Agriculture and Climate Change

Climate Change Actions

Climate Resilience Actions for Thurston County and South Puget Sound. A report assembled by the Thurston Regional Planning Council.

A few actions related to agriculture and climate change in the region include:

• P-01: Increase funding, education, and incentives for private landowners to manage lands in ways that enhance ecological and economic resilience (e.g., protecting and restoring forests, prairies, and shoreline/riparian areas)
  • Incentives can include expanding Thurston County’s Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) program, conservation easement funding, as well as expanding market-based approaches for ecosystem service payments or credits (e.g., for water quality, carbon sequestration and flood management).
• P-07: Increase organic matter content and water retention in soils within urban and agricultural settings.
• P-08: Increase urban agriculture and biointensive farming methods to maximize crop yields and ecosystem services.
• P-12: Grow woody perennial crops that help conserve water, store carbon, and provide other ecosystem services.
  • This action — which includes planting fruit trees and other crops whose woody stems and branches don’t die off each winter — has both climate adaptation and mitigation co-benefits.