April 28, 2009 

Contact: Chris Soto
csoto@lta.org

Association Recognized for Innovation in Media and Publishing

Presented with two 2009 EXCEL Awards

Washington, DC—The Land Trust Alliance is being honored by the Society of National Association Publications (SNAP) at its 29th Annual EXCEL Awards, which recognize the best and the brightest in association media and publishing.

As one of 181 winners selected from nearly 1,000 entries, the Alliance is being presented a Gold Award in the Magazines: Most Improved category and a Gold Award in the Magazines: Redesign category (submitted by Bates Creative Group) for taking bold chances and delivering excellence in the association industry.

“Congratulations to the Land Trust Alliance, one of the recipients of our EXCEL Awards,” said Amy Lestition, CAE, SNAP’s executive director, “These publications demonstrate the importance of conveying content in a variety of formats to our constituents. Bravo to the publication and media association professionals for their mastery of the field.”

“We went through a rigorous redesign process and this is a wonderful affirmation of our success,” said Chris Soto, editor of Saving Land, the winning magazine of the Alliance.

The Land Trust Alliance will be honored and celebrated at the 29th EXCEL Awards Gala on June 4, 2009. Award-winning entries are displayed at the EXCEL Awards Gala and are featured in the July/ August issue of Association Publishing. The Alliance may also be a winner of the distinguished EXTRA! Awards—presented to associations pushing the edge of the envelope further to innovate in an ever-changing publishing environment—which will be announced at the EXCEL Awards Gala in June. For more information on the Association Media and Publishing Conference and the EXCEL Awards Gala, visit www.snaponline.org.

For more information about the Land Trust Alliance, please visit www.landtrustalliance.org.

About the Land Trust Alliance: 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 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.

About SNAP: SNAP is the one non-profit, professional society serving the needs of association publishers and communications professionals. Areas of expertise include: fostering effective relationships among publishers, communications professionals, and industry providers; developing and maintaining high editorial and advertising standards through our Excel Awards and Publications Review Program; providing members with the latest industry movements through bi-annual meetings, Lunch & Learn Seminars, the SNAP listserve, and Association Publishing, our bimonthly magazine; and, connecting professionals with career opportunities in association publishing through our Career Center.

Throughout the Great Lakes watershed, which contains 20% of the world’s freshwater resources, 105 land trusts have been working with private landowners, local units of government and federal agencies to protect the wetland habitats, stream corridors, and undeveloped uplands that comprise this unique ecosystem.  The concentration of land trusts in this region is one of the highest in the nation, affording land trusts a unique position to protect watersheds and landscapes on a large scale.

Across the Midwest, unique and effective land conservation partnerships have been working to protect some of the nation’s greatest treasures.  The Blufflands Alliance, formed in 1993 through the leadership of the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation, has demonstrated an effective collaboration of organizations, individuals and landowners working to inspire a common vision of the region in the protection and preservation of the bluffs along the Mississippi River. The partnership began with a prioritization of the most scenic and important bluffs along 350 miles of the upper Mississippi.

In the greater Chicago area, a coalition of twelve land trusts has been working together since 2001 to advance cooperation and land conservation, with the ultimate goal of establishing a visionary, structured, and sustainable collaborative land trust coalition to increase the pace of conservation into the future.

How We Help

• Guided Organizational Assessment Program - helps land trusts identify areas for improvement and prepare for Accreditation in the Great Lakes Watershed and Ohio.

• Mentoring and Coaching - provides tailored, in-depth technical assistance and organizational planning to assist land trusts in addressing critical transitions, leadership development, strategic planning, and other organizational development needs.

• Facilitation and Mediation - help land trusts resolve internal and external conflicts and other challenges by offering a third party intermediary to facilitate outcome-oriented processes.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Peter D. Ter Louw
Executive Director
(269) 324-1600 | ConserveLand@SWMLC.org

New Nature Preserve Will Protect Water Quality and Wildlife Habitat

SOUTH HAVEN/KALAMAZOO, MI -- Southwest Michigan Land Conservancy (SWMLC) has been awarded a $250,000 matching grant to purchase and restore 120 acres of forest and wetland along the banks of the Black River, 3.5 miles east of South Haven. The project, funded by a U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) Joint Venture grant, will become an SWMLC nature preserve dedicated to the protection of water quality and wildlife habitat.

