CCF’s Ecological and Public Value Assessment

Now, more than ever, the need for conservation is at an all-time high. Climate change, sea level rise, habitat loss and pollution have stressed our natural world. Here at the Chatham Conservation Foundation, we strive to acquire and protect the natural land left in Chatham. But just as important is the stewardship of the land we already possess. With 224 parcels and around 800 acres protected, it is a hard task to keep up with the work needed to preserve or restore all these vastly different areas.  Prioritizing our time at our small non-profit is essential. At the beginning of this year, the CCF tasked its staff, trustees, and board members with undergoing a new project: the Ecological and Public Value Assessment. This assessment gives a score to every assemblage so we can rank them in order of ecological and public importance. This will help CCF prioritize stewardship efforts to assemblages that have the greatest importance to our native species and provide the most benefits to our community. 

  This process was a large undertaking and helped CCF take a deeper look at the different ecological layers a conserved piece of land has. Most of our landmark properties scored on the higher end of the spectrum, which was unsurprising, but a few of our lesser-known properties scored just as high. By looking at all the different ways a property can hold conservation value, we got a better picture of its true ecological importance. Just because a property is small or has invasive species or only has a few habitats doesn’t mean that it is not contributing to the wellbeing of our natural communities in other ways. With all this new information we can better focus our efforts so that we have the best outcome in our goal of improving the natural landscapes of Chatham. We can also use this new tool to track improvements and assess properties that CCF might be looking to acquire. By better understanding the status of our individual assemblages, we can now start to see the forest for the trees and maximize CCF’s land stewardship efforts for greatest impact.

Assessment Methodology 

For the ecological evaluation, we looked at various criteria to assess ecological importance.  Using state-provided data on MassMapper, we were able to determine high priority habitat coverage, connectivity with other conservation land, and wetland presence. We also identified the presence of specific habitat types (i.e. salt marsh, pine forest, etc.) and invasive species pressure based on site visit observations. Finally, to determine public value we graded each assemblage based on how visible and scenic it is, if the public uses it for recreation, and if it falls in the drinking water protection zone.  After all this information was gathered for an assemblage, it was entered into a data sheet and scored via an algorithm that reflected an effort to eliminate bias towards any one criterion.  By grading against so many different criteria and utilizing data from multiple state environmental agencies, we developed a well-rounded assessment methodology. The side benefit of establishing this data collection is that CCF staff can now quickly and easily identify key environmental features of a property, such as whether it has a high connectivity or a certain habitat type.  

Chart by Eljah Valentine