Nature Noted

A site to check out

2006-03-21T19:05:00.000-06:00

No, we didn't lose access to the internet or electricity here in Memphis. My semi-regular blogging has been less regular lately, but I shake out of Greta Garbo land to pass along an interesting website. It's Ecosystemmarketplace.comand it's an eclectic mix of news, opinion and eco-market tracking. A particular article of note is on the lessons learned from the collapse of a California land trust. Interesting reading, interesting site.
Ok, back into my hole now.

Urban Land Trusts

2006-02-23T19:30:00.000-06:00

Land trusts aren't just for wilderness. Here's a plea for for Urban Trusts as well.

Accreditation Board Named

2006-02-16T07:04:00.000-06:00

The Land Trust Alliance has announced the formation of its new commission to oversee land trust accreditation. The "Land Trust Accreditation Commission: An Independent Program of the Land Trust Alliance" will consist of 13 members.
This is the next step in the LTA's promise to Congress to set accreditation standards across the country to cut down on conservation easement tax abuses.

Those named are:
CHAIR
Larry Kueter (CO)
Counsel, Colorado Cattlemen’s Agricultural Land Trust
Attorney, Isaacson Rosenbaum PC
Board Member, Land Trust Alliance

VICE CHAIR
David MacDonald (ME)
Director of Land Protection
Maine Coast Heritage Trust

SECRETARY
Ann Taylor Schwing (CA)
Attorney, McDonough Holland & Allen PC
Board Member
Land Trust of Napa County

TREASURER
Katherine Imhoff (VA)
Chairwoman, Virginia Outdoors Foundation
Vice President for Planning and Facilities, Thomas Jefferson Foundation, Inc.

COMMISSIONERS
Elizabeth Crane (GA)
Program Manager
Forest Legacy, U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service

David Hartwell (MN)President, Bellcomb Technologies Inc.
Board Member, Land Trust Alliance

Lucinda Hunt-Stowell (CT)
Board Member, Southbury Land Trust
Chairwoman, Flanders Nature Center and Land Trust

Jennifer Lorenz (TX)
Executive Director, Legacy Land Trust

Marc Smiley (OR)
Marc Smiley Organizational Development
Board Member, Columbia Land Trust

Peter Stein (NH)
Partner, Lyme Timber and LTC Conservation Advisory Services

Henry Tepper (NY)
New York State Director
The Nature Conservancy

Wesley Ward (MA)
Director of Land Conservation
The Trustees of Reservations

Michael Whitfield (ID)
Executive Director
Teton Regional Land Trust

Great Bear Rising

2006-02-08T06:58:00.000-06:00

After years of wrangling and debate, The Great Bear Rainforest is about to become one of the largest protected areas in North America. The new park is the result of years of negotiations between the Canadian government, environmental groups, logging companies and native, or First Nation tribes.
The Great Bear Rainforest is located on B.C.'s north and central coast.
Covering more than six million hectares, it is one of the world's largest intact temperate rainforests. The largely roadless area is laced with salmon rivers and has large populations of grizzly bears and white "spirit" bears, which are a rare genetic variation of black bears....
The Nature Conservancy press release has details on the plan to transform the economy of the area from extraction based to a more sustainable one.
Ecosystem-based management in the Great Bear Rainforest seeks to direct the sustainable and cautious use of resources at all scales, from broad landscapes to individual plants.
At the landscape level, a network of new and existing protected areas extending over 5 million acres will protect a core of ecologically and culturally significant areas from logging and other industrial uses. These areas provide the most secure habitat for sensitive native plants and animals, such as the white Spirit bear and many of the most productive salmon streams.
At the watershed level, such as a 20,000-acre river valley, management plans will set aside reserves where little or no resource extraction takes place. These reserves will maintain wildlife habitat and travel corridors, protect waterways and preserve specific values such as threatened species, sensitive soils and cultural, scenic and recreational areas.
At the site level, such as a 250-acre timber stand, forest harvesters will design their logging plans to retain individual trees, or groups of trees, to maintain key habitat features such as streamside forest cover, trees for nesting, or bear or wolf den sites. Logging plans will also seek to sustain ecological process by, for example, leaving large fallen trees in rivers where they form pools and side channels necessary for salmon.
As in every negotiation, the idea was to give all the parties a little something.... but the import of this deal is to protect a huge area... what TNC is calling 25% of the world's remaining temperate rainforest. A remarkable achievement.
Here's a link to a photo essay on the park.

Marty Bender

2006-02-05T12:40:00.000-06:00

I didn't know Marty Bender, but after obituary on the home page of the Land Institute, I thought what a shame he won't be around as the country debates the future of using our natural resources. Here's an excerpt..
"Historian and Land Institute board member Donald Worster said he once asked Bender for a few facts about energy consumption on a Kansas farm.
"Back in the mail came a response that must have taken him several hours to assemble — far more information than I needed, all given in a spirit of selfless generosity that characterized Marty to the core. Besides his family, he lived for The Land Institute and its research programs."
Bender's answers were both blunt and exacting, what institute board Chairman Conn Nugent called a "tough theology":
"Will biofuels one day power an expanding American economy? No way, says Marty: You could grow fuel crops on every square inch of North America, and still fall way short of the net energy provided by the contemporary supply of fossil fuels. Solar panels? Wind machines? Hybrid vehicles? Sure, Marty would say, those are good things. Just don't expect them to let you live in the style to which you've become accustomed."
Tough theology, tough answers. A reminder that our greatest natural resource is smart, curious and honest people.

No Going Back?

