The COMMONS Collaborative: Taking Steps Towards a Climate Resilient Future
In pursuit of climate solutions, Point Blue supported the formation of a new partnership: the Changing Organic Matter Management Of National Soils (COMMONS) Collaborative. The COMMONS Collaborative focuses on climate mitigation and resilience on working landscapes. The initial pilot project includes a spatial planning tool to help guide compost application to maximize solid health and carbon storage benefits.
Our Vision: A View from 2050
Looking back from 2050, we have directly responded to climate change with decisive action. We’ve collectively implemented policies to incentivize climate mitigation and resilience approaches in agricultural ecosystems, driving profitability. We’ve leaned into the scientifically-proven benefits of conservation practices, including the use of compost to effectively close the loop returning organic food waste and manure back to the soil from which they came.
As a community, we’re building back the carbon lost from previous intensive practices, rebuilding soil carbon, nutrients, and water holding capacity, restoring healthy soils and a healthy planet.
Our focuses have included:
Restoring soil health and water storage
Increasing land productivity to grow more food and forage
Keeping landscapes green and fire-safe
Increasing carbon storage belowground
A Path to the Future
In order to achieve our 2050 COMMONS vision with compost, we need to unlock four key components of the system:
Supporting the science of soil health. We continue to build evidence testing the most effective conservation approaches. This includes compost applied to grasslands to build soil carbon, increase drought resilience and deliver decades of climate benefits. We track real outcomes in the field to validate the science and scale what works.
Partnerships for effective infrastructure. Scaling compost requires local supply chains, on-ranch facilities, and strong community networks. We aim to partner with municipalities, land managers, and public agencies to connect people to composting programs, policy support, and funding.
Public participation and program support to close the loop. Education, outreach, and community-supported funding tools can help turn organic materials into healthy soils outcomes. Programs including small opt-out service industry fees, round-up campaigns, and healthy soils cost-share can help fund compost application, technical assistance, and restoration projects.
Decision-support tools to empower communities. COMMONS Planner tools are free, science-based and designed to help identify the best locations for conservation efforts. The first Compost Planner launched a pilot in April of 2026, serving Marin and Sonoma counties, with expansion to California underway.
Introducing the COMMONS Compost Planner
The COMMONS Compost Planner is an easy-to-use, science-based tool that identifies the appropriate and most efficient compost application locations for plant and soil health in grassland systems. Designed to maximize ecosystem benefits including long-term carbon storage, soil water holding capacity, and plant productivity, the Planner will help land managers, municipal planners, and ranchers address climate change and improve agricultural, recreational, community, and public lands toward a sustainable and productive future.
The COMMONS Compost Planner is currently in beta form, with a pilot project focused on grassland systems in Marin and Sonoma Counties in California.
COMMONS Compost Planner Features
Step-by-step filters of land use, plant, and soils determine effective areas for compost application
Calculated carbon storage benefits
Estimated water holding capacity benefits
Economic return on investment calculated based on carbon market values
The COMMONS Compost Planner Team
Local Marin County land steward, John Wick, was looking for ways to make his grassland better for birds, more productive, and help combat climate change. Working in consultation with UC Berkeley researchers, he applied compost to his land and found measurable increases in plant productivity, soil health, and carbon sequestration from a single application. Results were then shared with community partners at People, Food and Land Foundation to leverage for policy to remove barriers to compost production and application in California.
Wick began working with the Point Blue Ecoinformatics and Climate Solutions Program to host the tool designed by Dr. Christopher Potter (Casa Systems 2100, LLC), and Kevin Brown (Axios Software). The trans-disciplinary team continues to seek feedback and expand the pilot COMMONS Compost Planner to achieve multiple-ecosystem benefits.
Name
Role
Name
Role
Name
Role
Name
Role
Name
Role
The Compost Planner is now in live beta testing for Marin and Sonoma Counties. We are seeking feedback on the tool here and additional funding to build data layers expanding the Planner geography.
To learn more about funding opportunities for planner coverage for all of California, email us at efoster@pointblue.org.
Diving in to Details: The Multiple Benefits of Compost
The benefits of compost are well-documented. A global review of rangeland studies shows consistent gains in soil carbon, plant productivity, and drought resilience, though outcomes vary with compost quality and site conditions.
Combatting Climate Change: Compost application can increase carbon stocks by approximately 50% belowground. In California, a single compost application can meet over 85% of grassland and soils climate mitigation targets.3
Improving Drought Resistance: With an average of an 18% increase in soil water retention, compost can be a key player in water conservation, keeping landscapes greener in prolonged fire seasons.
Reducing Erosion and Improving Water Filtration: On average, compost can increase soil stability by 42%, protecting topsoil and water quality during intense rain and flooding events.
Boosting Plant Productivity: Compost can drive up to 57% increases in plant productivity.
Where Compost Can Make a Difference:
California Potential Land Area
Maximum benefit estimates for compost placement show a potential of approximately
27.2M acres in California may benefit from compost application.
Grazing Lands
(24,300,000 Acres)
Parks
(1,600,000 Acres)
Roadsides
(1,160,000 Acres)
Golf Courses
(164,000 Acres)
How Does the COMMONS Compost Planner Work?
The Planner analyses layers of data from large-scale, government-funded databases to evaluate soil type, topography, and plant productivity.
To learn more about compost planning contact: COMMONS-planner@pointblue.org
Get Involved
You can help the environment and support our work in lots of ways: becoming a conservation volunteer, attending our events, or following and sharing our blogs and newsletters.
Consider making a donation as well. Give Today