Press Release
October 6, 2006

Nation’s Largest Gathering of Land Conservation Leaders To Take Place October 12-15 in Nashville, TN

Washington DC, October 6, 2006 – The nation’s largest annual gathering of land conservation leaders will meet next week in Nashville, Tennessee, ironically the nucleus of two of the fastest-developing counties in the entire U.S.—Rutherford and Williamson. Between sampling the country music and the rolling hills beloved by Tennesseans, these conservationists will meet to debate the future of our farms and forests, historic landscapes and the natural beauty that have inspired generations of musicians and songwriters.

Hundreds of representatives of land trusts and conservation-minded landowners will come to Nashville next week to tell their stories at the National Land Conservation Conference: Rhythms of the Land. The event will draw more than 1,700 of the nation’s top conservation leaders, government officials and academics. This is the 19 th such national conservation conference and it will take place at the Nashville Convention Center in Nashville, Tennessee, from October 12-15. It is sponsored by Land Trust Alliance and co-hosted by the Land Trust for Tennessee and other area conservation groups.

The Hon. Phil Bredesen, Governor of Tennessee is scheduled to address the conference. Other highlights this year include 120 workshops and 36 seminars, and keynote speeches by authors Bill McKibben, Janisse Ray and the Honorable Senator Lamar Alexander. There will also be a performance of The Land – a two-person play with cellist accompaniment.

Among the hot topics at this year’s event will be a recently enacted federal tax law that dramatically increases the tax deductions for donors of conservation easements, with special provisions included to benefit farmers. At a time of budget cutbacks at all levels of government, fewer government dollars are available for conservation, meaning that private groups like land trusts are the primary vehicle for conserving our last undeveloped land. The new federal conservation tax incentives offer a dramatic tool to increase the pace of land conservation.

Given the record-setting pace of development around Nashville, conservationists say there is no time to lose in saving our great natural areas. “Our region is seeing exponential growth,” said Jean C. Nelson, the President and Executive Director of the Land Trust for Tennessee. However, we are also experiencing a groundswell of conservation interest, where families, local communities and neighborhoods are asking what they can do to balance this growth.”

“Tennesseans are an independent bunch,” she added, “But they love their land, so voluntary protection of precious lands through conservation easements is a valuable tool. More people are seeing that they can make a lasting difference this way.” According to Land Trust Alliance, a national network of more than 1,500 land trusts, the number of acres under conservation easement in the Southeast has nearly tripled over the past 5 years.

There are 230 land trusts operating throughout the Southeast, with 28 in Tennessee. Land Trust Alliance announced for the first time today that the total acreage protected by Southeastern land trusts (including AL, AR, GA, KY, LA, MS, NC, SC, and TN) has more than doubled from 410,867 acres in 2000 to 952,365 acres in 2005, according to new census figures.

The paving over of America is not a problem unique to this region or state, but one that plagues the nation, with more than 2 million acres being lost to development each year. Now, more than ever, private citizens are joining together to save the best of our disappearing landscapes. The quiet success of these citizens, and the private nonprofit groups they support, called land trusts, is the unsung success story of conservation in America.

Few people outside the conservation field understand what land trusts are or what they do. Yet, together they have saved 34 million acres—more land in the U.S. than in all the national parks in the lower 48 states combined. Simply put, land trusts are nonprofit groups—operating at the local, state, or sometimes national level—that help private citizens find ways to conserve their land for future generations.

Most often, this is done by donations, sales, or bargain sales of land, and increasingly by a legal tool called a voluntary conservation easement that restricts certain types of development in the future, while still allowing some uses of land (including farming) that preserve the land’s unique natural features, whether it be wildlife habitat, pristine streams, scenic landscapes, historic sites or wooded refuges.

Most recently the Land Trust for Tennessee helped Perry Ozburn and his family conserve their 480-acre farm in Williamson County, rich with history dating back to its original settlement in 1804 and 8 successive generations of Ozburn farmers. By donating a conservation easement to the Land Trust for Tennessee, the family has confidence that the Ozburn Hollow Farm will not be at risk to development now or in the future.

As if in tribute to the musicians and songwriters who have preserved our natural heritage in song, the closing party for the National Land Conservation Conference will be at the Country Music Hall of Fame. Said Jim Wyerman, Director of Communications for the Land Trust Alliance, “They sing about the land, but it’s up to us to save it.”

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Note about Registration: All working members of the press require a Press Pass, available at the conference registration desk. Keynote speeches are free & open to representatives of the media. Information about registration is available on our website at www.lta.org. Press inquiries during the conference should be directed to the contacts listed above or the registration desk.