Policy News | NESAWG

For Melissa Law, one of four farmers at Bumbleroot Farm in Windham, Maine, climate change is deeply personal, as she has been forced to adapt to more erratic weather patterns and more severe storms in the six years she and her partners have owned their farm. Bumbleroot has endured drought and hail storms, high winds and intense rain events. Because of this, Melissa clearly sees the need for more state and federal action to help farm businesses weather the impacts of climate change and incentivize farmers to use practices that mitigate the impacts for the broader community. This understanding led Melissa to become the farmer representative on the Maine Climate Council (MCC) – a group of diverse stakeholders tasked with establishing strategies to help the state meet its greenhouse gas reduction targets and ensure the resiliency of communities, industries, and people across the state. Melissa and Ellen Griswold, Maine Farmland Trust’s Policy and Research Director, are part of the Natural and Working Lands Working Group (NWLWG), a MCC working group charged with developing recommendations related to agriculture, forestry, and natural lands. Amanda Beal, Commissioner of the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, is a member of the MCC and one of the NWLWG Co-Chairs.