2006-01-29T08:38:00.000-06:00

Depressed yet? If not, this article should do the trick
"Now that most scientists agree human activity is causing Earth to warm, the central debate has shifted to whether climate change is progressing so rapidly that, within decades, humans may be helpless to slow or reverse the trend.
This "tipping point" scenario has begun to consume many prominent researchers in the United States and abroad, because the answer could determine how drastically countries need to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions in the coming years. While scientists remain uncertain when such a point might occur, many say it is urgent that policymakers cut global carbon dioxide emissions in half over the next 50 years or risk the triggering of changes that would be irreversible.

It's getting hot in here

2006-01-25T06:54:00.000-06:00

2005 warmest year in last 100 years.... and that's without any major weather disturbances.... yikes.
2005 warmest year on record:NASA.
LATE ADD
"Here's a striking fact from the NASA press release: Since 1890 the global average temperature has increased about 1.4 degrees F., but a full degree of that has been in just the past three decades. It's a different world than the one many of us were born into. And the bad thing about wrecking the Earth is that it's not the kind of thing where you're given a do-over."
..Yes, I'm getting my science from a humorist... but read the rest of Joel Achenbach and his reader's comments in the Washington Post.

They like you, they really like you....

2006-01-24T06:44:00.000-06:00

Folks at The Nature Conservancy should be feeling pretty good about themselves. A nationwide Harris Poll found TNC to be the most trusted among 13 national large non-profits. That's great news for an organization that's been rocked by investigations in recent years over controversial easement practices. Looking at the results, it's clear that most people still view TNC, and I think land trusts in general, as a non-controversial organization.
According to the poll, of those who are familiar with it, 27% of respondants trust TNC a "great deal" with 52% marking "fair amount" for a combined "trust" rating of 79%. Only 16% said "not very much" and 4 % were at "not at all".
The AARP finished second on the trust rankings, the Sierra Club came in fifth with 59% trust. Greenpeace came in with a somewhat surprising 56% trust. I say surprising because the more controversial the organization, the lower its scores tended to be. The NRA and AFL-CIO came in at the bottom.
Part of the reason for the high TNC score may be a lack of familiarity. Only 47% of respondants said they were familiar with it. The groups with the highest negatives also had the highest level of familiarity. 90% of those polled knew what the NRA was, 81% know Greenpeace.
An interesting breakdown shows that Democrats & Independents trust TNC the most... at 85% & 80%. Republicans lagged behind at 68%. (Republicans liked the Chamber of Commerce & the Business Roundtable the most).
So the poll indicates both good things, and work for TNC, (as well as the Sierra Club).
The good news is that the recent Senate investigations and newspaper series haven't shaken the trust of people who know what TNC does, but only a bare majority of Americans are even familiar with the organization. So while there is work to be done, so far, so good.

Saving the Camp

2006-01-21T09:18:00.000-06:00

A campaign is underway to keep America's first Boy Scout camp from being developed. Camp Owasippe is a 48 hundred acre camp on Lake Michigan that has been used by Chicago area Boy Scouts for decades. The Scout Council has decided it can't afford to keep it anymore, and wants to sell it for development as a residential subdivision. Land Choices is organizing an opposition campaign to the rezoning. You can sign the petition opposing the plan and learn more about the camp at the link.

Highlighting The Comments

2006-01-14T08:55:00.000-06:00

I know it's a little redundant to repost comments... but a recent exchange is worth pointing out. Tim Abbott of Walking the Berkshires posted a thoughtful comment (and officially the longest one in the history of Nature Noted!) on the Block Island acquisition noted below. Tim raises questions about funding priorities. The response from Anonymous (that guy is everywhere) continues the dialogue. Check them both out, and let's continue the dialogue. This is fun. Thanks to both for their comments.

Tim Abbott said...
Pat, the Block Island conservation deal you describe raises more than just eyebrows at the extraordinary costs associated with land protection in such areas with extremely high real estate values.

For starters, TNC's internal funding mechanism has long given that organization great flexibility to close projects before all the donations have been secured. Clearly, in high wealth places like Block Island or the nearby Massachusetts Islands, there is the expectation that those borrowed funds will be reimbursed from local sources. However, the Land Protection Fund or LPF is used by the entire organization, and in recent years its available resources have been almost fully committed. Repayment with interest is usually expected in 36 months, but the Block island case does beg the question of whether hugely expensive projects like this should be tapping the LPF, or instead developing and leveraging other sources of funding so that projects in less wealthy areas - but no less deserving of conservation funding -have secure access to internal LPF loans.

A second consideration is more philosophiocal: namely,whether
the conservation value of the land protected on Block Island is worth the effort and expense required to conserve it. I mean no disrespect toward what are clearly deeply important cultural, aesthetic, and ecological values associated with land on Block Island. A great deal of protection has taken place there, and clearly there are donors willing to support such expensive protection projects. But I would hope that there is also an open and honest assessment by TNC, as a global conservation organization with many priorities, of whether it can or should continue to expend such resources on high cost protection in such places, or whether there are other methods to use on Block Island and protection efforts elsewhere that should receive priority.

Of course, just because conservation organizations can raise $12 million dollars for a project on Block Island - or $64 million for another or Martha's Vineyard, for that matter - doesn't mean those resources can be easily reallocated. A unilateral policy of reallocation would in any case challenge the intent of many donors. But setting priorities should challenge TNC to consider alternatives to hugely expensive land deals with small acreages unless those acres are the most irreplaceable and important conservation land the organization could be protecting in that ecoregion. Going to scale, after all, should be going to the "appropriate" scale to conserve the conservation target, and sometimes that doesn't need to be very large.

I also realize that we are dealing with highly relative values here. After all, how does one compare something like a small patch of sandplain grassland in one place with 25,000 acres of boreal forest in another? But surely a conservation vision for the North Atlantic Coast Ecoregion, in which Block Island is a component part, will have to grapple with how much highly expensive land protection can and should be accomplished as part of TNC's overall conservation strategy.

