I was trying to help a local group fight an industrial facility on an important piece of land a year or so ago and spent a lot of time pulling GIS data for them - which got me thinking. Are there any websites or groups that use GIS and crowdfunding to identify high-value ecological parcels and conserve them? The constant data center news/public lands/general state of the environment in the US has me at a point where I can’t sit idly by, and I’m not in a position to transition careers at this precise moment, so I’m hoping I can maybe work with people/a group to start doing this in the meantime (also not in a position to be out here solo bankrolling acres at this precise moment, but I can do something).
I was also thinking (smaller scale) of working to donate trees to cities/parks/schools to improve tree canopy coverage and increase native plant populations. I’m so tired of driving by acres of grass that should at least have some oak trees on it.
I already give where I can to larger conservation orgs, but there is increasing data (especially in mid-Atlantic and NE US) that small- to mid-size parcels are going to become more important (as there are simply fewer large tracts of land that come up for sale) and I (for survival) have to believe that strategic acquisition of those, even on a small scale, could help.
If anyone knows groups that are working on this (bonus points if it’s in New Jersey/PA), I’d be very grateful. Alternatively, if you also lie awake at night thinking about this DM me because we have to start somewhere.