paul leoni
easing the salt: a farmer’s solution to salty soils and rising seas
on the eastern shore of maryland, sea levels are rising faster than the global average, bringing the invisible flood of saltwater intrusion. as salt moves landward with sea level rise, coastal farmers experience yield declines, profit loss, and marsh migration onto their fields.
farmers can enroll these saltwater-intruded properties in conservation easements, or voluntary, legal agreements to limit land use and/or development for present and future landowners. this film explores the decision-making of a farmer enrolled in a conservation easement and the economic and ecological benefits of doing so.