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The Dirt - Connecting to the Land & Each Other
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Fresh food for the community

In many ways, the pandemic laid bare the critical connection between conservation and community access to local food.

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The Land Conservancy of New Jersey’s community garden was more popular than ever in 2020. / Photo courtesy of The Land Conservancy of New Jersey
By: Kirsten Ferguson
February 17, 2021
Comments
Conservation

A bridge to food security

Land access and food security have always been important issues for Kingston Land Trust, but they have emerged as even greater priorities during the pandemic.

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Children from the African Roots Library afterschool program in 2019 show off their harvest from a garden created through Kingston Land Trust's land matching program. / Photo courtesy of Kingston Land Trust
By: Kirsten Ferguson
June 02, 2020
Comments
Conservation

Jobs for the unemployed

The accredited Land Trust of North Alabama partnered with Downtown Huntsville, Inc. and Downtown Charitable Fund to provide temporary employment to service industry workers from downtown Huntsville businesses who had been displaced due to the economic fallout of COVID-19.

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Land stewards conduct orientation for the first group of participants. / Photo courtesy of City of Huntsville, Alabama
By: Kirsten Ferguson
June 01, 2020
Comments
People

Support of local food systems

As various iconic public lands all over the country closed due to COVID-19, many land trusts experienced increased traffic at their properties — as well as a renewed appreciation for conservation.

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Photo credit: Marco Sanchez / Dana Melby and Pete Walton at work at Piedmont Environmental Council’s Community Farm at Roundabout Meadows.
By: Kirsten Ferguson
May 28, 2020
Comments

A time to give back

In rapidly developing Eagle County, Colorado, the Land & Rivers Fund helps to protect rivers and open spaces. In partnership with Eagle River Watershed Council, the accredited Eagle Valley Land Trust launched the program, which is supported by local businesses and their customers, who make voluntary donations with purchases.

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Photo credit: Todd Winslow Pierce / Funding from the Land & Rivers Fund helps Eagle Valley Land Trust protect properties in Eagle County, Colorado, like this ranchland in the Brush Creek Valley.
By: Kirsten Ferguson
May 27, 2020
Comments

Local economies get boost from conservation

A first-of-its-kind study has found that land conservation modestly boosts employment, a leading indicator of economic growth.

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Newtown, Connecticut is home to Newtown Forest Association, which received the Land Trust Alliance's National Land Trust Excellence Award in 2018. / Photo by DJ Glisson, II
By: Kirsten Ferguson
December 09, 2019
Comments
Money

Easing the way for amphibians

Why did the salamander cross the road?

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A salamander gets a hand from a volunteer. / Photo by Cara Gentry
By: Kirsten Ferguson
July 10, 2019
Comments
Conservation

Saving hairy belly bees and other pollinators

Land trusts around the country have joined the fight to protect native pollinators, which are essential to the planet and to human life, allowing for the reproduction of over 85% of the world's flowering plants and two-thirds of the world's crop species.

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A hairy belly bee gets its name from the specialized hairs, or "scopa," on its underside. / "Bee 32" by Christa R./CC Flickr
By: Kirsten Ferguson
June 05, 2019
Comments
Conservation

Darkness worth protecting

Over 80 percent of the U.S. population lives under skies so polluted by man-made lights that celestial objects like the Milky Way are almost invisible.

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Photo by Ronald Gleason
By: Kirsten Ferguson
July 11, 2018
Comments
Science & Tech

Lifelong learning stokes conservation

You're never too old to learn new things, a spirit that Virginia's accredited New River Land Trust takes to heart by leading field trips for people ages 50 and over.

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Mike Pinder of the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries conducts a stream demonstration during a New River Land Trust field trip. / Photo by Anne Campbell
By: Kirsten Ferguson
May 11, 2018
Comments
Conservation

Green solutions help urban communities

High school students in Trees Atlanta's summer job program learned landscaping and leadership skills while beautifying Atlanta by watering trees and pulling invasive weeds.