The partnership between TNC and the Block Island Land Trust is commendable. TNC's entire approach to conservation area planning has changed dramatically in the last 20 years. I am sure the Rodman's Hollow area is still a high priority for the Block Island Land Trust, and I'd be interested in knowing how it contributes to Conserving TNC's ecoregional portfolio targets within the North Atlantic Coast.

A friend with TNC on Martha's Vineyard, Tom Chase, has advocated the need there for an "undevelopment" strategy, since most of his "conservastion targets" lack sufficent size or representation on the island to meet minimal viability thresholds. Does this reflect the situation on Block Island as well, and how does protecting these acres contribute toward reaching those viability goals?

I'd be curious to know what others may think.
8:35 PM
Anonymous said...
Tim Abbott makes thoughtful, well-informed points. Some random thoughts: As a Rhode Islander who has followed TNC's efforts here for some time, I'm glad to see that they're sticking to priorities and places (Block Island is one of their "10 Last Best Places," or whatever the phrase is)to which they've already devoted their scientific and their financial resources. For better or worse, conservation groups have become big players in the real estate markets of the coastal communities in this region. There seems to be some sense in securing remaining major parcels now, partly to protect the resources already purchased in the same area. The prices seem ridiculous now, but they may appear cheap a few years from now. TNC is doing its job protecting natural resources in these areas. I worry about the cultural prospects of some of these coastal communities, but they will face those challenges anyway simply because of their location. TNC and other organizations should of course be adaptable, but they are probably in a better position than, say, government agencies to carry out long-term acquisition and management policies without being buffeted by shifting political winds or scary real-estate prices.

Speaking of Expensive

2006-01-12T07:07:00.000-06:00

This one won't come cheap, either... Check out The Nature Conservancy Partners With 100 Groups To Save Most Significant 25,000 Acres Of Open Space & 10,000 Acres Farmland On (Long Island) ......“Long Island’s Last Stand” Initiative Aims to Preserve Long Island’s Quality of Life

One Expensive Block

2006-01-11T19:06:00.000-06:00

It's the old real estate saw, location, location, location. And just as you pay more for that house in the hot neighborhood, so land trusts have to pay more for property with a high development value. That's also why The Nature Conservancy and the Block Island Trust were willing to buy 40 acrews on Rhode Island's Block Island for a cool $12 million.
On Wednesday, Dec. 28, The Nature Conservancy and the Block Island Land Trust completed a transaction to conserve 40 acres of land just south of Rodmanís Hollow. This property has been a conservation priority for more than 20 years, completing the visionary work in this area begun by Capt. John R. "Robî" Lewis in 1972, and added to throughout the years.
This unique and spectacular tract abuts Rodmanís Hollow to the north and Black Rock to the west. It is perhaps the most ecologically significant, undeveloped, unprotected property remaining on Block Island, and one that many people thought was already conserved.
In addition to the conservation value of this property, it will allow for a continuation of the walking trails in Rodmanís Hollow to finally reach Black Rock (as opposed to walking on the old road). It will also ensure that the beach access and parking at Tomís Cove, a popular fishing and surfing spot, remains open to the public. Also as a result of this transaction, the town will have an improved and widened Snake Hole Road beach access.
The transaction has four components. First, The Nature Conservancy, with the help of the Block Island Land Trust, purchased 25 acres (two tracts) for $7,070,000, its fair market value, from the Jones family. Second, The Nature Conservancy received the outright donation of another 2-acre parcel from the Jones family. Third, The Nature Conservancy accepted the donation of a 13-acre conservation easement from Graham and Gay Jones. Finally, the Town of New Shoreham, the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management, Graham and Gay Jones, and The Nature Conservancy entered into a joint management agreement for the Rodmanís Hollow/Black Rock area that will ensure public access and appropriate public use for the area in perpetuity.
With the gifts of land and easements, the total value of this transaction exceeds $12 million, the highest-value Block Island conservation transaction ever. Of the $7,070,000 purchase price, the Land Trust has agreed to pay for almost half, and The Nature Conservancy will pay the balance. This necessitated The Nature Conservancy to secure a substantial loan from its internal revolving Land Preservation Fund. This is The Nature Conservancyís largest debt ever incurred on a single Block Island transaction.

