NEWS

NY: Greene Land Trust acquires wetland By Susan Campriello – Catskill Daily Mail – October 20, 2009 The Greene Land Trust has acquired a 38-acre wetland and grassland parcel in Coxsackie, Trust Board President Bob Knighton announced Monday. The parcel includes land along the Coxsackie Creek and the confluence of the Climax Brook. The $45,000 project was made possible by a $35,000 grant from the State Department of Environmental Hudson River Estuary Program, the Environmental Protection Fund and the donation of some of the parcel’s value. For full story, go to: http://www.thedailymail.net/articles/2009/10/20/news/doc4add483754b2e943766841.txt

MA Land Trust enlists help of beetles to control purple loosestrife By Jonathan Phelps – Community Advocate – September 4, 2009 For the past 20 years, purple loosestrife, a nonnative plant, has been invading the town's wetlands. But this summer, the Westborough Community Land Trust (WCLT) has started to fight back - with help from some beetles. Although purple loosestrife looks like a beautiful wild plant, it has taken over wetlands habitats, pushed out native species and changed the overall ecology of the town's wetlands. For full story, go to: http://www.communityadvocate.com/news/2009/0904/front_page/003.html

Wetlands of International Importance Key to Niantic River By Kathryn Burton – The Day – August 24, 2009 The East Lyme/Niantic Land Conservation Trust is working toward gaining “Wetlands of International Importance” designation for the Niantic River. http://www.theday.com/re.aspx?re=d8753842-ef18-4cd6-8bcb-9c51f292fa4f

MT: Land trust gets $1M grant for wetlands projects

Associated Press – March 18, 2009 The Flathead Land Trust has received a federal grant worth about $1 million that will help fund wetlands conservation projects in the Flathead River Basin. The trust is getting the money through the North American Wetlands Conservation Act that was approved as part of the federal budget last week. The funding required the trust and its partners to provide more than $5 million in matching contributions for a combination of conservation projects totaling about $6.5 million. For article, go to:  http://www.dailyinterlake.com

2008 Resulted in a Strong Year for Conservation n the State About the VOF

By Rusty Dennen– Free-Lance Star – February 16, 2009 While the economy tanked in 2008, it was another strong year for land conservation across Virginia. That's according to the Virginia Outdoors Foundation, which had its second-best year ever signing up landowners for conservation easements. For full story, go to: http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2009/022009/02162009/445110

WI: Purchase ensures wetlands preservation

By Pamela Powers – Leader-Telegram – January 10, 2009 West Wisconsin Land Trust on Friday bought 720 acres known as the Cedar Creek Wetlands, preserving it for future generations. The wetlands, also known as Hawk Metals, are in the Chippewa Moraine Lakes Conservation Opportunity Area, designated by the Department of Natural Resources. The wetlands are east of New Auburn between Chain Lake and Long Lake. "It is the filtering mechanism for Long Lake and Chain Lake," said Rick Gauger, West Wisconsin Land Trust executive director. "It is what helps keep Long Lake clean. It is almost two miles long between the two lakes." For full story, go to: http://www.leadertelegram.com/story-news_local.asp?id=BIS1MAT3GMP

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

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
Protecting and Restoring Wetlands: A Guide for Land Trusts by Jon Kusler, Association of State Wetland Managers, Inc. (01/15/09)
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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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 (ME) 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/ Loon Echo Land Trust (Bridgton, ME) (servicing 7 towns) Sebago Headwaters Preserve http://loonecholandtrust.org/html/ sebago_headwaters.html http://www.loonecholandtrust.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 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/ Land Trust of Virginia http://www.landtrustva.org/ Wallkill Valley Land Trust (NY) http://www.wallkillvalleylt.org/ Wetlands Legacy (MT) Coalition of partners including several land trustshttp://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 Return to top.

LINKS
Internet Law Library. Code of Federal Regulations (searchable database). http://www.lawguru.com/ilawlib/4.htm 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.	All photos by Jeanne Christie, ASWM