Conservation Easements

In this episode, NCAT Sustainable Agriculture Specialist Colin Mitchell interviews Chad Ellis, CEO of the Texas Agriculture Land Trust (TALT) and a board member of the Ecosystem Service Marketplace Consortium (ESMC). Colin works out of NCAT's Southwest Regional Office in San Antonio, Texas, and among other projects works with NCAT's ATTRA sustainable agriculture program. Colin and Chad discuss the role of TALT in the creation and monitoring of conservation easements for working farms and ranches. Chad also explains conservation and mitigation banking and how TALT helps facilitate those opportunities. Chad and Colin then move on to talk about ecosystem service markets, especially carbon markets, in detail. Chad highlights the work being done at the ESMC, including current pilot projects and the program's future ability to allow farmers and ranchers to gain market credits from multiple benefits they provide - including carbon storage, water quality and quantity, and wildlife habitat conservation. This podcast is part of a project conducted in collaboration with Dr. Barbara Bellows of Tarleton State University and the Texas Institute of Applied Environmental Research and is funded by Southern Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SSARE) through research and education grant LS17-277, Indicators and Soil Conservation Practices for Soil Health and Carbon Sequestration. A special thanks to Dr. Bellows and SSARE. ATTRA Resources: Payments for Ecosystem Services Other Resources Texas Agricultural Land Trust Ecosystem Service Marketplace Consortium Southern Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Texas Institute for Applied Environmental Research Please call ATTRA with any and all of your sustainable agriculture questions at 800-346-9140 or e-mail us at [email protected]. Our two dozen specialists can help you with a vast array of topics, everything from farm planning to pest management, from produce to livestock, and soils to aquaculture. You can get in touch with NCAT/ATTRA specialists and find our other extensive, and free, sustainable-agriculture publications, webinars, videos, and other resources at NCAT/ATTRA's website. You also can stay in touch with NCAT at its Facebook page. Keep up with NCAT/ATTRA's SIFT farm at its website. Also check out NCAT's Regional Offices' websites and Facebook Pages! Southwest Regional Office: Website / Facebook Western Regional Office: Website / Facebook Rocky Mountain West Regional Office: Facebook Gulf States Regional Office: Website / Facebook Southeast Regional Office: Website / Facebook