Green Ranches

2006-01-10T20:06:00.000-06:00

The Green Ranching movement is getting a little bit of buzz this week. The Arizona Republic has the story of how the Grand Canyon Trust and the Conservation Fund have become among the biggest ranch owners in Arizona.
In one of the largest deals of its kind, Two Mile Ranch and neighboring Kane Ranch were sold last year to Grand Canyon Trust and the Conservation Fund, environmental groups trying to position themselves on the leading edge of the so-called green ranch movement.
Guided by a detailed ecological study of the ranches and the accompanying grazing allotments, the groups want to restore depleted springs and forest areas and drive out invasive weeds and shrubs. They plan to unleash an army of volunteers to clean up the battered rangelands that sit along the Grand Canyon and include some of the West's most iconic landscapes.
Amid those audacious plans, ranching will continue. As much as the groups might like to end ranching on their corner of the plateau, they can't. Federal laws don't allow a new owner to take over grazing permits and just not use them, which means the trust and the fund must buy cattle and run a ranch on nearly 850,000 acres of high Arizona desert.
They also must work within federal land-management rules. The groups own fewer than 1,100 acres; the rest is public land, open to recreation, to hunting and still subject to laws that were written to encourage multiple uses.
The groups, which have questioned the value of open-range grazing in the past, see the irony of their situation and often point it out themselves.
"We still think we're the best option out there," said Rick Moore, director of the Kane and Two Mile ranch program for the trust. "For a traditional permit-holder, the tendency might be to graze more cows. We can do the opposite. We're driven by ecological needs, not economic. We can put money back into the land because we're not trying to put kids through college."
Meanwhile, the San Diego Union-Tribune has a nice column on Green Ranching... noting similar efforts in California..
Times are slowly changing.
Capitalizing on growing public concern about food safety, some ranchers now specialize in grass-fed beef. Rather than spending their last months in feedlots shot full of antibiotics, these cattle live more like their 19th century ancestors. A recent tax-code provision (some call it a loophole) encourages ranchers to go organic, to keep grasslands free of herbicides and pesticides – and out of development. In the past, environmental groups have mostly opposed range grazing, a position that, ironically, has put them at odds with the organic, grass-fed beef proponents. But that predisposition may be moderating.
In 1997, ranchers formed the nonprofit, rancher-run California Rangeland Trust, primarily to keep rangelands in agriculture. "As California's population continues to grow, ranchers should begin to recognize the value of undisturbed landscapes to those seeking experiences outside of their urban environment," according to a report by the University of California's Integrated Hardwood Range Management Program, which praises the trust – and then adds a twist:
Much of the state's native grassland vegetation evolved in the presence of grazing animals – and may be genetically programmed for grazing. "To be sure, cattle are not the same as mastodons, camels, ancient horses and bison that once grazed here, but their use of the land may better reflect that historical use than if they are excluded entirely," according to the report.
No question about it, better grazing techniques are needed, but cows certainly pose less of a threat to grassland or oak forests than do housing tracts.
And this weekend, the Quivira Coalition will have its 5th annual conference in Albuquerque, "Bridging the Urban - Rural Divide: Reconnecting People to Land and Each Other..
Courtney White and the Quivira Coalition have been the biggest proponents of the notion that there's a place for ranching and good environmental practices to coexist... living in the Radical Center. The conference has an impressive agenda and list of speakers. If you happen to be hanging out in New Mexico this weekend with nothing to do, go check it out. It's all the buzz.

Sacred Trust

2006-01-05T06:53:00.000-06:00

Many people view nature as a touch of the divine, but some places are a little more sacred than others. Case in point, Bear Butte, South Dakota.. More than 60 Native American tribes consider the mountain to be sacred, but as with the rest of the Black Hills, development is beginning to encroach. That's why an effort is underway to start a land trust designed to preserve the peace and quiet of their sacred spot.
" A land trust fund was seen as the only permanent solution to stopping the selling of land surrounding the small, sacred mountain. The organization was able to stop the building of an outdoor shooting range that was planned on a location four miles north of the Butte. The businessmen planning the venture had illegally received federal funds that were supposed to benefit low and middle-income people. The illegality was uncovered in a lawsuit filed by the Defenders of the Black Hills and seven Native American tribes.
But now a private operator is planning on building a biker bar and outdoor concert arena just one and a half miles from the base of the mountain.
Since many people want to help protect the land surrounding Bear Butte, the organization decided that opening a land trust fund would allow everyone the opportunity to do fund raising events and contribute to the fund. The price of the land surrounding the Butte is high as realtors use the sacred mountain in their advertisements.
Defenders plan on keeping any land that they are able to purchase in a natural state to insure the sacredness of Bear Butte is not disturbed.
The organization recently received their designation as a tax-exempt non-profit organization capable of receiving gifts and donations. They work on environmental and sacred site issues in the Midwest with no paid staff.
Donations to the Bear Butte Land Trust Fund may be sent to Wells Fargo Bank, 825 St. Joseph St., Rapid City, SD 57701. Bank transfers are also available by contacting any Wells Fargo Bank. "
Yeah, nothing like a biker bar and concert arena to help you in your efforts to achieve one with the cosmos. And don't you love the fact that the reason the property cost is high, is because "the sacred mountain" is used in advertisements? Let's hope the Bear Butte Land Trust gets up and going soon.

