Climate-smart lands? We can invest in them this year.
Climate change will have big impacts on Minnesota’s landscapes, from grasslands and farms in the Southwest to the boreal forests in the Northeast. As the climate change era unfolds, we can proactively invest in and manage our state’s lands – both to reduce climate change impacts and to better prepare our lands for what’s to come.
In this week’s climate in all budgets essay, we delve into all things lands. We’ll talk trees, legumes, healthy soils, and more!
Before going into the ways our Minnesota state budget can make climate-smart land investments, let’s look at why lands matter so much in a climate-changing Minnesota.
Minnesota’s lands provide major benefits for our communities. First off, there is the fact that Minnesota’s lakes, forests, and landscapes are the foundation of so much of what we love about our state. Even more, lands provide a whole bunch of benefits that make our communities healthier and benefit our economy.
Here are just a few examples:
Forested landscapes, grasslands, and farmlands with continuous living cover absorb water and slow it down during big rain events. These functions help keep water clean and prevent flooding. As big rainstorms increase with climate change, healthy forest, grasslands, and farmlands will matter even more.
Forests, grasslands, and peatlands all store a bunch of carbon, helping to reduce the level of climate-polluting emissions from our state.
Urban trees and green spaces are a big deal for keeping our cities cool. This cooling effect will matter even more as climate change ramps up the number of really hot days in our state.
The climate benefits of good land management are clear, so much so that climate-smart natural and working lands is the second goal of Minnesota’s Climate Action Framework.
So, what would climate-smart investments in lands look like at the legislature this year? Three big categories stand out – trees and forests, soil health, and grassland and peatland conservation.
Trees and forests are great for our climate (and our health)
Trees are magic, rooting deep into the ground and stretching to the sky. They provide huge benefits to people by making our cities cooler, keeping water clean, and more.
I was really excited to see Rep. Leign Finke and Senator Tou Xiong introduce what is essentially a trees omnibus bill. The bill would make a bunch of climate-smart investments in trees and forests including:
$18 million for various programs to ramp up reforestation on state lands and protect forest health
$7 million to promote to encourage and provide incentives for tree-planting on private lands
$16 million for grants to local governments to remove and replant shade trees (unfortunately, a lot of cities need help not only planting trees, but removing them because of the destruction from the Emerald Ash Borer).
$10 million for a state nursery, and $400,000/year for accelerated seed collection. These investments are essential for ramping up the capacity to plant more trees across Minnesota.
Many of these investments mirror proposals in Governor Walz’s budget recommendations, and we hope this level of investment gets made in trees and forests this year.
Soil health is good for the climate
Farmers have a unique role to play in making sure Minnesota’s agricultural lands are prepared for climate change, soil health improvements are a big part of that.
Healthy soil practices include managed rotational grazing, cover crops, no-till farming, and perennial cropping. These healthy-soil practices are great for the climate because they help sequester more carbon in soil and make soil spongier. This spongier soil soaks up water during big rain events and holds onto it in drier conditions, which helps build climate resilience.
Governor Walz’s budget recommends a new program to accelerate adoption of soil health practices with $13.4 million of annual funding. This investment is just plain climate-smart.
The governor’s budget also recommends adding a climate implementation coordinator position at the Department of Agriculture, which would be the first solely climate-focused role in the agency. With a relatively small investment of $150,000/year, Minnesota would be able to ramp up our state’s ability to pull federal climate funding into Minnesota and grow climate-smart agriculture practices.
Farmers are not the only ones who can contribute to soil health. Minnesota’s Lawns to Legumes program provides support and incentives to convert lawns to native plants, building carbon sequestration and climate resilience while doing so. Rep. Tabke and Sen. Morrison introduced a bill that would invest $4 million in this program.
Grasslands, wetlands, peatlands, oh my!
The final category of climate-smart lands investments are in conserving a range of ecosystems in the state – grasslands, wetlands, and peatlands. Improving grasslands sequesters carbon through the deeper roots of prairie grasses. Healthy wetlands serve as natural carbon sinks. And peatlands are some of the more carbon-rich ecosystems on the planet. Minnesota has a range of programs that make investments in conserving and improving these systems including the Reinvest in Minnesota and Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program. Growing investments in these programs will help build Minnesota’s climate resilience.
Our lands, and the waters they connect to, are the foundation of who we are as Minnesotans. This year we can make real climate-smart investments to make sure Minnesota’s lands are helping grow the climate future we all deserve.
