Grants Announced for Minnesota Conservation Projects
Missoula, MT —The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, an international conservation organization with a focus on habitat protection and enhancement, has announced its 2008 project grants for Minnesota. Grants will affect Beltrami, Kittson and Marshall counties. Details.

2008 Strategic Conservation Planning Grants Program: Invitation for Preliminary Applications
Available for Land Trusts located in the Great Lakes Watershed

If your land trust is ready to develop a strategic land conservation plan, or if you are ready to upgrade your current plan to help you accomplish your mission, consider applying for a 2008 Strategic Conservation Planning Grant.   This program provides grants of up to $10,000 for strategic conservation collaboration and planning projects that enable land trusts to protect and steward land more effectively.  The grants program is generously underwritten by the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, so funding is geographically restricted to the Alliance’s member land trusts that operate within the Great Lakes watershed portions of the states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Wisconsin, and the province of Ontario.

You are invited to apply if your land trust is committed to advancing protection of freshwater ecosystems and is organizationally ready to make a significant advancement in strategic conservation.  If selected, we will invite you to submit a full proposal, which will be due in late March 2008.  The grant period is one year unless otherwise agreed upon.  A report on successfully funded requests will be due upon completion of the project, or at the completion of the grant period, whichever is first.

Submit your application today!  Please download and complete the application form and send it to the Midwest Program office.  To save paper, email your completed application to midwest@lta.org. Applications and will be accepted by email, fax, or mail.

2008 Guided Organizational Assessment Program: Request for Applications
Available for Land Trusts located in the Great Lakes Watershed and Ohio

If your land trust is looking for an objective way to identify areas for improvement, or if you are considering applying for Accreditation, a Guided Organizational Assessment is a necessary step toward strengthening your land trust.  Guided assessments use the Alliance’s Assessing Your Organization workbook to lead land trusts through a step-by-step analysis of compliance with Land Trust Standards and Practices.  We help the land trust identify areas of high performance, and areas where improvements can be made.  A comprehensive report provides priority recommendations, next steps, and reference materials. Download the 2008 Midwest Guided Organizational Assessment Program flyer (PDF).

Thanks to the generous support of the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation and the George Gund Foundation, we are able to offer these guided assessments at a reduced rate.  The cost for the land trust is $500 - a savings of over $2,000.
 
Submit your application today!  Please download and complete the application form and send it to the Midwest Program office.  To save paper, email your completed application to midwest@lta.org. Applications will be accepted by email, fax, or mail.

Success Stories

Passing on the Love of the Land
Cheboygan County, MI - Because of their family’s passion for the outdoors, a young family has chosen to protect their Cheboygan County land through the donation of a conservation easement to the Little Traverse Conservancy, effectively ensuring that their land will never be developed. Full story.

Shepherding the Land to the Next Generation
Charlevoix County, MI – Bruce Janssen has been a familiar face to the Little Traverse Conservancy for many years. As owner of The Wood Shop in Boyne City, Bruce has been the artistic force and creator of Little Traverse Conservancy’s beautiful nature preserve signs that are dotting the landscape around northern Michigan. Full story.

Winery and land trust partner to protect wildlife habitat, open space
Missoula, MT — Ten Spoon Vineyard + Winery and the nonprofit Vital Ground Foundation today announced a new partnership to benefit wildlife habitat and open space values in Montana and the Northern Rockies. Ten Spoon will donate one dollar to the Missoula-based land trust for every bottle of its Prairie Thunder organic red wine sold. Read full story.

LPI Releases Summary of Green Infrastructure Studies
East Lansing, MI - The Land Policy Institute at Michigan State University (MSU) released today its final report on green infrastructure in Michigan. The comprehensive report, summarizing the results of three recently completed studies related to natural resource valuation, natural resource impact analysis and natural resource conservation funding, shows the significant value of water resources and green infrastructure assets, the tax benefits to local government due to those assets, the significant economic impact of parks, and that Michigan ranks 47th in the nation in its per capita spending on natural resource conservation. Read full story.