Saving The Not So Cute

2006-01-04T06:33:00.000-06:00

The NY Times had an article yesterday that talked about the human trait to be drawn to, and to try to protect the "cute things" of the world. Like pandas, penguins and little puppy dogs. The story even goes so far as to opine that we're now even buying "cute" things like a Prius or Mini-Cooper instead of those not-so-cute SUV's. (I think gas mileage might have a little more to that than the cute factor.)
"Scientists who study the evolution of visual signaling have identified a wide and still expanding assortment of features and behaviors that make something look cute: bright forward-facing eyes set low on a big round face, a pair of big round ears, floppy limbs and a side-to-side, teeter-totter gait, among many others.
Cute cues are those that indicate extreme youth, vulnerability, harmlessness and need, scientists say, and attending to them closely makes good Darwinian sense. As a species whose youngest members are so pathetically helpless they can't lift their heads to suckle without adult supervision, human beings must be wired to respond quickly and gamely to any and all signs of infantile desire.
The human cuteness detector is set at such a low bar, researchers said, that it sweeps in and deems cute practically anything remotely resembling a human baby or a part thereof, and so ends up including the young of virtually every mammalian species, fuzzy-headed birds like Japanese cranes, woolly bear caterpillars, a bobbing balloon, a big round rock stacked on a smaller rock, a colon, a hyphen and a close parenthesis typed in succession.
The greater the number of cute cues that an animal or object happens to possess, or the more exaggerated the signals may be, the louder and more italicized are the squeals provoked.
Cuteness is distinct from beauty, researchers say, emphasizing rounded over sculptured, soft over refined, clumsy over quick. Beauty attracts admiration and demands a pedestal; cuteness attracts affection and demands a lap. Beauty is rare and brutal, despoiled by a single pimple. Cuteness is commonplace and generous, content on occasion to cosegregate with homeliness.
Observing that many Floridians have an enormous affection for the manatee, which looks like an overfertilized potato with a sock puppet's face, Roger L. Reep of the University of Florida said it shone by grace of contrast. "People live hectic lives, and they may be feeling overwhelmed, but then they watch this soft and slow-moving animal, this gentle giant, and they see it turn on its back to get its belly scratched," said Dr. Reep, author with Robert K. Bonde of "The Florida Manatee: Biology and Conservation."
"That's very endearing," said Dr. Reep. "So even though a manatee is 3 times your size and 20 times your weight, you want to get into the water beside it."
I'll buy that we have a tendency to be attracted to the cute. Which gives a biological edge to those species that meet our instinctive cute-bias.
So you have to admire efforts to preserve the "non-cute" as well. In Florida, one effort involves preserving what little is left of the Florida Scrub, a non-cute name if there ever was one.
"Scrub is the unglamorous name for the Florida ecosystem that's similar to a desert. Sparsely populated by shrubs instead of trees with dry, sugary sand, it has one of the highest concentrations of endangered plant species in the United States. The ridge is the only home to 16 plants listed as endangered by the federal government, according to researchers at Archbold Biological Station in Lake Placid.
"Our existence on the planet Earth is lessened every time we lose one of our fellow inhabitants," Steve Morrison of The Nature Conservancy said of the need to preserve the ridge's unique ecosystem.
Though less well-known than the Everglades, the Lake Wales Ridge scrub is the oldest ecosystem in Florida. Today only about 15 percent of the scrub ecosystem that once existed in Florida survives. Much of the land was turned into citrus groves and ranch land, and more recently, housing developments."
In the scrub lives non-cute things like rare plants and fungi... which are are a bit hard to get excited about.
Now if they can only find some indigenous scrub pandas.... the effort might really get going.

Won't be missing 2005

2005-12-31T08:58:00.000-06:00

What a year. Hurricanes, War, Global Warming, Pestilence, and now Jon's bailing on The Uneasy Chair. I'm so glad 2005 is heading out the door. I only hope and pray that 2006 is a happier year for everyone.
For many, including my family, 2005 will always be the year of Katrina. The world will be broken down into life before and after the storm. On the human scale, I expect that there will be fewer people living along the gulf coast in 2006. Many of the evacuees just have nothing to return to. I wait to see if this truly will be one of those seminal events that forces all of us to reevaluate how we live with nature, how we protect ourselves, and how we respond to the needs of our neighbors. I fear Katrina will be a harbinger of other, greater challenges we will face from a changing environment.
The Year of Land Trust Reform
2005 will also be a landmark year for land trusts. Under heavy pressure from the Senate Finance Committee, trusts have begun down the road of greater accountability and toward more organizational professionalization. In April, the Finance Committee began its hearings on conservation easements and whether the program had suffered such abuse that it should be shut down. Thankfully, the answer was no. And for that, I credit the effort by the LTA and all of its members to convice the Senate that legitimate trusts want reform. The LTA's accreditation plan and other suggestions accomplished the purpose of providing a roadmap toward greater accountability. (Here's the synopsis I posted explaining the proposed changes.) But those changes may also spell the end for small, local trusts that won't have the resources to comply with the requirements. That sparked a heartfelt debate over the future of the Land Trust Movement. I do think it's inevitable that we will see more land trust bankruptcies as all of this shakes out.
The Year of Alternate Media
2005 has also been the year of the explosion in alternate media. From blogs to Ipods, choices abound. It's been a nervous time for folks like me, who pay the mortgage by working in Mainstream Media. Blogging is fun, but except for a select few it is not a money making proposition. But as in all revolutions, it's both a frightening and exhilarating time. Just by playing around with this little blog I've learned so much about the world that frankly I wouldn't know if I stuck to my normal diet of newspapers, magazines and television. I've also had the chance to meet some fascinating folks in cyber space. I really will miss reading Jon Christensen each day, although he promises not to completely disappear from the scene. Jon's nordic cousin Tom Andersen not only keeps us updated on the latest LNG terminal news but also his hobnobbing with all sorts of critters on Long Island. (My blog's still worth more than yours, Tom!)
Finally, I've met some even more far flung folks, learning about life above the Arctic Circle. Seriously, have you looked to see how far north Arctic Bay really is?.
To those of you who take a few minutes out of your day to check in here, thanks. I hope you've learned a few thing, and that you'll keep stopping by in the new year. Happy 2006 everyone.

Merry Christmas to All

2005-12-22T19:37:00.000-06:00

We're off to Texas for Christmas. If you're still looking for gift ideas, check out The Uneasy Chair for an end of the year list of great book suggestions. I'm sticking with my book suggestion of the year 1491 by Charles Mann. I guarantee you won't look at the natural history of the Americas in the same way again.
In the meantime, Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah and a joyous whatever else you and yours may celebrate.

