Land Trust Alliance

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 )

Earth Day Cleanup: Antelope Valley Conservancy

Kimberly Seese — 2013-04-09T19:46:46Z

Date: April 13, 2013, 9:00 am - 12:00 pm
Location: Saddleback Butte State Park

Volunteers wanted!

Join Antelope Valley Conservancy for a walk in beautiful Saddleback Butte State Park and pick up light trash as you go. Volunteers must bring work gloves that fit, a refillable water bottle, and sturdy shoes. Please RSVP to (661) 943-9000 or avconservancy@yahoo.com.

Eagle Valley Land Trust and Eagle County Announce Successful Completion of Local Public Access Projects

Kimberly Seese — 2012-06-12T04:00:00Z

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Jason Denhart
970-748-7654 | jdenhart@evlt.org

Four New Publically Accessible Conservation Easements

EAGLE COUNTY, CO -- Local conservationists at the Eagle Valley Land Trust and Eagle County’s Open Space Department announced today the addition of four new publically accessible conservation easements located in Homestead and Lake Creek. The conservation of this new publicly accessible land is the culmination of a year-long project led by the County and Eagle Valley Land Trust to save land for the people of our community and provide front door access points from local neighborhoods into the great outdoors. This successful project saves these lands from further subdivision development and conserves 322 acres in the mid-valley region that are now available to the public for passive recreation opportunities.

The centerpiece of this conservation effort is a 166 acre parcel that has come to be known as the “Homestead L” due to its shape. The “L” parcel was already master planned for up to 150-homes when Eagle County purchased it in September 2011. Eagle County and the Eagle Valley Land Trust then began work on a conservation easement to separate the development rights from the land and permanently preserve the property as a publicly accessible recreation area for our community.

This alone was a big achievement for local land conservation, but the Land Trust and citizen conservationists thought they could go further. Two private homeowners associations – Homestead and Creamery Ranch – own land adjacent to the “L” which was designated as open space. During the process to conserve the “L”, the Eagle Valley Land Trust also secured commitments to put these private parcels of land into conservation easement along with the “L”, which created the momentous conservation victory announced today. “This really demonstrates how much more powerful an outcome can be when you have collaboration between public and private entities.” said Kara Heide, Executive Director of the Land Trust. As a result of these efforts, three additional conservation easements and over 156 acres were permanently saved along with the original 166 acres of the “L”. Now, any person can walk from Highway 6 into these lands south of Edwards on trails located on publicly accessible conservation easements with 322 acres that are protected forever. Public use will be restricted to designated trails on the Homestead and Creamery Ranch properties, while on-trail and other uses will be permitted on the “L”.

The Eagle Valley Land Trust and Eagle County Open Space worked with several community partners to permanently conserve and protect this property. Eagle County purchased the “L” with $3.25 million of dedicated open space funds. The project partners included the Land Trust, Eagle County, Edwards Metropolitan District, Creamery Ranch Homeowners Association, Homestead Homeowners Association and numerous individual investors from the surrounding neighborhoods. “Preservation of these 322 acres at such a phenomenal price is something we never thought would be possible. But the really unique aspect is this acquisition provides useable open space and trail connectivity all the way from the Eagle River Preserve to the 2-2-2 US Forest Service ridgeline. Edwards has been excited to be a participant in this great accomplishment.” said Todd Williams, President of Edwards Metropolitan District.

Your local land trust continues to focus on land conservation efforts in the Lake Creek Valley to preserve the area in its natural state. his recently completed effort to permanently protect the Homestead “L” and the surrounding private property is part of the Land Trusts’ “We Like Lake Creek!” campaign. “The interconnectivity of these parcels really sets this project apart from other conservation efforts.” noted Jason Denhart, Director of Development and Communications for Eagle Valley Land Trust. “Our goal is to create a mosaic of conservation in the Lake Creek Valley, and these four new conservation easements represent the front door access for this overall effort. These 322 newly conserved acres will now join the 1,015 acres previously conserved as wilderness buffers and wildlife habitat in Lake Creek.”

A community event and ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate this local conservation victory will occur later this summer. For more information about this specific project or any of the land conservation efforts organized by the Eagle Valley Land Trust, please contact Jason Denhart at 970-748-7654 or www.evlt.org.

View photos of the four conserved properties.