2007 Another Extraordinary Year for Land Preservation in Washtenaw - 1,720 Additional Acres Protected
Ann Arbor, MI - In 2007, land trusts and local land preservation programs protected an additional 1,720 acres of natural areas, farms, and open space. Prior to 2007, land preservation programs were key to protecting 6,045 acres in the region. Read full story. (posted 2/25/08)

Easement Donated Over 160-Acre "Red-Tail Woods"

Emmet County, MI – It doesn’t take long to be captivated by the land, especially on a brilliant “jeans and fleece” fall day. Almost entirely wooded, the rolling hills of Red Tail Woods hold many sweet surprises, most that aren’t readily apparent at first. Head down one trail and you’ll land at a small trout pond where Peter O’Rourke’s young grandsons play and fish. Try another trail and you’ll come upon a small art studio log cabin perched alongside a creek spanned by a bridge hand built by Peter. Yet another trail takes you on a circular journey through pine and spruce plantations – comfortable needle-cushioned walking terrain. Read full story. (posted 12/12/07)

The Rogers Family Homestead Preserve

Charlevoix County, MI - Ask Marguerite (Rogers) Stokes what year she was born and she’ll tell you: “1909…You do the math,” quickly followed by a warm smile that makes you want to make a cup of tea and stay for the afternoon. With the pleasure of such company, there’s so much to be learned: What crops grow best in a floodplain? What year did the last one room school in the county close? Who married whom? But what most stands out in Marguerite is her deep love of the land that has been in her family for nearly 140 years. There’s something about the land that has kept the family returning to it, over and over again throughout the years. And she is satisfied to know that 86 acres of that land are now permanently protected with the Little Traverse Conservancy as the Rogers Family Homestead Nature Preserve. The new preserve lies along more than a mile of the Jordan River. Read full story. (posted 12/12/07)

Ludwig family protects lands totaling 167 acres

Ann Arbor, MI - Bob Ludwig and his daughter, Connie Ludwig, have protected their Freedom Township lands, totaling 167 acres, by donating a conservation agreement to the Washtenaw Land Trust.

Rural living is nothing new for Bob Ludwig.  He grew up in a small Indiana town where his grandparents had a farm.  From the time he was old enough to reach the pedals, he was working there and became a self-described “country boy.” He bought this property on Bethel Church Road in 1968, and he rents the land to a local farmer to be farmed.  In the early 1990s, Bob gave half the property to his daughter Connie, who now calls this land home.  Bob said he’s glad that both of them have protected what has become, for each of them, a truly treasured landscape.  He is on the land every day, enjoying the quiet, rolling hills and shady woodlands. “This is such a lovely property, and by protecting it forever, the Ludwigs have given a great gift to the whole community,” said Charity Steere, chair of the Washtenaw Land Trust’s Land Protection Committee. Read full story. (posted 12/10/07)

Land Policy Institute at Michigan State University and Heart of the Lakes
To Issue Research Series on Economic Impact of Land Conservation

Lansing, MI.—A much anticipated series of research reports compiled by the Land Policy Institute (LPI) at Michigan State University (MSU) through a joint project with Heart of the Lakes Center for Land Conservation Policy will be available beginning November 13, 2007. Read full press release. (posted 11/28/07)

Parker Family Protects Land with Washtenaw Land Trust
23-acre woods connects to protected lands totaling 256 acres

ANN ARBOR, MI - Stanley & Helen Parker have protected their 23-acre woods by donating a conservation agreement to the Washtenaw Land Trust. The Parker farm is one of the oldest family properties in this area, dating back to 1836. In 1999, most of the farm was permanently protected with conservation agreements sold to the State of Michigan farmland preservation program. It was one of the first properties so protected in Washtenaw County and in the state. Stanley & Helen Parker have now donated a conservation agreement to the Washtenaw Land Trust to protect the remaining acreage of their farm, 23 acres of mature woods on its eastern edge. Read the full press release.

Pinconning Preserve Receives Official Dedication

BAY CITY, MI - Two years of hard work has finally paid off.  On Tuesday, September 18th, Saginaw Basin Land Conservancy staff, board members, and volunteers, gathered with community leaders from Pinconning and Bay County to dedicate the Pinconning Nature Preserve and officially open it to the public.   The weather was warm and sunny, a perfect day for a dedication that stirred many individuals from business, organizations and local communities onto the preserve to attend the dedication. Read full story. (posted 10/11/07) 

York Township Farm Protected - UPDATE
The Rogers family protects farm through bargain conservation deal

YORK TOWNSHIP, MI - The Washtenaw Land Trust announces the completion of a conservation deal to protect 43 acres of prime farmland: the Kendall Rogers farm in York Township. This deal expands a contiguous block of already-protected farmland just outside of Saline to more than 500 acres. Under the terms of the agreement, the land can continue to be farmed, but cannot be developed.

This is the fourth conservation project completed by the Land Trust this year. It brings the total land protected by the Land Trust to 2,942 acres of natural areas and farms throughout Washtenaw, Jackson and Ingham Counties. Read full story. (posted 10/12/07)

For information on land trust success stories, visit our Midwest Success Stories page.

updated 4/8/2008