The Board of Water and Soil Resources (BWSR) has acquired federal grant funding through the Alliance to Advance Climate Smart Agriculture for Reinvest in Minnesota (RIM) easements. This $2.1 million grant is designed to enhance conservation easements in the state of Minnesota and support landowner adoption of climate-smart practices. As such, BWSR partnered with Rock Leaf to create an Enhancement Framework that follows the funding requirements.

Rock Leaf designed two surveys of varying detail and accompanying management recommendations. The first survey determines the eligibility of the easement for the specified funding based on landowner interest and general characteristics of the site. Should the easement be eligible, the second survey assesses how the easement could be enhanced (e.g., improve resiliency by increasing plant diversity, etc.). Finally, Rock Leaf designed management action flowcharts that follow the answers to the questions from the previous two surveys and output action items such as woody vegetation removal, erosion control, native seeding, and so on dependent on the desired ecosystem (e.g., woodland, wetland, or grassland).

This framework (two surveys and flowcharts) was launched at the beginning of October 2024.