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About the Eagle Valley Land Trust

Eagle Valley Land Trust (EVLT) was founded in 1981 as a 501(c)(3) non-profit environmental conservation organization. EVLT is a state certified and nationally accredited public land trust. The mission of your local Land Trust is to protect forever our scenic vistas, open spaces, historic lands, waterways and wildlife habitats that represent the uniqueness of Eagle County, Colorado for the education, enjoyment and benefit of people who experience this special place. Your local land trust currently holds 23 parcels and 6,500 acres of protected lands under conservation easements in Eagle County, Colorado. These properties stretch from East Vail to the entrance of Glenwood Canyon and from Tennessee Pass near Leadville to Yarmony Mountain near the Routt County border. The EVLT has also participated in the conservation of nearly 4,000 more acres in partnerships with other land trusts. EVLT serves as the steward and the guardian of the land. Your local land trust is entrusted by our community and mandated by our government to inspect, monitor and defend conserved lands to ensure they remain protected, open and unspoiled for the benefit of all residents and visitors to our mountain community. The Eagle Valley Land Trust – preserving the character of our community one acre at a time.

Eagle Valley Land Exchange Closed

Kimberly Seese — 2013-05-09T04:00:00Z

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Toby Sprunk
Open Space Director
(970) 328-8698 | Email

Deal Protects 1,560 Acres of Open Space

EAGLE COUNTY, CO -- The Colorado State Land Board, U.S. Forest Service, Upper Eagle Regional Water Authority (UERWA) and Eagle County finalized closing on the Eagle Valley Land Exchange. While the exchange agreement was approved by the entities last fall, the closing marks the formal completion of the complex, multi-year effort. Additional partners in the deal included the Town of Avon, the Nottingham family, Eagle River Water & Sanitation District (ERWSD) and the Eagle Valley Land Trust. Western Land Group, a private land exchange facilitator, helped the parties complete the exchange.

The project includes six properties representing approximately 1,560 acres of open space in Avon and Edwards:

The 478-acre West Avon Parcel, now owned by the Town of Avon and managed as open space by the Town of Avon;
Approximately 86 acres of the Avon Village parcel, north of I-70 near Post Boulevard, now owned and managed as open space by the Town of Avon;
The 168-acre Cordillera L, now managed as Eagle County Open Space.
The 640-acre Colorado State Land Board property north of Berry Creek, which has been added to the White River National Forest;
183 acres of private land on the Eagle's Nest Wilderness boundary, which has been added to the White River National Forest; and,
5 acres of UERWA property up Beard Creek which has been added to the White River National Forest.

In addition, several smaller water tank properties on National Forest lands were conveyed to UERWA and ERWSD, and a small parcel was conveyed to the Colorado State Land Board near Minturn.

All of the parcels involved in the exchange were appraised under the direction of the Forest Service to complete the equal value exchange. The majority of the funding to acquire the properties that became part of the White River National Forest, Berry Creek and the Nottingham property next to the Eagle’s Nest Wilderness, came from Eagle County’s Open Space Fund. In addition, the Town of Avon contributed $1 million and additional funds were provided by UERWA, ERWSD, and the Forest Service to complete the complex transaction. The funds received by the Colorado State Land Board will benefit K-12 public education throughout Colorado.

The Eagle Valley Land Trust will hold conservation easements on the open space parcels obtained through the exchange. A map of the parcels is available online.

A community gathering to celebrate completion of the Eagle Valley Land Exchange is planned for later in the year. For more information, contact Eagle County Open Space Director Toby Sprunk at (970) 328-8698.

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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

Dr. Pepper Spends $1.1 Million to Conserve Land

Kimberly Seese — 2012-08-19T04:00:00Z

August 19, 2012 | The Epoch Times | Houston, TX

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

Del’s Triangle Three Protected in Routt County

Kimberly Seese — 2010-10-20T00:00:00Z

October 20, 2010 | Steamboat Today | Steamboat Springs, CO

Day at the Ranch: Students Take Self-guided Tour of Agricultural Property

Kimberly Seese — 2013-03-06T05:00:00Z

March 6, 2013 | Ravalli Republic | MT

County Commissioners to Vote on Knott Ranch Conservation

Kimberly Seese — 2011-09-26T18:15:00Z

September 26, 2011 | Steamboat Today | Steamboat Springs, CO

Conserving Our Heritage

prichardson — 2009-04-07T18:50:00Z

April 7, 2009 | Napa Valley Register | CA

Conservationists Team Up with Ranchers, Loggers

Kimberly Seese — 2012-12-15T05:00:00Z

December 15, 2012 | San Jose Mercury News | CA

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 Easements Approved for Ranches North of Hayden

Kimberly Seese — 2012-05-03T04:00:00Z

May 3, 2012 | Steamboat Today | Steamboat Springs, CO

Conservation Easements and Land Trusts Growing Trend in North State

Kimberly Seese — 2012-07-28T04:00:00Z

July 28, 2012 | redding.com | CA