Land Trust Alliance

Ernest and Joseph Haugen Preserving a Tradition on the Farm

Kimberly Seese — 2011-10-04T18:45:19Z

September 26, 2011 | LaCrosse Tribune | Coon Valley, WI

Easement Monitoring Done Right

Kimberly Seese — 2012-12-03T18:31:13Z

Date: January 29, 2013
Time: 2:00-3:30 pm Eastern
Instructor: Jane Ellen Hamilton
Cost: $55 before 1/28, then cost will increase to $65
Level: Beginner / Intermediate

REGISTER ONLINE >>

Monitoring conservation easements will help ensure the land you saved yesterday remains protected tomorrow and beyond. This online workshop provides the nuts and bolts of monitoring from pre-monitoring preparation to post-monitoring work. This course will provide staff and volunteers with an overview of how to conduct a visit and an understanding of what monitoring is and its importance to land conservation.

You will learn how to:

Prepare for a safe and effective visit
Conduct a thorough monitoring visit
Complete post-monitoring work
Address possible violations

The workshop is based on the Standards and Practices Curriculum course “Conservation Easement Stewardship” (electronic copy available here )

Easement Helps Ensure Future of Ohioan's Farmland

Kimberly Seese — 2013-05-27T04:00:00Z

May 27, 2013 | Dayton Daily News | OH

Durable Collaborations: Securing Financial and Human Resources for Enduring Conservation

Kimberly Seese — 2013-03-13T21:15:07Z

Date: April 10, 2013
Time: 2:00 pm -3:30 pm ET
Instructors: Dale Bonar, Jim Morris
Level: Beginner / Intermediate
Cost: $55 before 4/9, then cost will increase to $65

REGISTER ONLINE >>

When a land trust accepts an easement or fee land, it promises to care for it forever. Securing the necessary financial and human resources to run a professional, sustainable conservation operation is becoming increasingly difficult. So, how can we keep the best of local conservation while ensuring conservation quality and permanence? Through collaboration. Collaborations occur along a continuum, from informal networking and project-sharing to structural integration with shared staff or even merger. Durable collaborations are robust, mutually beneficial and long-lived approaches that enable groups to leverage their combined efforts for greater impact. This webinar will cover the essentials of successful collaborations and what you need to know before entering into any agreement.

Participants will learn:

The range of collaborative opportunities
The risks and benefits of collaborating
Strategies for determining whether collaboration is right for your land trust
Steps necessary to ensure successful outcomes for all parties

Don’t Throw Charities Off the Fiscal Cliff

Kimberly Seese — 2012-12-21T05:00:00Z

There have been heated discussions in the news about cutting the tax deductions you take for giving to charities. Assertions I’m hearing about who benefits from the charitable tax deduction are short-sighted.

No one is better off financially after making a charitable gift. While a donor may get some reduction in taxes, their gift to benefit others is vastly larger than the tax deduction. Plus, charities have a multiplier effect on donations: every dollar that the tax deduction costs the government generates more than $4 in charitable programs.

Through the charitable deduction, Americans are provided an incentive to support a wide range of charities working to solve problems in communities across the country, contributing immeasurably to the health and welfare of our country. At a time when government resources are shrinking, it makes no sense to discourage people from giving to charities when they need it the most.

Tax benefits for charitable contributions started in 1919 and has persisted through any number of major tax reforms. Hundreds of thousands of charitable enterprises of all sorts – from the Red Cross to Feeding America to Opera America – have built their business models around it, and they have asked for our help in defending it. I think defending tax benefits for charitable contributions is a good idea.

Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) was right when he said “Charities today face the prospect of enduring another recession that will again put downward pressure on charitable giving. This is not the time to reduce the charitable deduction and further suppress the incentive to give.”

The Land Trust Alliance represents 1,700 land conservation groups that work with willing land owners to protect our natural heritage and provide benefits of clean water and air, fresh, local food and healthy places to live and work.

