February 29th, 2024
By Michael Shulman
AFT Title Sponsor for 2024 Texas Land Conservation Conference
Meeting Participation Exemplifies AFT’s Leadership on Land Conservation in Texas
(Austin, TX) American Farmland Trust continues its leadership within the Texas land conservation community as the title sponsor for the 2024 Texas Land Conservation Conference, taking place Feb. 28 – March 1 in Austin.
“American Farmland Trust is honored to be the Title Sponsor of the Texas Land Conservation Conference again this year,” said AFT’s Texas Director, Sarah Fulton-Smith. “As a Member of the Texas Land Trust Council, AFT continues to partner and engage with organizations across our mission to protect agricultural lands for future generations of Texans. We look forward to continuing to grow these partnerships and collaboration as we increase our capacity in the state.”
In response to the AFT Farms Under Threat: 2040 analysis highlighting that Texas has more threatened agricultural land than any other state, AFT’s boots on the ground presence in the region has grown over the past year. AFT is building a team that is focused on increasing the resilience and viability of Texas’ farmers and ranchers and the lands that they steward through providing direct technical assistance to producers to advance conservation agriculture, Smart Solar principles, and regenerative grazing.
As part of its Texas-focused work, AFT will present preliminary results of a pilot study to prioritize the conservation of agricultural lands that are also important wildlife habitat in partnership with Texas A&M Natural Resource Institute, Texas Agricultural Land Trust, and Conservation Science Partners. AFT’s lead Spatial Scientist, Theresa Nogeire McRae, will present these preliminary results in a panel discussion with The Nature Conservancy, and Audubon Texas titled “Working Lands for Wildlife Habitat: Tools for Prioritizing and Evaluating Impact.”
“The competing demands on Texas land are enormous,” said Nogeire McRae. “In order to preserve these vibrant natural resources, we need to use both collaboration and smart tools to prioritize working lands for multiple uses.”
For more information about American Farmland Trust’s growing Texas program contact Sarah Fulton-Smith at sfultonsmith@farmland.org.
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American Farmland Trust is the only national organization that takes a holistic approach to agriculture, focusing on the land itself, the agricultural practices used on that land, and the farmers and ranchers who do the work. AFT launched the conservation agriculture movement and continues to raise public awareness through our No Farms, No Food message. Since our founding in 1980, AFT has helped permanently protect over 7.8 million acres of agricultural lands, advanced environmentally-sound farming practices on millions of additional acres and supported thousands of farm families.