Solutions from the Land: Developing a New Vision for United States Agriculture, Forestry, and Conservation

Overview

Re-imagining North American agriculture

In 2009, a dialogue began among leaders in the United States farm and forestry communities, global and national experts, policy makers, and environmental organizations. This project became known as Solutions from the Land. The participants have varied backgrounds and perspectives, but we share a common premise: the future will be filled with challenges, opportunities, and risks that will require cooperative thinking and action if we are to keep the land — and, by extension, our human communities — healthy and productive.

With a major new effort

Ultimately, Solutions from the Land seeks to develop a robust vision for American agriculture, forestry, and conservation that will equip us to meet the multiple needs of the 21st century through adaptive, resilient land management. This report outlines ongoing land management challenges and proposes a vision for producing more agricultural and forestry products and ecosystem services with fewer inputs and environmental impacts. It also offers recommendations for realizing this vision, with several near-term actions that collaborating partners might undertake to accelerate success.