We can certainly argue about the merits of various attempts to wrangle more out of the tax code for conservation (there have been lots of those). But on the current issue of capping deductions on charitable giving now in front of policymakers, I see only negative effects and little or no interest amongst policymakers in finding an appropriate way to mitigate those or create a useful alternative.

All Americans should support greater fiscal responsibility for the federal government, and we are already seeing real consequences of irresponsibility in the form of cuts in spending – including spending for conservation in a host of government programs (including LWCF, NAWCA, FRPP, WRP and NFWF). This despite the fact that real spending on conservation programs is not a driver of our fiscal problems, having only increased 2% over the last 30 years in real dollars. We can’t put ourselves above the need for a solution – but we need to speak up so that policymakers understand what is at stake.

Any limits to the charitable deduction would hurt America’s charities by directing resources away from them and the millions of people they serve. As Congress and the White House look for a way to back off the fiscal cliff, they need to find a way to keep charities in the U.S. from going over one themselves.

Rand Wentworth
President, Land Trust Alliance
202-841-0886 | rwentworth@lta.org

DNR Land Deal Largest Conservation Purchase

Kimberly Seese — 2012-05-17T04:00:00Z

May 17, 2012 | Wisconsin State Journal | Madison

Deal signed to buy Saugatuck area dunes property

prichardson — 2009-12-11T16:35:00Z

December 11, 2009 | mlive.com | Grand Rapids, MI

Crucial Wildlife Habitat Connection

fdalleo@lta.org — 2009-08-19T16:25:00Z

SD - Dolly and Harry Evans couldn’t bear the thought of their ranch someday being broken up or developed. The place had been in their family for generations; even their ancestors homesteaded nearby. They wanted permanent protection for their land.

Crown Jewel in the Emerald Necklace

fdalleo@lta.org — 2009-08-21T15:40:00Z

MI - A new nature preserve created in Harbor Springs supports a range of habitats, including hardwood and pine forests, a boggy area, an old orchard, and vernal spring pools.

County Working on Farmland Preservation

Kimberly Seese — 2012-04-12T04:00:00Z

April 12, 2012 | The Ann Arbor Chronicle | MI

Conservationists Seek Permanent Tax Breaks

Kimberly Seese — 2011-12-16T05:00:00Z

December 16, 2011 | Northwest Herald | Crystal Lake, IL

Conservation Loans and Investments: Tools to Achieve REPI Success

Kimberly Seese — 2013-02-04T22:27:15Z

When: March 27, 2013, 1:00 PM ET

Sponsor: Readiness and Environmental Protection Initiative (REPI) for U.S. Department of Defense

This webinar is designed to educate you and your land conservation partners about tapping into “other people’s money” to potentially overcome the common hurdles you may face from gaps in funding or funding requests not being processed fast enough to meet a closing deadline. Logan Yonavjak, from the Conservation Private Capital Group, and Reggie Hall, from The Conservation Fund, will discuss conservation loans and investments that can help you focus on the project and not worry whether you will have the funds to move on it when the time is right.

Instructions on How to Join the Webinar:

Click this link.
Select “Enter as a Guest” and enter your name.
Upon entering the meeting room, you will be prompted to enter your phone number.
After entering your phone number, you will be called automatically by the system into the audio conference.

Conservation Fund Draws Strong Support

Kimberly Seese — 2010-11-03T18:45:00Z

November 3, 2010 | DesMoinesRegister.com | IA

Conservancy Celebrates 20 Years and 10,000 Acres

Kimberly Seese — 2012-02-29T05:00:00Z

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Peter Ter Louw
Executive Director
269-324-1600 | terlouw@SWMLC.org

Southwest Michigan Land Conservancy
Reaches Milestones

PORTAGE, MI -- The Southwest Michigan Land Conservancy (SWMLC), completed its 20th year of operation by protecting more than 1,500 acres and, cumulatively, more than 10,000 total acres. This landmark year demonstrates the commitment to conservation by the people of southwest Michigan and sets a new benchmark for SWMLC’s success.