The GLRI is a task force of 11 federal agencies and was developed to coordinate funding in the Great Lakes Basin to clean up toxins, combat invasive species, improve water quality, and restore wildlife habitat. This year, $930,000 has been dedicated for the Joint Venture grant program of which six projects in four states were awarded funding.

"SWMLC’s project received the highest overall ranking of all GLRI Joint Venture proposals," said Barbara Pardo, chief of the Division of Bird Habitat Conservation for the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. "Reviewers especially noted the high diversity of flora and fauna that would benefit from the project as well as the strength of the local partnership. The Joint Venture is proud to support this project for the contributions it will make to our bird conservation objectives."

The 120-acre property is located along the west side of the South Branch of the Black River in Geneva Township and includes over one mile of winding riverbanks as well as small streams meandering through deep tributary ravines. Restoration efforts will focus on improving forest health through such methods as invasive species removal and reintroducing prescribed fire to encourage native plants.

Protecting and restoring the Garvey property was a good fit for the GLRI’s Joint Venture grant program, which focuses on birds and is made up of regional partnerships led by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. The natural areas along the Black River protect water quality by reducing sedimentation and contain diverse habitats that provide valuable resources to many different kinds of migratory and nesting birds.

"We were able to identify breeding and foraging habitat for at least 70 different target bird species identified in both state and national plans," explained Nate Fuller, conservation and stewardship director for SWMLC. The species include those from four bird plans developed by Joint Venture: waterfowl (ducks and geese), water birds (herons and rails), shorebirds (sandpipers and woodcock), and land birds (songbirds and raptors).

The property was first identified as important for conservation through a watershed conservation plan developed in 2008 between SWMLC and the Van Buren Conservation District (VBCD). SWMLC worked with VBCD to prioritize lands for conservation that would best improve water quality and wildlife habitat within the Black River watershed. The results were included in the Black River Watershed Management Plan, developed by the VBCD with grant support from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

"During the past three years, SWMLC has been working with landowner, Daniel Garvey, to help him find a solution to permanently protect his property," stated Nate Fuller. "Mr. Garvey was eager to see his land turned into a nature preserve and to share its natural beauty with the surrounding community. He is making this project possible by offering a bargain sale of the property, generously donating a significant amount of the property’s value as a match toward the grant."

SWMLC proposed the project to the GLRI Joint Venture grant program in partnership with the Conservation Research Institute (CRI), Van Buren Conservation District (VBCD), Two Rivers Coalition (TRC), and the Bangor to South Haven Heritage Water Trail Association (BSH/HWTA). SWMLC and its partners in this grant will provide their expertise in ecological restoration, management and public outreach efforts.

Conservation Research Institute was a natural partner for this grant as they had previously worked with Garvey, and SWMLC has an established track record of success in habitat restoration. CRI principals, Dr. Gerould Wilhelm and Jim Patchett, were able to identify over 300 species of native plants in an initial site visit and were excited at the opportunity to be lead partners in the restoration component of the project.

Local partners, such as the VBCD, BSH/HWTA and TRC, joined in support of the project and many more partners are expected to be welcomed as the project gains momentum.

"It is the Two Rivers Coalition’s mission to protect the health of the Black River and Paw Paw River Watersheds through conservation, education, and advocacy," said Sam Ewbank, TRC board member. "Protecting and restoring the Garvey property to improve water quality is exactly the kind of active conservation we would like to see all along our invaluable waterways and is the core mission of the project partners."

The official acquisition of the property is expected to be completed this fall and restoration work will begin shortly thereafter. Additional funding is being sought to expand restoration efforts and provide long-term funding for management. SWMLC and CRI have high expectations that this project will become one of the premiere ecological restoration sites in the Great Lakes region. Plans to integrate public use with the ecological restoration will begin after the acquisition is completed.

For more information about SWMLC, visit their web site at www.SWMLC.org or call 269-324-1600.

About Southwest Michigan Land Conservancy

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.

