Sowing the Seeds for Tomorrow
The Trust for Tomorrow is a 501 (c)3 non-profit organization headquartered in North Carolina, with active technical assistance programs throughout the United States. The Trust’s programs focus on addressing concerns to help increase farm productivity to ensure a safe and affordable food supply.
Expertise
29,100
Feet of Streams Restored with TFT Technical Assistance
327,057
Acres of Wetland Restoration Technical Assistance
How We Do It
Technical Assistance for Agricultural Producers
Since its inception in 2009, the Trust has focused on providing technical assistance to America’s agricultural producers. By working in partnership with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and local Soil and Water Conservation Districts, the Trust has built a reputation for providing efficient and cost-effective services that assist our nation’s farmers with addressing concerns that negatively impact their ability to supply safe and affordable food. Our specialized experience in conservation planning and best management practice implementation ensures that we make existing farms as productive as possible.
Best Management Practices Project Planning
Determining landowner goals and planning practices that will result in increased productivity and food safety.
Technical Assistance for Agricultural Producers
Land surveying, conservation plans, topographic surveys, project stake-outs, engineering designs including permitting, construction estimates, and erosion & sedimentation plans.
Project Construction and Monitoring
Contractor selection, construction management and quality assurance, as-built certifications, annual practice monitoring and Compatible Use Agreement (CUA) development.
The Trust utilizes a number of best management practices across a diverse range of landscapes to improve their existing conditions and address problem areas identified onsite. Some of these practices include:
Vegetative Management
Brush Management, Herbaceous Weed Control, Prescribed Burning, Forest Stand Improvement, Firebreaks
Habitat Improvement
Wetland Wildlife Management, Upland Wildlife Habitat Management, Wetland Restoration, Wetland Enhancement
Vegetative Establishment
Conservation Cover, Critical Area Planting, Tree and Shrub Site Preparation, Tree/Shrub Establishment
Structural Enhancements
Dike Construction, Fencing, Stream Crossings, Structure for Water Control
Stream and Riparian Buffer Restoration
The Trust is restoring streams and riparian buffers mainly focusing on important watersheds throughout Pennsylvania. We have been awarded grants from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection Growing Greener Program, the Foundation for Pennsylvania Watersheds, and Blair County Conservation District’s Riparian Buffer Restoration Program. Our restorations incorporate natural stream channel design principles to reduce erosion and non-point source pollution, provide important habitat for riparian species such as native brook trout, and improve the recreational experiences and quality of life for local community members.
Since our founding in 2009, we have completed the restoration of over 29,000 linear feet of streams and riparian buffers throughout our focus areas in Pennsylvania. The Trust works in close partnership with our local farmers, landowners, and partners to deliver a targeted, comprehensive landscape approach to the improvement of water quality in these critical watersheds. We have been able to share our our mission, “to foster science education, landscape restoration, habitat conservation, and innovative agriculture to promote sustainable communities and environmental stewardship” amongst our new landowners, surrounding neighbors, volunteer groups, and other partners that have been involved along the way.
Capacity Building and Partnerships
The Trust for Tomorrow takes pride in the connections we create while on the job, from something as small as introducing ourselves to a newly enrolled landowner, to long-term partnerships developed with organizations when the Trust was founded. In our line of work, everyone shares the ultimate goal of restoring habitat and promoting environmental stewardship. By working together and building partnerships with other organizations that share the same mindset, more feet can be put on the ground – quite literally! – to achieve our shared restoration goals.
Providing Staff Assistance
One example of capacity building that the Trust assists with is providing staff positions for the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). Brittany Edwards, one of TFT’s Senior Restoration Specialists, began her career with TFT working in such a position.
Through her shared position with LA NRCS and the Trust, Brittany’s duties included meeting with landowners on-site and in field offices to discuss and implement NRCS easement programs and restoration practices, assisting landowners with existing easement management and maintenance needs, and assisting the ACEP-WRE easement restoration team to spot-check, certify, and perform compliance checks on restoration activities. Brittany assists the Trust with easement restoration, including project planning, installation of conservation practices, practice certifications, and project as-builts.
Similar positions have been filled by the Trust in other states to assist NRCS in achieving their conservation goals.
Partners and Contacts
Identifying, surveying, permitting, restoring, monitoring…the list goes on! There is a long line of tasks to be completed throughout the various services we provide, and the more minds that can meet and come together to achieve these goals, the better. The Trust has a long list of reputable contacts and developed partnerships across the Eastern United States that can ensure that projects and restoration goals are not only completed and met, but done so in an effective and minimally destructive manner.
Having the right people on the job is important to us, and surely important to you. The Trust is proud to work with experienced local contractors through a competitive bid process to benefit small business owners within the local communities and ensure wise use of federal funding. The Trust has a strong commitment to ensuring that our restoration goals equate into tangible on-the-ground results. In our last fiscal year, over 94% of all funding received was spent on our restoration program efforts which, with the help of our partners, restored thousands of acres across the east coast.