12/27

Conservation Easements and Christmas Trees

Amidst our world’s environmental crisis, reminders of the importance of conservation are everywhere. This holiday season, recent reports explained the environmental threat to a key symbol of the holiday season: the Christmas tree.

According to a Quartz article published this December, the direct and indirect impacts of climate change in America are having drastic impacts on Christmas tree populations in our nation. Read more on its impacts:

Droughts in 2012 and 2014 and spring floods in 2019 have taken a toll on plantings, particularly young saplings…

These extreme conditions decrease sapling success rate, which contribute to tree shortages when the planted stock would have matured for harvesting. In addition, higher average summer and winter temperatures are increasing tree mortality by worsening disease and pest pressures, making trees less resilient.

So what can we do to ensure this holiday symbol remains healthy and sustained for years to come? Conservation easements can help. With a vast amount of our nation’s land under private ownership, conservation easements can preserve the precious lands near and around where pine trees are planted, while protecting them from the development that leads to harmful pollution and extreme weather conditions.

Additionally, this land protection is forever, meaning the benefits of a conservation easement extend to future generations. One of the most important things we can do now for our descendants is to be forward-thinking about the impact our behavior has on the world they will inherit.

Conservation easements protect the habitats that drive our world, including those that are used to grow the plants that are symbols of the holiday season. That’s why Partnership for Conservation is working to protect them.