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NEWS

MI: Couple to donate land to trust

By Tracy Davis – Ann Arbor News – December 14, 2008 A Webster Township couple has donated a conservation easement on 25 acres of wetlands, woods and an old tree farm. Gerald Nordblom and Barbara Michniewicz pieced together the land with six acres they already owned and with neighboring property they bought from a developer. "It was an incredibly generous thing for them to do," said Washtenaw Land Trust Director Susan Lackey. For full story, go to: http://www.mlive.com/annarbornews/news/index.ssf/2008/12/couple_to_donate_land_to_trust.html  For land trust information, visit: http://www.washtenawlandtrust.org/

CA: Key link in Watsonville's wetland system slated for protection

By Kurtis Alexander - San Jose Mercury News – November 11, 2008 Nearly 500 acres of South County sloughs are expected to come under the ownership of a local land trust, guaranteeing that the wetlands west of Highway 1, once eyed for housing by developers, will be spared. The Land Trust of Santa Cruz County was awarded a $6.5 million state grant this month, allowing the conservation group to move ahead with a $15 million purchase of six rural parcels just south of Pajaro Valley High School. "This project has it all," said Terry Corwin, executive director of the land trust. "Wetlands are being lost and farmlands are being lost, and this protects both." For full story, go to: http://www.mercurynews.com/centralcoast/ci_10954279?nclick_check=1

ME: All invited to 'the amazing back yard' Friends of Unity Wetlands welcome children

By Larry Grard – Kennebec Journal Morning Sentinel – October 10, 2008 Show and teach children about the treasure that surrounds them, and they might just become good stewards of that land. Friends of Unity Wetlands, a land trust established in 2004, adheres to that philosophy with its "Center Saturdays." Student volunteers from Unity College run the program, in and out of the Friends of Unity Wetlands Education Center at 93 Main Street.  On Saturday, October 11, the Unity College Wildlife Care & Education Club showed children signs of animals preparing for the winter. Kathy Kahler, programs assistant for Friends, explained the relationship. "We are a land trust," Kahler said. "We're trying to preserve the local farm land and forest, and it's a lot easier when we make people aware of their surroundings. "We have the largest block of undeveloped land in central Maine, home to several endangered species. We're really trying to overcome the hurdle of unawareness." For full article, go to: http://morningsentinel.mainetoday.com/news/local/5491642.html

Land Trust Aims to Preserve Wetlands Areas

By Deborah Medenbach – Hudson Valley Times Herald-Record – September 28, 2008 Chris Duncan remembers his childhood in Brooklyn, where a woodpecker in the yard fed his curiosity about nature's role in the most unusual settings. Today, as director of the Wallkill Valley Land Trust, he turns that attention to the preservation of irreplaceable ecosystems threatened by development. In the Town of Lloyd, the Plutarch/Black Creek Wetlands Complex stretches for miles on either side of busy Route 299. The swamp is not only an important storm-water drainage system, but also home to migrating birds, rare plants, otter, beaver and even bear. You heard that right. http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080926/COMM/809260313

Could a national nonprofit help save a Tigard wetland?

By Jennifer Clampet – Tualatin Times – September 25, 2008 A national nonprofit group skilled in finding funds for land conservation will spend the next 18 months organizing efforts for the purchase of 42 acres north of Fowler Middle School in Tigard. The property is currently owned by the Tigard-Tualatin School District. In 2006, the School Board designated the property – which lies north of Summer Creek – as surplus, prompting the district to look into selling it. In a joint effort to keep the land in the public domain, officials with Metro and the city of Tigard brought in the Trust for Public Land. For full story, go to: http://www.tualatintimes.com/news/story.php?story_id=122238609475633700

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PUBLICATIONS	Photo by Jeanne Christie, ASWM
Protecting and Restoring Wetlands: Strengthening the Role of Land Trusts by Jon Kusler, Association of State Wetland Managers, Inc. (6/15/07)
Common Questions: Land Trusts and the Protection/Restoration of Wetlands by Jon Kusler, Association of State Wetland Managers, Inc. (6/26/06)
A Conservation Easement Guide for Landowners La Plata Open Space Conservancy (2006) http://conserveland.org/lpr/library?parent_id=15373
A Landowner’s Guide to Conservation Easements Lowcountry Open Land Trust (2006) http://www.lolt.org/lolt http://www.lolt.org/newspublications/landownerguide
Conservation Options - A Guide for Maine Landowners Maine Coast Heritage Trust (1994) http://www.mcht.org/mchtnews/pdf/mchtconsoptions.pdf
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LINKS OF INTEREST

Local Land Trusts with Wetland Programs

There are hundreds of land trusts in the United States that protect wetlands. If you would like ASWM to include a land trust that is not already listed below, please let us know.