Preserved But Not Protected

2005-12-22T10:34:00.000-06:00

Preserved, but not protected. That's the title of a new report from the Connecticut Council on Environmental Quality (warning, it's a big file). The report outlines the problem of keeping preserved land in its intended state. There's a press release here, as well as a good synopsis in New Times Live. Among the problems...
"The report contains some blatant examples of abuse. One man cut 131 trees down in a state park to improve the view from his nearby home. In Redding, the problem was the opposite, said Mary Ann Guitar, president of the Redding Land Trust, which owns about 1,500 acres.
"We had someone going onto our land planting trees because they didn't like the view they had," she said.
A survey of 78 land trusts in the state showed that the majority of them have seen their lands abused in some way. That often puts the trust land managers, whether volunteers or paid staff, in a tough position.
"We're often trying to protect a piece of property in a town, where maintaining good relationships with people is important," said Hunter Brawley, the manager of the Naromi Land Trust in Sherman, which owns about 800 acres and has conservation easements on another 300 acres. "So you can't take a confrontational approach."
Not every trust has seen such abuse. Bill Montgomery, president of the Swampfield Land Trust in Danbury said it's not had serious problems on its 131 acres.
Another recurring theme is abuse by some ATV riders.
The damage done by people driving all-terrain vehicles takes up a major part of the report.
"Use of ATVs on public and private preserved land is commonplace and it is virtually all illegal," the report says.
"ATVs are catastrophic," said White.
Both White and Brawley said one of the main problems for land trusts is that they often own property that abuts utility line rights-of-way. ATV riders start out on the utility roads, then veer off into the woods.
At the 654-acre Tarrywile Park in Danbury, there's been severe damage to some park trails by ATV riders, said Sandra Moy, the park's director. That forced the city to pass an ordinance banning them on city land she said.
"In the last couple of years, we've had much less ATV damage here," she said. "It may simply be the kids who were coming over here grew up and stopped riding ATVs."
The report also makes several recommendations to help toughen enforcement of existing laws.
"including changing state laws to penalize violators the true cost of the damage they cause. It urges the state Attorney General's office to pursue these cases with much more vigor, and also urges the state to establish a strict "No Encroachment" policy and then enforce it.
The report also urged the General Assembly to increase funding to the state DEP so that it can hire more conservation officers.
DEP spokesman Dennis Schain said the agency now has 24 non-marine conservation officers to patrol all state-owned land. When the boating season ends, Schain said, the 31 marine officers can help out with the patrols.
But the council said that in 1992, the DEP had 32 non-marine officers, which, even then, was considered inadequate to the job. At the very least, Wagener said the General Assembly should aim to getting back to that 1992 level.
"In the short run, that's probably not going to happen," he said. "But it should be the state's goal to get there within the next two or three years."
It should be noted the report deals with problems both on land owned by trusts and the state. Hiring more conservation officers won't help much with the problems on land owned by trusts.
This is a reminder to all in the land trust movement that just accumulating property doesn't do much good, if the money for monitoring and maintaining it isn't there as well.

Willacy's Lunacy

2005-12-21T07:34:00.000-06:00

A few more details on Willacy County's (TX) plans to condemn a TNC nature preserve on South Padre Island so the county can have a ferry landing to boost tourism. You might ask, how did we get to the point that the county leaders feel that eminent domain was their only option? The apparent answer is that the county leaders are so utterly incompetent, they have bungled every other option.
An earlier article in the San Antonio Express News has a good timeline on the entire mess. Apparently, this county leaders have been kicking this idea around for years.... but despite having plenty of time to think about it, they haven't exactly worked out the details.
According to the article ...
The county and the local navigation district had intermittent discussions with the Nature Conservancy in 2003 and 2004 about the ferry plan, but (TNC state director Carter) Smith said details were sparse.
"There were some fairly elementary questions we asked and just never received any kind of response," Smith said. "Like how many bathrooms and where would they be placed, and who would accompany people from the ferry landing to the beach?"
The failure to come to an agreement was one of the many issues that prompted the Texas General Land Office in February to terminate a $700,000 grant earmarked for the project.
The National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration awarded Willacy County the money in 2002. But the state Land Office, which administered the money, decided there were too many outstanding issues with the project.
The Land Office cited many reasons for terminating the grant. Chief among them, the amphibious vehicle the county suggested using was authorized by the Coast Guard to go no more than 1,000 feet offshore — well short of the nearly 10 miles needed for the craft to make it to the proposed landing area, Land Office spokesman Jim Suydam said.
Other reasons included the county's lack of a business plan and inability to meet Americans with Disabilities Act standards.
"They mentioned the idea of obtaining the land through condemnation, but NOAA doesn't approve projects through land condemnation," Suydam added. "And condemnation of land to avoid conservation restrictions would also raise some serious reservations from NOAA."
So the county can't even figure out how many bathrooms it would need. It doesn't have the right kind of ferry. It can't come up with a plan that the funding agency can agree to. It has no way to meet federal ADA standards. It doesn't even have a basic business plan. So despite all of that, the county attorney still wants to go to court and forcibly seize 1,500 acres of private property? Uh, well, sure.
County Attorney Juan Angel Guerra said the issue boils down to providing beach access for the residents of his county. And while he admits the project probably won't require all 1,548 acres, he said the commission decided to target the whole preserve, at least initially, "to show them that we are serious about getting access to that part of the county."
They may be incompetent, but at least they're serious. One has to hope that the county leaders will soon come to their senses. Or that if they do go to court, the judge will throw them out on their greedy keisters. But it really is chilling that we could get to this point. One more argument for restricting eminent domain.

