levers to increase conservation and rebuild soil health in the Midwest, where over 50% of the agricultural land is leased.