Amherst Land Trust (NH) http://www.amherstlandtrust.org/postroad.html Bainbridge Island Land Trust (WA) http://www.bi-landtrust.org Ballona Wetlands Land Trust (CA) http://www.ballona.org Blue Hill Heritage Trust (ME) http://bhht.org/   Bolsa Chica Land Trust (CA) http://www.bolsachicalandtrust.org/ Boothbay Region Land Trust (ME) http://www.bbrlt.org/

Branford Land Trust (CT) http://www.branfordlandtrust.org

Camden County Land Trust (GA) http://www.camdencountylandtrust.org/

Coastal Mountains Land Trust (ME) http://www.coastalmountains.org/

Columbia Land Trust (WA) http://www.columbialandtrust.org/projects/coast.htm

Damariscotta River Association (ME) http://www.draclt.org/

Finger Lakes Land Trust (NY) http://fllt.org

Friends of the Unity Wetlands http://www.friendsofunitywetlands.org/

Georgia Land Trust & Alabama Land Trust (shared website) http://www.galandtrust.org/index.htm

Great Auk Land Trust (ME) http://www.greatauk.org/

Greenbelt Land Trust (OR) http://greenbeltlandtrust.org

Keweenaw Land Trust (MI) http://www.keweenawlandtrust.org/

Los Cerritos Wetlands Land Trust (CA) http://www.lcwlandtrust.org/

Maine Coast Heritage Trust (ME) http://www.mcht.org

Maine Wetland Protection Coalition (ME) State, federal and nongovernmental partners founded in 1989 http://www.fws.gov/northeast/gulfofmaine/downloads/fact_sheets/MWPC_fact_sheet.pdf

Maui Coastal Land Trust (HI) http://www.mauicoastallandtrust.org/waihee.php Montana New Hartford Land Trust (CT) http://www.newhartfordlandtrust.org North Carolina Coastal Land Trust (NC) http://www.coastallandtrust.org North Florida Land Trust (FL) http://www.northfloridalandtrust.org/ Rio Grande Headwaters Land Trust (CO) http://www.riograndelandtrust.org/ Simsbury Land Trust (CT) http://www.simsburylandtrust.org/

Siskiyou Land Trust (CA) http://www.siskiyoulandtrust.org/sissonmeadow.htm

Sonoma Land Trust (CA) http://www.sonomalandtrust.org

Southeast Alaska Land Trust (AK) http://southeastalaskalandtrust.org

Vermont Land Trust http://www.vlt.org/

Wallkill Valley Land Trust (NY) http://www.wallkillvalleylt.org/

Wetlands Legacy (MT) Coalition of partners including several land trusts http://www.wetlandslegacy.org/partners.html

Westchester Land Trust (NY) http://www.westchesterlandtrust.org Whidbey Camano Land Trust (WA) http://www.wclt.org/ Windham Land Trust (ME) http://www.thewindhamlandtrust.org/ Wood River Land Trust (ID) http://www.woodriverlandtrust.org/ Wyndham Land Trust (CT) http://www.wyndhamlandtrust.org

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Additional Resources

Land Trust Alliance http://www.lta.org Land Trust Alliance’s landowners’ guides and conservation-related publications http://www.landtrustalliance.org/ resources/publications/landowner- resources Trust for Public Land http://www.tpl.org/ Environmental Law Institute http://www.eli.org National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) www.noaa.gov NOAA, National Marine Fisheries Service  http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/

Society of Wetland Scientists http://www.sws.org/

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers http://www.usace.army.mil/

Federal Emergency Management Agency Flood Maps http://www.esri.com/hazards/

USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, Wetland Science Institute http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/wli/

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency http://www.epa.gov/

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Model Ordinances to Protect Local Resources http://www.epa.gov/owow/nps/ordinance/

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Surf Your Watershed, Wetlands, Oceans and Watersheds http://www.epa.gov/surf/

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Wetlands, Oceans and Watersheds Publications http://www.epa.gov/OWOW/

NOAA Coastal Services Center.  Many helpful links and information. http://www.csc.noaa.gov/ U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service http://www.fws.gov/ U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Wetlands Inventory http://www.fws.gov/nwi/index.html U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program http://www.fws.gov/partners/ Return to top.