Toolbox of Techniques
This page includes useful case studies, methods, resources, software, and trainings suited for the unique needs of coastal land trusts and their partners. The links below lead to information in various forms, including pdf documents  , software  , web-based  , and trainings  .
Case Studies | Methods | Resources | Software | Training
- Coastal Choices: A communications toolkit containing a series of videos with accompanying resources and guidebooks that feature how five diverse coastal communities have taken creative measures to enhance community life and sustain economic health through land conservation.
- Community-based Restoration Program: The Nature Conservancy partners with local communities and the federal government to fund coastal habitat restoration.
- Conserving Wetlands and Mitigating Hazards: An example of conservation planning by The Nature Conservancy in the Gulf of Mexico that meets objectives in biodiversity conservation and coastal hazard mitigation.
- Flood Mitigation Through Land Preservation: In Florida, the St. Johns River Water Management District has been involved in land acquisition (through conservation easements, management, or ownership) for nonstructural flood protection and conservation.
- Greenseams: The Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District and The Conservation Fund, with assistance from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, have acquired land through sales or conservation easements to reduce flooding risks in areas encountering development pressures.
- Maine Coast Protection Initiative: An effort to increase the pace and quality of land protection by enhancing the capacity of Maine's conservation community to preserve the unique character of the Maine coast for the benefit of the people of Maine and beyond.
- Patience and Persistence Rewarded on Fidalgo Bay: Critical estuarine habitat along Puget Sound is protected, thanks to the unflagging efforts of Skagit Land Trust and committed stakeholders.
- Restoring Sears Point: Stakeholders and planners led by Sonoma Land Trust have designed a groundbreaking wetlands and habitat restoration plan in northern California.
- Wells Reserve GIS Center Helps Safeguard Natural Resources: In southern Maine, the Wells Reserve GIS Center gives organizations and agencies the needed know-how in geospatial technology, so that they can make the case for conservation.
- Land Trust Alliance's Strategic Conservation Curriculum: The curriculum offers interested land trusts a process to create and proactively implement their own strategic conservation vision that accelerates the pace and quality of land conservation.
- The Conservation Fund's Green Infrastructure: This approach to land use planning is a strategic conservation method that addresses the ecological, social, and economic impacts of sprawl and the accelerated consumption and fragmentation of open land. It is an effort that provides a framework for smart conservation growth.
- The Nature Conservancy's Conservation Approach: Identifies priorities, strategies, actions, and measures of success, and can be applied by organizations at any scale to conserve coastal and ocean resources.
- Coastal Choices: A communications toolkit containing a series of videos with accompanying resources and guidebooks that feature how five diverse coastal communities have taken creative measures to enhance community life and sustain economic health through land conservation.
- Ecoregional Assessments: The Nature Conservancy identifies areas on land and at sea that, if conserved, will protect nearshore marine biodiversity. Assessments have been completed for much of North America and are available for download.
- Ecosystem-based Management Tools Network: An alliance of developers, practitioners, and training providers working to develop EBM tools and support their use in coastal and marine developments.
- LandScope America: Coming soon! This interactive website will allow users to choose accurate, up-to-date conservation data and base maps that will be available as aerial, topographic imagery, or detailed maps depicting conservation themes. The site will also bring together maps, data, and stories about natural places and present them in highly dynamic and accessible formats.
- Practitioner's Toolkit for Coastal and Ocean Resource Leasing and Ownership: Proprietary strategies for coastal and ocean conservation such as leasing and ownership developed by The Nature Conservancy.
- The Nature Conservancy's Community-based Restoration Program: TNC partners with local communities and the federal government to fund coastal habitat restoration.
- The NOAA Restoration Center's Community-Based Restoration Program: This program emphasizes partnerships and collaborative strategies built around restoring coastal habitats and improving the environmental quality of local communities.
- CanViz : A visualization software for the coast that can be used when considering development alternatives. Users can view potential impacts of alternatives by adding visual content, such as digital photos or imagery, to create computer-generated simulations.
- Ecosystem-based Management Tools Database: A searchable database of marine and coastal ecosystem-based management (EBM) tools compiled by the EBM Tools Network, an alliance of developers, practitioners, and training providers working to develop EBM tools and support their use in coastal and marine environments.
- Habitat Priority Planner: This GIS-based tool is designed to help users make and prioritize decisions about habitat restoration and conservation. Users can generate pertinent reports, maps, and data tables, as well as evaluate and compare different land use scenarios.
- Nonpoint Source Pollution and Erosion Comparison Tool (N-SPECT): A GIS-based tool to help coastal managers and local decision makers predict potential water-quality impacts from nonpoint source pollution and erosion under different land cover change scenarios.
- Coastal Training Program: The National Estuarine Research Reserve System provides up-to-date scientific information and skill-building opportunities on coastal resource issues of concern to local communities such as coastal habitat conservation and restoration, biodiversity, water quality, and sustainable resource management.
- The Conservation Fund's Green Infrastructure: This approach to land use planning is a strategic conservation method that addresses the ecological, social, and economic impacts of sprawl and the accelerated consumption and fragmentation of open land. It is an effort that provides a framework for smart conservation and growth.
- Conservation Leadership Network: The Conservation Fund provides training on topics such as conservation geographic information systems (GIS), gateway communities, green infrastructure, fundraising, land stewardship, organizational management, and leadership skills.
- GIS Tools for Strategic Conservation Planning: A hands-on GIS course that teaches spatial analysis techniques for green infrastructure network design.
- Land Conservation Leadership Program: The program offers intensive training opportunities for land conservationists, providing experienced course leaders; small class sizes; shared learning and networking opportunities; applicability and relevance to land conservationists; and specialized study of Land Trust Standards and Practices.
- Land Trust Alliance's Strategic Conservation Curriculum: The curriculum offers interested land trusts a process to create and proactively implement their own strategic conservation vision that accelerates the pace and quality of land conservation.
- NOAA Coastal Services Center: A range of courses designed to build the capacity of organizations involved with managing and protecting coastal resources are offered. The Center tailors technical geospatial, topical, and process skill-building courses to the needs of different coastal management communities, including coastal conservation groups.
- The Learning Center: The Land Trust Alliance recently launched this online resource for land trust training and networking. This interactive web site is part of the Standards and Practices Curriculum, which will help strengthen your organization and help you prepare for accreditation.
We welcome your comments! Please let us know what resources and information would be most useful to have on this site. Contact brooke.chakides@noaa.gov.
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