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Traverse City, MI  — The Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy and Acme Township have announced the awarding of a 1:1 challenge grant from The Carls Foundation in support of the Acme Shoreline Preservation Initiative. The grant will match, dollar for dollar, donations from individuals and other foundations to protect shoreline properties as part of Phase One of the shoreline project. The project will greatly increase public access to Acme Township’s prized Lake Michigan shoreline along a mile-long stretch south of the intersection of M-72 and US-31, at the gateway to the Grand Traverse region.

Phase One of the township's Shoreline Initiative includes the purchase of three properties adjacent to the existing Bayside Park near the M-72 / U.S. 31 intersection. The three properties are Willow Beach, Knollwood, and Shoreside Inn. The properties cover nearly 4 acres of land and will provide over 540’ of frontage on Lake Michigan and provide for recreational opportunities including shoreline fishing, wildlife viewing, day use areas for picnicking and a swimming beach. The cost of the three parcels is $4,008,000. Acme Township was awarded 75% of needed funds – $3,006,000 – in competitive Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund grant support, conditional on the Township securing $1 million in matching funds by June 1, 2010. The Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy, who is coordinating negotiations with the landowners partnering on this initiative, is also managing the private fundraising efforts to secure the $1 million. A total of $285,000 is still needed - by June 1st - to meet the match requirement for the Trust Fund grant for Phase One.

“The Carls Foundation challenge grant means that every dollar that comes in from the community will be matched 1:1, up to $100,000. Gifts of any size are appreciated and will literally have a lasting impact on the landscape and character of the gateway to the Grand Traverse region. Everyone in the community will be able to enjoy access to the new beachfront,” commented Acme Township Supervisor Wayne Kladder.
Communities throughout Michigan are increasingly realizing that preserving and featuring their best natural assets - their productive farms, their shoreline, their beaches, their dunes, and their riverfronts – can be a key to future prosperity.

Megan Olds, Associate Director of the Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy commented, “The Carls Foundation is a state-wide foundation based in Detroit, but with a long history of supporting conservation across Michigan and in the Grand Traverse region. Their support adds to the generous gifts from individuals and local foundations like Rotary Charities of Traverse City, the Oleson Foundation, and the Les and Anne Biederman Foundation, and really speaks to the broad significance of the project.”

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How to help

Donations can be made directly to the Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy. Checks should be made out to GTRLC – write Acme Shoreline project in the memo line of the check. You can also donate online at www.gtrlc.org. For information about how to make a stock transfer gift or to explore other giving options, including multi-year pledges, contact Megan Olds at the Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy.

Contacts

Wayne Kladder, Acme Township Supervisor, (231) 938-1350
Paul Brink, Acme Shoreline Preservation Committee Co-chair, (989) 430-6946
Pat Salathiel, Acme Shoreline Preservation Committee Co-chair, (231) 938-2128
Megan Olds, Associate Director, Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy, (231) 929-7911, molds@gtrlc.org

Acme Shoreline Protection Initiative Background

In 2006, a broad-based group of Acme Township Shoreline Advisory Committee members, elected and appointed officials, shoreline landowners, regional foundation and agency representatives and state legislators developed a Plan to open Acme’s waterfront. They agreed on the goal of reclaiming and preserving the shoreline for public use in order to:
• Offer public access to scarce waterfront shoreline
• Showcase the natural beauty of Acme Township by opening viewscapes and providing a scenic gateway to Traverse City
• Boost tourism creating a more robust local economy
• Enhance quality of life for Acme Township residents and those who visit
• Encourage non-motorized transportation by connecting to existing amenities, such as the nearby TART trail

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Rachel Kuntzsch
Heart of the Lakes
517-285-0460
rachel@heartofthelakes.org

Erin Heskett
Land Trust Alliance
269-324-1683
eheskett@lta.org

$1 Million Program to Bolster Michigan Land Conservancies

June 30, 2008

Lansing, MI — Conservation groups today reported that Michigan ranks only 25^th in the nation in terms of percent of land conserved in the state (1.3%) and called on the state’s nonprofit conservancies to step up and do more to stop the rapid loss of land to development.  Toward that end, Heart of the Lakes Center for Land Conservation Policy and the Land Trust Alliance (the Alliance) announced today a new conservation program in Michigan to help transform the state’s land conservancies into a high-performing, sustainable and cohesive conservation community.

