Contact: Russ Shay
Director of Public Policy
202-638-4725, ext. 305 | rshay@lta.org
WASHINGTON, D.C.-- Voluntary conservation of private land received a boost yesterday when President Obama mentioned the work of land trusts in his remarks introducing the landmark America’s Great Outdoors Report at a reception in the East Room of the White House. The collective voice of land trusts was reflected in the report, which proposes to extend the enhanced tax incentive for conservation easement donations beyond 2011, fully fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), and focus a portion of LWCF on innovative projects that support urban parks, community green spaces and large-scale land conservation.
Mr. Obama said that “at a time when America’s open spaces are controlled by a patchwork of groups, from government to land trusts to private citizens, it’s clear that conservation in the 21st century is going to take more than what we can do here in Washington…Meeting the new test of environmental stewardship means finding the best ideas at the grassroots level, it means helping states, communities and nonprofits protect their own resources, and it means figuring out how the federal government can be a better partner in those efforts.”
The report draws inspiration from hundreds of land trust participants at America’s Great Outdoors listening sessions around the country. “I am proud of the nation’s 1,700 land trusts for pioneering the voluntary conservation incentives and locally driven partnerships embraced in this report,” Land Trust Alliance President Rand Wentworth said. “This initiative will significantly reorient federal conservation efforts to emphasize working lands and to embrace local governments and land trusts as effective partners in conserving the places that give meaning to our lives.”
The report’s vision statement describes a future in which “Rural lands—our working farms, ranches and forests—are conserved and restored through local partnerships.” The president’s Fiscal Year 2012 Budget Request makes a down payment on that vision by providing $200 million for the Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program and $900 million for the LWCF, some of which “will be competitively awarded to address priorities and leverage resources for urban parks and public-private conservation projects.”
In communities across America, nonprofit land trusts are working with private landowners to keep farm, ranch and forest lands in productive use, create community parks and open space, protect important fish and wildlife habitat, and conserve our scenic and historic heritage. With the help of more than 100,000 volunteers and 2 million members, land trusts have conserved more than 37 million acres, including more than 12 million acres protected by voluntary conservation agreements with private landowners.
The Land Trust Alliance is a national conservation group that works on behalf of America’s 1,700 land trusts to save the places people love by strengthening land conservation throughout America. The Alliance works to increase the pace and quality of conservation by advocating favorable tax policies, training land trusts in best practices and working to ensure the permanence of conservation in the face of continuing threats.
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Download a printable PDF (100KB).
]]>Contact: Jim Welsh
Executive Director
Natural Heritage Land Trust
(608) 258 9797
MADISON, WI — Good news that yesterday afternoon the Natural Heritage Land Trust purchased 100 acres to add to Westport Drumlin, a state natural area between Cherokee Marsh and Waunakee. Five years in the making, this acquisition permanently protects the western side of Westport Drumlin, a beautiful and ecologically-rich prairie and savanna. Acquisition of this property also means the permanent protection of four prairie remnants which The Prairie Enthusiasts has been managing for many years. It will also provide a location for a small parking area and trail head to greatly improve public access to the drumlin.
This is our third acquisition at Westport Drumlin; the protected landscape has grown from 14 acres to 217 acres in just two years. Click here for a map of the area.
Funding for the acquisition of the 100 acres came from the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program, The Conservation Fund, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Dane County Conservation Fund, Wisconsin Land Fund, and members of the Natural Heritage Land Trust. The Town of Westport and Village of Waunakee also helped make this acquisition possible.
Our special thanks go to the Koltes Brothers for their willingness to sell this great place so it can be permanently protected. I also want to thank Mark Martin of the DNR State Natural Areas program for his commitment to the Westport Drumlin landscape.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Natalie Cooper
Science Teacher, West Geauga High School
440-729-5950 | nataliecooper@westg.org
CHESTERLAND, OH -- A team of West Geauga High School students from 16 schools nationwide have qualified to participate in the Final Challenge, a national contest that encourages middle and high school students to develop and implement environmental programs that positively impact their communities. The team was awarded $10,000 in grants and scholarships for their entry in the LANDWATER Challenge earlier this academic year, and now, as a participant in the Final Challenge, they’ve been asked to take their environmental message to as wide an audience as possible.
This year’s fourth annual Lexus Eco Challenge, created by Lexus and Scholastic, is offering two $30,000 grand prizes and eight $15,000 first prizes to the most innovative programs nationwide. The prizes will be awarded in April in celebration of Earth Month. In all, $500,000 will be awarded.
The students are now taking the Environmental Discovery Project worldwide. In addition to local speaking engagements and seminars, they are partnering with organizations in Ecuador, Afghanistan, Kenya and Burma on recycling projects. These projects include recycling human waste (with composting toilets), bottles, cans, chip bags, tires, paper and other recyclables. For each of these recyclables, they are looking for new ways to encourage residents to recycle, use less energy and reuse. You can join their efforts by bringing your recycling to recycling centers and bringing your paper to the school. Try out the new composting toilets at local Geauga County parks to see what the West Geauga students are helping to construct in other countries. And try to stop by the high school and look at the rain garden our front that is protected by rubber mulch made from recycled tires and grows well thanks to composted kitchen scraps and sterilized waste. \
“These young adults have accomplished some amazing things. Lexus Eco Challenge has helped them focus on immediate ways to improve the lives of others,” said Natalie Cooper, their Advisor.
