All the Way to 100k

All the Way to 100k--
Make that 125k

When we drafted our 2007 year-end fundraising letter we thought “All the Way to 100k” was a good slogan. With 18,000+ acres protected in 2006, it seemed reasonable that we could make it “All the Way to 100k” acres protected by the end of 2008. We got ahead of ourselves. The Alabama Land Trust and Georgia Land Trust put a record 35,556 acres into conservation easements (CEs) in 2007 bringing our total to a shade under 100k (with just less than 50,000 acres protected in both Alabama and Georgia). It now looks like we could reach 125,000 acres in 2008—the goal our 2006 strategic plan gave us to reach by 2011.

With over 80 CEs recorded in 2007, we don’t have space to report on each. We decided to lay out some nice photographs, description and statistics on the easements under headings based on categories and terms of Conservation Easements (CEs). We will try to profile individual CEs and donors in future newsletters and on our new website when it rolls out.

Forever Wild/Special Natural Areas: The Forever Wild CE, as the name implies, means that land will remain essentially as it is at the time the CE is granted. Generally these are mature forested ecosystems like wetlands, cypress swamp, and various hardwood forests—bottomland, mesic cove or xeric. Sometimes instead of designating the entire property Forever Wild, landowners set aside “Special Natural Areas” to receive special protection within the larger CE. Prevalent throughout our service area, these areas, when protected by forever wild CEs and Special Natural Area designation, continue to provide critically important habitat for numerous migratory bird species, many declining across their range. (These forests’ high habitat value is identified in the Alabama and Georgia State Wildlife Assessment Plans—see OIS Grant/NW GA article.) These forests often also contain rare or imperiled plant species. One 2007 CE donor designated a Special Natural Area of about 100 acres protecting one of the largest known stands of the rare relict trillium; another donor created a 350 acre Special Natural Area that holds the largest known native stands of the Alabama Croton and Durand Oak. These CEs allow the donors to ensure the land’s stewardship in perpetuity while continuing to enjoy the hunting, fishing, hiking, and other “peaceful enjoyment” of the land. This protection also allows regenerating areas time to develop into a mature forested ecosystem. Around 15% of our 2007 acres protected were designated Forever Wild/Special Natural Area areas.

Riparian Corridors: These CEs protect the land along rivers and streams critical to water quality and habitat protection. Almost all of our CEs feature a water course on or bounding the property and most donors give these areas special protection: “no cut” areas or timber harvest limitations; provisions to ensure agricultural operations preserve buffers and actions are taken to keep livestock off streambeds and out of wetlands. The habitat protection value of these CEs is inestimable. Animal life along the banks use them as highway systems between increasingly limited habitat areas. Some or our riparian CEs were in the Tennessee watershed—which now has only five percent of the wetlands originally associated with river system.

The waters associated with these CEs host an astonishing numbers of species. The Cahaba, the last freeflowing river in Alabama and site of several 2007 CEs, is home to more than 131 species of freshwater fishes (18 of which have been found in no other river system), 40 species of mussels, and 35 species of snails. Sixty-nine of the animal species are endangered. And then, there are the people living along these rivers. Sometimes rivers rally communities and the properties they protect become a string of pearls along regenerating streams. Along Choccolocco Creek, in the high growth area along I-20 near Oxford (AL) nearly four miles of streambeds were protected in 2007. Highlights from other watersheds we worked in include: a single CE that protected nearly six miles of streambed along Black Warrior River in Greene and Hale counties (AL), as well as along the property’s major Creeks and sloughs; a landowner gave special protection to almost ten miles of the Tallapoosa River and its tributaries in Tallapoosa, Randolph and Chambers Counties (AL); over two miles along the Coosa; more than five miles along the Cahaba; another mile added to an existing CE along the Conasauga in Murray and Whitfield Counties (GA); and a little more than a mile on both the Chattahoochee and the Little River. We will give more detail on these CEs and watersheds on our web site.

Wildlife Habitat/Working Forest: The above CE types provide a great deal of habitat protection. Working Forest CEs, which are at their core dedicated to preserving the sustainable timber resource and associated production of commercially important timber products, incorporate many elements specifically aimed at improving wildlife habitat. Working Forest Conservation Easements typically have management plans indicating such things as: current best management practices (BMPs) are used; the size and placement of wildlife food plots to ensure adequate forage; what steps will be taken to protect special areas;
long term plans for stand types, when and how the stands will be harvested. Some landowner’s goals include longer stand rotations, minimizing clearcuts and longleaf restoration; others focus on more intensive management of timber with an emphasis on protecting the productivity of the soils and waters.

Agricultural: These CEs seek to keep productive lands producing and to protect important agricultural soils. Generally these CEs feature a significant percentage of soils regarded as “Prime Farmlands” or “Soils of Statewide Significance” by the National Resource Conservation Service (http://websoilsurvey.nrcs.usda.gov/app/).

A 600 acre conservation easement in Alabama in 2007 had virtually 100 per cent “Prime Farmlands” soils.
Land that good just shouldn’t wind up as a “house farm.” Some of these properties have been in the same family for going on two centuries. Others have newer owners but they are still people who know the great productive value of their land and want to protect it. Agricultural CEs also include management plans to ensure that agricultural practices on the properties will preserve and enhance the productivity of the soils that is the core value of the CE.

Historical/Cultural: CEs can be specifically designed to protect historic or cultural resources. In general, our CEs don’t specifically focus on historical/cultural resources but the protected lands provide a meaningful context for the historic resources found on the properties. Some of these may not be grand or imposing (such as those shown on the right—a roughly made artesian fountain, a tiny schoolhouse and a family plot) but they offer a glimpse of landowners’ lives over the years and the harmony of these lives with their land.

Mosaics and the Future: Many of our donors blend all the above elements: their properties have one part working forest, another agriculture, a “forever wild/special natural area,” woven together with riparian corridor and historical/cultural components. We look forward to continuing protection efforts in 2008, including working with previous CE donors to add acreage, new donors recommended by them or otherwise interested in protecting their land.

We hope by this time next year, we’ll be celebrating reaching the 125k-acre mark. The more different lands we work to help protect and see protected, the more we understand how much more there is out there that really deserves special care. We appreciate your support in the past that helped get us this close to our current goals and hope we can count on you to help us reach future goals and help us push ahead even further.