The Boreal Alternative

2005-12-20T07:01:00.000-06:00

While Congress fights over opening ANWR to oil drilling, a coalition of environmentalists, Indian groups and big business are presenting an alternative vision of how to responsibly develop the Canadian Arctic.
A press release out yesterday lays out the latest step in the Canadian Boreal Initiative, an effort to protect 1.4 billion (yes, Billion) acres of the north country.
A leading Canadian investment firm and the world's largest nonprofit conservation organization are endorsing a national
vision that balances protection of ecological and cultural values with responsible economic development across Canada's 1.4 billion acre Boreal forest region, the Canadian Boreal Initiative announced today.
Known as the Boreal Forest Conservation Framework, the vision calls for protection of at least 50 percent of Canada's Boreal region and world-class sustainable development practices on the remaining landscape. Today's new signatories - the Ethical Funds Company, Canada's original and largest manager of socially responsible mutual funds and The Nature Conservancy - join the 11 other leading conservation organizations, First Nations, and forestry and energy companies that launched the Framework. Since its launch two years ago, the Framework has been increasingly attracting the attention of Canadian decision-makers, as well as the North American marketplace.
The Ethical Funds is working on lending policies that support the goals of biodiversity protection. The Nature Conservancy is going to be lending its expertise" in science and land use planning, as well as its significant relationships with key industry partners."
So what exactly is the vision? An editorial originally published in USA Today lays it out.
"A sharply focused organization known as the Canadian Boreal Initiative (CBI) has emerged as a top-level player in shaping the future of the Mackenzie basin and the course of development across Canada's boreal region - at 1.4 billion acres stretching across the northern brow of the continent, one of the largest contiguous forestlands in the world. Working closely with all the various interests, led by respected conservationists and scientists and funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts (a major U.S. public charity that promotes environmental conservation), the CBI has fostered a plan as wide as the boreal landscape itself.
Titled the Boreal Forest Conservation Framework, this charter calls for preserving at least 50% of the entire boreal in perpetuity and ensuring ecologically sound, sustainable development of the rest. Instead of preservationists and developers waging an endless series of pitched battles where there are only victories and defeats, the traditional opponents are cooperating as environmental stewards, in conjunction with local and national government agencies. The Mackenzie basin, teetering on the edge of massive change, is a key testing ground that the CBI hopes will supply a workable vision for development across Canada.
The framework's signers agree that Canada's boreal is far more than a convenient, big-box store of raw materials. In fact, the boreal's primary value might well be environmental. It's one of the largest carbon sinks in the world, in essence a massive air filter that pulls billions of tons of climate-warming carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and locks it into the peaty soil. And, to make the point more concrete that Canadians and Americans share that same air and have a highly vested interest in that fact, consider that more than 325 American bird species, as many as 3 billion birds in all, migrate to the boreal to feed and raise their young each spring. Up to 17% of the birds at backyard feeders in the lower 48 states and 38% of waterfowl are equally Canadian. Without the boreal, they wouldn't exist.
The Boreal Initiative is interesting because it may offer a template for the use of other wild areas around the world, including the U.S. It will be worth watching to see how this development plan develops.

Nature Preserve Facing Condemnation

2005-12-18T20:33:00.000-06:00

In what is being called an unprecedented action, a county in Texas has begun condemnation proceedings against an entire nature preserve owned by The Nature Conservancy on South Padre Island. The issue is over a plan to open a ferry service between the mainland and the island in an attempt to foster tourism. TNC has owned the 1,500 acre preserve on the island for five years, and wants to maintain the pristine condition of the wilderness area. Willacy County officials see the wild island as a tourist draw, and need a 3 to 5 acre site on the island for a ferry landing. Without the site, no state money would be available for the service. So after a stalemate, the county is pulling out its big option, eminent domain.
According to the Houston Chronicle TNC's state director is outraged.
''They're proposing to condemn an entire nature preserve, which is without precedent in this state," said Carter Smith, the group's state director. ''It's alarming, especially for all of us who care about protecting the barrier island and the Laguna Madre."
''I'm not aware of any instance in the Nature Conservancy's 40-year history in Texas in which a local government has attempted to condemn a nature preserve," Smith said. ''We will be fighting this vigorously."
"Conservancy officials said that in the past, they and county officials discussed access to the preserve, which lines the south side of the Port Mansfield channel.
But county officials then would provide few details of their plans, Carter said.
Carter called the threatened condemnation ''a real assault on the sanctity of private property rights and private land conservation in this state."
County leaders said there is no intent to offer any Conservancy land for private development, which would violate a new state law that placed restrictions on land condemnation by Texas governmental bodies.
Gov. Rick Perry allowed the Texas eminent domain legislation to be added to a special legislative session this summer. Perry's decision came after a controversial U.S. Supreme Court decision in a Connecticut case that upheld a city's authority to condemn private homes and then sell the property to commercial developers as part of an effort to increase jobs and expand the city's tax base.
Willacy officials say they only want access to the nearby island by water so that local residents, schoolchildren and winter tourists who don't own boats can visit the undeveloped beaches."
So why does the county want to access to this section of the island? Because the rest of the island is owned by the Federal Government as part of the South Padre National Seashore, and the county's plan has already been shot down by the Interior department.
"Earlier this year, officials with the Padre Island National Seashore, which owns the land on the north side of the Port Mansfield channel, rejected the county's request to unload ferry passengers on parkland.
The 1,500-acre island preserve is part of a 24,500-acre tract the Nature Conservancy purchased for $7.5 million from a Houston firm, after plans for a large-scale residential and marina development on the site failed. The conservation group sold, at below its cost, the majority of the island acreage to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to expand an existing federal wildlife refuge.
The proposed condemnation has angered environmental groups along the coast.
"They (Willacy County) shouldn't take over a private sanctuary," said Patricia Suter, chair of the Coastal Bend Chapter of the Sierra Club. ''They're trying to take too much."
This story should send a shudder down the spine of anyone who supports land trusts and the job they do. Or anyone who thinks that private property should remain private. This is wrong on so many levels, and I can only hope that Willacy County leaders will soon realize just how wrong this is.