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Contact: David Clutter
Executive Director
608-930-3252 | dave@driftlessconservancy.org
DODGEVILLE, WI -- This year the Driftless Area Land Conservancy celebrates our 10-year anniversary with a “bookend easement donation” that features a wonderful conservation partnership and the protection of one of Wisconsin’s most unique natural communities. In 2003, the Malcolm Stack Foundation donated a 54-acre conservation easement to Driftless Area Land Conservancy, representing one of our very first conservation easement projects.
Our most recent easement donation, signed just this month, protects the remaining 105-acres of the Malcolm Stack Foundation property and solidifies the foundation’s commitment to helping protect one of Wisconsin’s truly unique and rare natural communities.
Since the time of the Malcolm Stack Foundation’s first easement donation, the conservancy has protected roughly 2,500 acres and 12 properties. It is fitting that the foundation “bookend’s” our first 10 years with this second important easement donation.
In addition to protecting the pine relict forests and associated oak woodlands, the conservation easement will permit and encourage continued uses such as field trips, guided hikes, photography, artist clinics, nature study and aesthetic enjoyment. Furthermore, plant communities and associated wildlife will benefit from this significant block of permanently protected habitat.
The Malcolm Stack Foundation was established in 2001 to promote land conservation and education. The foundation is dedicated to conserving land in the Driftless Area; and, in particular, foundation directors feel that it is imperative to preserve the pine relicts forests found on the property for future generations. Driftless Area Land Conservancy appreciates and values our partnership with the Malcolm Stack Foundation and would like to sincerely thank the Foundation board members for their commitment to conservation in southwest Wisconsin.
These remnants (pictured above) from the glacial era are so sparse and hidden from noisy civilization that they are virtually unknown by most Wisconsin residents. Even if one chances upon a stand of these tall pines, perhaps during a walk or in pursuit of a deer or turkey, he or she may not consider the relationship of this forest community to our glacial past. Each relict, often less than 5 acres, typically contains over 75% of the 25 most common species in the northern pine forests. The resulting community, a unique blend of northern and southern species, deserves our veneration, care and protection.
Pine relicts are pine forest communities that have persisted in southern Wisconsin since the last glacier retreated some 10,000 years ago. These relicts were part of what was once an expansive pine dominated landscape in a cool southern Wisconsin climate. As time passed and the climate gradually warmed (6,500 - 3,000 years ago) prairie and oak savannas replaced nearly all of the pine forests throughout southern Wisconsin, except in very steep draws and among the rocky cliffs in the Driftless Area of Southwest Wisconsin. The Ridgeway pines are only one of two large pine relicts in Southern Wisconsin.
For more information on Wisconsin DNR-owned Ridgeway Pine Relict (No. 326), view the website.
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]]>Little Traverse Conservancy
3264 Powell Road
Harbor Springs, MI 49740
For more information, please call: 231.347.0991
Imagine you are on a boat in Emmet County’s Crooked Lake, moving north along the Inland Waterway. You are heading toward the Crooked River and ahead of you are the Alanson locks which will transport you safely to the Crooked River. To your left, just before the locks, are beautiful, undeveloped wetlands. It is a place where the call of kingfishers is common, as is the water trail of a muskrat or otter that just passed through.
This spring, Little Traverse Conservancy purchased 2,000 feet of this frontage along with 23 acres of marsh and forested wetlands to create the Inland Waterway Preserve. According to wildlife ecologist Burt Ebbers, “I cannot think of any other waterfront parcel in the upper Crooked River watershed more deserving of preservation than this property, both in terms of helping maintain water quality and providing quality habitat for native plants and animals.” Ebbers noted that the new preserve includes a well-defined Northern Fen community, a rarity in this region.
“Protecting this much shoreline near the top of the waterway was a high priority for the Conservancy,” said Tom Bailey, executive director for the Conservancy.
Funding for the purchase came primarily from the Taylor Foundation, and was greatly enhanced with a $15,000 contribution from the Pickerel-Crooked Lake Association (PCLA), a dynamic group that has worked in partnership with the Conservancy throughout the years. Most notably, this group served a significant role in protecting the Oden Island Nature Preserve and the Black Hole Nature Preserve.
“The PCLA is made up of members with a wide variety of backgrounds with the common interest of protecting the environmental well being of our lakes,” said Ray McMullen, president of PCLA. “Unscientifically speaking, one of the best ways to maintain or enhance the quality of a water body is to leave it the heck alone. This is why PCLA has been pleased to work with LTC on many conservation projects.”
The new preserve directly adds to protection provided by other preserves. On June 24, a pontoon ride to the new preserve will depart from Ryde Marine in Oden at 6:30 pm. There is limited space and pre-registration is required, so please call 231.347.0991 for more information or visit www.landtrust.org.
Since 1972, the Little Traverse Conservancy has been working as the oldest regional, non-profit land trust in Michigan. With the support of more than 4,000 members, the Little Traverse Conservancy works with private landowners and units of local government to permanently protect ecologically significant and scenic lands from development. Since it was founded, more than 40,000 acres and 103 miles of shoreline along our region’s lakes, rivers, and streams have been set aside to remain in their natural state within Charlevoix, Cheboygan, Emmet, Mackinac, and Chippewa counties. In addition, more than 6,000 young people participate in a Conservancy environmental education outing every year. For more information about the Little Traverse Conservancy and land protection options for your land, please contact their office at 231.347.0991 or visit www.landtrust.org.
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