Called the “ACE” program for Advancing Conservancy Excellence, this call-to-action initiative will provide three years of sustained coaching, training and capacity-building to strengthen land conservancies across the state.  Over the course of the next 30 years, more than four million acres of land in Michigan, including vital open space in urban areas, will disappear to development.  The ACE program will accelerate the growth and development of Michigan conservancies so that they have the ability to scale up their operations and the sustainability to increase greatly the number of conservation transactions.

The new program will also help position Michigan’s land conservancies to win national accreditation through the Land Trust Accreditation Commission, an independent program of the Alliance.  Accreditation provides the assurance of quality and permanence of land conservation and recognizes a conservancy’s ability to protect important natural places and working lands forever.

“Michigan’s nonprofit land conservancies are doing great work helping communities save the land that defines our quality of life,” said Rachel Kuntzsch, Executive Director of Heart of the Lakes. “With the tools, training and technical assistance provided through ACE, they can achieve so much more.”

Rand Wentworth, President of the Land Trust Alliance, an umbrella group for the 1700 land conservation groups in America, said: “This is the right program, the right strategy, and the right group of experienced players who can really make a difference on the ground.  Model programs like ACE are what the land conservation community needs if we hope to double the pace of conservation over the next 25 years.  The alternative will be over 50 million acres of land paved and lost to development across America that would otherwise sustain our drinking water supplies, wildlife habitat, and recreation lands.”

The ACE Program is made possible through the generous support of the Carls Foundation. Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, Frey Foundation, Kresge Foundation, and Wege Foundation.

Tom Bailey, Executive Director of Little Traverse Conservancy in Harbor Springs, Michigan, and President of Heart of the Lakes credited the funders for their leadership, saying, “Thanks to the support of a number of Michigan foundations, Heart of the Lakes and the Land Trust Alliance will be able to help land conservancies increase their level of performance and advance collaborative, strategic and high-impact land conservation in Michigan.”

Helen Taylor, State Director in Michigan for The Nature Conservancy noted, “This program will be a great resource for land trusts in Michigan—a resource that not only will strengthen the performance of individual organizations, it also will strengthen our skills and ability to partner and collaborate effectively to collectively achieve greater results.”

Michigan is home to more than forty active land conservancies who have collectively protected more than 400,000 acres of Michigan coastline, forests, unique agricultural land, and other natural areas for future generations to enjoy.  Conservancies work on a local, regional, or statewide basis with private landowners, local units of government, and the state to ensure the permanent protection of the state’s natural assets.

New state and federal tax incentives for private land conservation are leading to increased landowner interest in conservation options.  This, combined with declining public budgets for conservation programs, points to the need for a strong, sustainable conservancy community.

Michigan conservancies will have the opportunity to participate in the ACE program’s technical trainings, organizational assessments, mentoring, and consultations tailored individually to their needs.  Capacity-building grants up to $20,000 per conservancy will also be available on a competitive basis.  In addition, the program will facilitate the formation and strengthening of strategic partnerships among conservancies, government agencies and the private sector that will achieve more conservation throughout the state.

For more information on ACE, visit Heart of the Lakes or the Land Trust Alliance.

Heart of the Lakes Center for Land Conservation Policy is a nonprofit organization serving as the policy voice and convener of Michigan land conservancies. Our member organizations have helped to protect more than 400,000 acres of Michigan forests, farmland, coastline, and other extraordinary places. Heart of the Lakes is also a source of independent research, analysis, new ideas, and communications on Michigan's biggest conservation successes and challenges.