Woodpecker Part Deux

2005-12-14T06:20:00.000-06:00

The hunt for the elusive Ivory Billed Woodpecker is underway again across the Mississippi River from here. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service has sent out a press release announcing that the birdwatchers are back... and this year it's not going to be the secret mission it has been until last year's successful sighting.
With the arrival of volunteer searchers, the 2005-2006 Ivory-billed Woodpecker Research Project is now fully staffed and going full steam ahead. The current field season continues through April, 2006. The search is being led by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, The Nature Conservancy, and Audubon Arkansas, with the support and cooperation of other members the Ivory-billed Woodpecker Recovery Team.
"This is an exciting opportunity to better document the existence and learn more about this magnificent bird," said Sam D.
Hamilton, Southeast Regional Director for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. "Now that the leaves have fallen, conditions are much improved for seeing and hearing the birds. Finding birds is a critical part of the recovery process and we're hoping for some exciting news."
Twenty-two search team leaders, coordinators, supervisors, andfield technicians have been working in eastern Arkansas since November 1. More than 100 volunteers will now be joining the search, and will be deployed in groups of 14 for two week periods through the remainder of the field season. The goal is to find an ivory-bill roost hole or nesthole and get additional video documentation of the bird or birds-all in the hope of learning more about the species to bring the ivory-bill back from near-extinction.
"Since the ivory- bill's rediscovery, The Nature Conservancyhas acquired for protection some 18,500 acres of critical habitat andworked with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to add 1,440 acres to the Cache River National Wildlife Refuge - where the bird was firstspotted," said Scott Simon, director of The Nature Conservancy's Arkansas chapter. "The more data gathered about the number and location of ivory bills living in Arkansas , the more we can do to protect this fragile habitat and make sure this incredible bird survives forgenerations to come. Because of the great cooperation of many agencies
and organizations focusing on habitat conservation, we have a chance to recover the ivory bill."
And according to the press release, the Big Woods of Eastern Arkansas isn't the only place that may be seeing flocks of Ivory Billed Birdwatchers this winter...
Searches in Arkansas are planned for White River National Wildlife Refuge (NWR), Cache River NWR, Dagmar Wildlife Management Area (WMA), Black Swamp WMA, Wattensaw WMA, and Benson Creek Natural Area. Other teams are starting to organize scouting trips to follow-up on Ivory-billed woodpecker sightings from across the southern United States
in the former range of the bird. This may involve work in South Carolina, Florida, Louisiana and Texas, but will depend on a review of what is believed to be the best habitat, along with credible recent sightings.
Searchers will use traditional tools, such as binoculars and digital cameras, as well as high-tech methods that include Autonomous Recording Units (ARUs), sophisticated sound-analysis software, time-lapse video
systems, and remote cameras. Human searchers will make their way through the bayous by canoe and on foot, looking for promising tree cavities. They will also be conducting transect searches with the aid of GPS units. At other times they will be sitting quietly in blinds, observing. Scouts will be looking for suitable ivory-bill habitat, assisted by NASA satellite photos that will help them focus on promising areas more quickly.
"The volunteers are vital to the search effort," says Dr. John Fitzpatrick, director of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. "Without
them there's no way we could scour such a large area for ivory-bills. These folks are field biologists and avid birders-all of them giving up their time to be part of this once-in-a-lifetime recovery project."
So birders, that sounds like an open invitation to come on down and sit in a cold, wet swamp and test your wits against our most elusive neighbor.

Adding Pictures

2005-12-12T18:23:00.000-06:00

I'm just back from the Mississippi Gulf Coast, and armed with my (and my wife's) early Christmas gift... I will attempt to begin the next revolution in Nature Noted world history..... pictures! Yes I know I'm behind the rest of the world on this technology stuff... but a step at a time.
The pictures here are various shots of what used to be downtown Bay St. Louis. The destroyed buildings are all along Beach road... at least what used to be Beach road.

The final shot is of one of the encouraging signs of life... the railroad bridge across the Bay of St. Louis is almost ready for trains. If only the transportation department in charge of fixing the highway bridge moved with as much urgency as CSX.

The Oaks of Memory

2005-12-08T20:26:00.000-06:00

The human toll of Hurricane Katrina has been well documented.... althought I fear that most Americans have moved on and aren't aware of just how slowly the reconstruction is taking. But there are glimmers of hope. One is the effort to save one of the coast's most treasured landmarks... the live oak. The Live Oak Rescue Mission is trying to save the beauties.
The Live Oak Rescue Mission is a joint venture between the Land Trust for Mississippi Coastal Plain, The Home Depot Foundation and many other state and federal agencies.
The goal is to nurture the centuries-old trees back to health by replacing the soil Katrina took away and applying a hefty dose of water, mulch and care.
"You'll find many people's memories of life here are tied into these trees," Land Trust Executive Director Judy Steckler said. "They have a huge emotional value for people in this community."
Volunteers began site restoration Nov. 29 along Beach Boulevard in Pascagoula, and have since restored more than 300 trees from Pascagoula to Ocean Springs.
Steckler says an estimated 200 more Live oaks still need restoration across the Coast. The entire project is scheduled for completion within two weeks.
The Home Depot Foundation is funding the majority of the project in cooperation with Land Trust and the U.S. Forest Service. The foundation has already donated more than $2 million for recovery efforts, on top of the $10 million The Home Depot has donated.
The Live Oaks are truly landmarks for the coast, and symbols of stability which are sorely needed now.
After my mom died, my cousins pitched in to buy the naming rights for her on one of the beautiful oaks on the property of the Episcopal church in Bay St. Louis. I have a picture of my daughter standing next to the tree, with the name of the grandmother she never met above her. The little tag on the tree is gone now, the church is washed away as well. All that is left is the slab and the oaks. Among them, mom's tree. Like the memories, the oaks live on.

Skywalk to Nowhere

2005-12-03T17:00:00.000-06:00

Have you heard about the Grand Canyon Skywalk? It's a project by the Hualapai Nation of Arizona to create a new tourist destination at the Grand Canyon. Nature Noted reader Peggy Hall is not impressed. And you probably won't be either after you read about Peggy's experience checking out Grand Canyon West. Thanks for sharing, Peggy.