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Young people in the Trees Atlanta summer job program prepare to water trees, shrubs and other plants. / Photo by Pattie Baker
By: Kirsten Ferguson
May 08, 2018
Comments
People

Collaborations keep water flowing

In Colorado's high-altitude San Luis Valley, which contains the headwaters of the Rio Grande, communities and conservationists have always needed to work together to solve water challenges while balancing the needs of people, agriculture and wildlife.

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The Gilmore Ranch easement is part of the Rio Grande Initiative, a broad partnership launched by the Rio Grande Headwaters Land Trust in 2007. / Photo by Rio de la Vista
By: Kirsten Ferguson
May 04, 2018
Comments
Conservation

Conserved lands provide clues to scientists

In 1978, during low tide in the Columbia River Estuary, amateur paleontologists exploring the tidal flats in Pacific County, Washington, found the skull and teeth of a primitive whale dating back 25 million years to the Oligocene, a geological epoch.

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A crab fossil (Branchioplax washingtoniana). / Photo by Sarah Richard
By: Kirsten Ferguson
May 01, 2018
Comments
Science & Tech

Food for Flight supports pollinators

Habitat restoration is a goal of many land trusts, including Three Valley Conservation Trust in Oxford, Ohio.

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High school students attend a briefing on pollinators at a Three Valley Conservation Trust habitat restoration partner's site before they begin planting milkweed and nectar plants. / Photo by Dirk Morgan
By: Kirsten Ferguson
April 23, 2018
Comments
Science & Tech

Boosted morale

"People take pride in participating in the work of a land trust that has high standards. It adds to morale."

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Monadnock Conservancy staff / Photo courtesy of Monadnock Conservancy
By: Kirsten Ferguson
October 14, 2016
Comments
Accreditation

Putting landscapes to work

To better connect people in the community with nature, this conservancy is putting landscapes to work.

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Sandhill cranes on land protected by the Driftless Area Land Conservnacy in Wisconsin / Photo by Mary Kay Baum
By: Kirsten Ferguson
September 08, 2016
Comments
Conservation

A Stronger Land Trust Movement

The Colorado Cattlemen’s Agricultural Land Trust finds that accreditation makes their organization — and the land trust movement — stronger.

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Photo courtesy of Colorado Cattlemen's Agricultural Land Trust
By: Kirsten Ferguson
August 08, 2016
Comments
Accreditation

Protection against future challenges

Accreditation helped Tall Timbers Land Conservancy when it mattered most.

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Photo courtesy of Tall Timbers Land Conservancy
By: Kirsten Ferguson
July 05, 2016
Comments
Accreditation

The importance of a national standard

Open Space Institute saw the value in a national standard that helps land trusts of all sizes uphold the highest standards and practices.

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Photo courtesy of Open Space Institute
By: Kirsten Ferguson
June 28, 2016
Comments
Accreditation

A stamp of credibility

Public-private partnerships are critical to the work of Northern Virginia Conservation Trust. The organization preserves Northern Virginia’s natural areas in part by helping Arlington County, Fairfax County and the city of Alexandria carry out the commitments to open space protection outlined in their comprehensive plans.

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Peggy Stevens and Nancy Hyde of Northern Virginia Land Trust/Photo courtesy of Northern Virginia Land Trust
By: Kirsten Ferguson
December 09, 2015
Comments
Accreditation

A guide during transition

Accreditation helped Greenbelt Land Trust in a time of rapid organizational change.

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Photo courtesy of Greenbelt Land Trust
By: Kirsten Ferguson
October 27, 2015
Comments
Accreditation

Assurance for landowners

In her work at Upstate Forever to protect special places in the Upstate region of South Carolina, Erin Jordan Knight has encountered landowners who understandably question how they can be sure that future enforcers of their easements will be fair.

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Upstate Forever, The Nature Conservancy and Naturaland Trust partnered to protect this 2,208 acre property/© Mac Stone
By: Kirsten Ferguson
September 23, 2015
Comments
Accreditation

All in the family

On a business trip to Los Angeles in 1972, Tommy Wyche was shocked to see development covering the mountains surrounding the city. He returned from the trip and told his son, Brad, “We’ve got to make sure that doesn’t happen to the South Carolina mountains.”

By: Kirsten Ferguson
June 23, 2015
Comments
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