The Land Trust Alliance is a national conservation group that works to save the places people love by strengthening conservation throughout America.  It 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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Contact:
Rachel Kuntzsch
Heart of the Lakes
517-285-0460
rachel@heartofthelakes.org

Erin Heskett
Land Trust Alliance
269-324-1683
eheskett@lta.org

$1 Million Program to Bolster Michigan Land Conservancies

June 30, 2008

Lansing, MI — Conservation groups today reported that Michigan ranks only 25^th in the nation in terms of percent of land conserved in the state (1.3%) and called on the state’s nonprofit conservancies to step up and do more to stop the rapid loss of land to development.  Toward that end, Heart of the Lakes Center for Land Conservation Policy and the Land Trust Alliance (the Alliance) announced today a new conservation program in Michigan to help transform the state’s land conservancies into a high-performing, sustainable and cohesive conservation community.

Called the “ACE” program for Advancing Conservancy Excellence, this call-to-action initiative will provide three years of sustained coaching, training and capacity-building to strengthen land conservancies across the state.  Over the course of the next 30 years, more than four million acres of land in Michigan, including vital open space in urban areas, will disappear to development.  The ACE program will accelerate the growth and development of Michigan conservancies so that they have the ability to scale up their operations and the sustainability to increase greatly the number of conservation transactions.

The new program will also help position Michigan’s land conservancies to win national accreditation through the Land Trust Accreditation Commission, an independent program of the Alliance.  Accreditation provides the assurance of quality and permanence of land conservation and recognizes a conservancy’s ability to protect important natural places and working lands forever.

“Michigan’s nonprofit land conservancies are doing great work helping communities save the land that defines our quality of life,” said Rachel Kuntzsch, Executive Director of Heart of the Lakes. “With the tools, training and technical assistance provided through ACE, they can achieve so much more.”

Rand Wentworth, President of the Land Trust Alliance, an umbrella group for the 1700 land conservation groups in America, said: “This is the right program, the right strategy, and the right group of experienced players who can really make a difference on the ground.  Model programs like ACE are what the land conservation community needs if we hope to double the pace of conservation over the next 25 years.  The alternative will be over 50 million acres of land paved and lost to development across America that would otherwise sustain our drinking water supplies, wildlife habitat, and recreation lands.”

The ACE Program is made possible through the generous support of the Carls Foundation. Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, Frey Foundation, Kresge Foundation, and Wege Foundation.

Tom Bailey, Executive Director of Little Traverse Conservancy in Harbor Springs, Michigan, and President of Heart of the Lakes credited the funders for their leadership, saying, “Thanks to the support of a number of Michigan foundations, Heart of the Lakes and the Land Trust Alliance will be able to help land conservancies increase their level of performance and advance collaborative, strategic and high-impact land conservation in Michigan.”

Helen Taylor, State Director in Michigan for The Nature Conservancy noted, “This program will be a great resource for land trusts in Michigan—a resource that not only will strengthen the performance of individual organizations, it also will strengthen our skills and ability to partner and collaborate effectively to collectively achieve greater results.”

Michigan is home to more than forty active land conservancies who have collectively protected more than 400,000 acres of Michigan coastline, forests, unique agricultural land, and other natural areas for future generations to enjoy.  Conservancies work on a local, regional, or statewide basis with private landowners, local units of government, and the state to ensure the permanent protection of the state’s natural assets.

New state and federal tax incentives for private land conservation are leading to increased landowner interest in conservation options.  This, combined with declining public budgets for conservation programs, points to the need for a strong, sustainable conservancy community.

Michigan conservancies will have the opportunity to participate in the ACE program’s technical trainings, organizational assessments, mentoring, and consultations tailored individually to their needs.  Capacity-building grants up to $20,000 per conservancy will also be available on a competitive basis.  In addition, the program will facilitate the formation and strengthening of strategic partnerships among conservancies, government agencies and the private sector that will achieve more conservation throughout the state.

For more information on ACE, visit Heart of the Lakes or the Land Trust Alliance.

Heart of the Lakes Center for Land Conservation Policy is a nonprofit organization serving as the policy voice and convener of Michigan land conservancies. Our member organizations have helped to protect more than 400,000 acres of Michigan forests, farmland, coastline, and other extraordinary places. Heart of the Lakes is also a source of independent research, analysis, new ideas, and communications on Michigan's biggest conservation successes and challenges.

The Land Trust Alliance is a national conservation group that works to save the places people love by strengthening conservation throughout America.  It 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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