During 2011, SWMLC protected 1,571 acres in five counties, including three preserves and 12 conservation easements. Four of the easement properties were purchased with federal and state funding to protect Great Lakes water quality. The three new preserves are the KL Avenue Nature Preserve in Kalamazoo County and the Black River Preserve and Pilgrim Haven Natural Area, both located in Van Buren County.

"This was SWMLC’s most successful year ever in the number of acres protected and in the conservation value and financial value of the land protected," said Peter Ter Louw, SWMLC executive director. "This success is primarily the result of our conservation planning to protect wildlife and water resources as well as the commitment by landowners to protect their land."

The crown jewel of SWMLC’s conservation work is the Pilgrim Haven Natural Area, a generous gift from the estate of Suzanne Upjohn DeLano Parish. The property has a long history of camping, originating as a Camp Fire Girl camp followed by ownership by the Michigan Conference of the United Church of Christ. It is a place long treasured by many families who spent time there every summer.

This scenic, 26-acre property, with 800 feet of beach frontage along Lake Michigan, contains a mixture of open fields, forest, and a small creek that flows into Lake Michigan just south of South Haven. SWMLC is currently working on plans — developed during public visioning sessions this past September — to identify the appropriate public use for the creation of this natural area.

The KL Avenue Nature Preserve in Oshtemo Township is a 70-acre property that will be open to the public once some initial work and site assessments are done. This rolling oak woodland has a diversity of topographical features that will provide interest for people who enjoy passive recreation. The property was a gift from Dr. Richard Malott, a professor at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo.

The Black River Preserve, located just southeast of South Haven, is a 121-acre natural area that will eventually offer canoe/kayak access as part of the Black River Water Trail. Three tributaries of the Black River are also protected along with lowland forests and marshes of the river’s floodplain. Former owner Dan Garvey and partners accepted a bargain sale, and SWMLC purchased the property with funds from the EPA Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.
The 12 conservation easements completed by SWMLC during 2011 protect a total of 1,355 acres which include wetlands and forested floodplains on the Paw Paw and Portage Rivers, conservation land adjacent to the Barry State Game Area, and four sites within the Gull Lake watershed. Conservation of the 342-acre Eureka property in Waverly Township, Van Buren County, protects what is described as the best southern floodplain forest in the state of Michigan.

SWMLC could not have accomplished this magnitude of success without the support of donors, landowners, volunteers, foundations, businesses and government agencies.

"We are incredibly grateful for the support of the communities we work in and would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their support in assisting us with the work we do in southwest Michigan," said Ter Louw. "And we are excited to embark on the next 20 years of SWMLC’s conservation work."

###

About Southwest Michigan Land Conservancy

The Southwest Michigan Land Conservancy serves the nine counties of southwest Michigan, and has protected over 10,400 acres since its inception as an all-volunteer organization in 1991. The Conservancy currently has seven full-time and one part-time staff and 150 active volunteers and is supported by over 1,100 household memberships.

SWMLC is partnering with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources on the Barry State Game Area conservation project and with the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality on watershed management planning projects for the Rocky River, Paw Paw River, Black River, Gull Lake watershed and Augusta Creek. SWMLC is working on waterfowl conservation, endangered species habitat acquisition and stewardship projects in collaboration with other land conservancies and nonprofit conservation partners through funding from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. SWMLC is also working on watershed planning and management with the Two Rivers Coalition, Van Buren Conservation District, and Friends of the St. Joseph River. In addition, SWMLC works with county and municipal governments to protect natural areas and open space along Lake Michigan as well as land that provides significant public benefit.

To learn more about the Southwest Michigan Land Conservancy, call (269) 324-1600, visit their web site at www.SWMLC.org, or like them on Facebook.

Conservancy Adds Properties with Rare, Ancient Features

Kimberly Seese — 2010-12-11T00:00:00Z

December 11, 2010 | LaCrosse Tribune | WI