Sustaining Our Future 2015-2016 BOARD of TRUSTEES Fred Feibel, President Margery Winters, Vice President Karen Brand, Secretary Bob Ellis, Treasurer
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Simsbury Land Trust 2015 Annual Report Sustaining Our Future 2015-2016 BOARD OF TRUSTEES Fred Feibel, President Margery Winters, Vice President Karen Brand, Secretary Bob Ellis, Treasurer Chad Alfeld Rob Heagney Joan Allen Paul Henualt Ted Almy Chuck Howard Mary Baier Diana Moody Karen Brand Sally Rieger Dick Davis Elliot Schulman T.J. Donohue Susan Van Kleef Katie French STAFF Amy Zeiner, Executive Director Patricia Hazelwood, Director, Finance and Membership ADVISORY BOARD Bob Bingham Bill Cox Candace Fitzpatrick Bill Howard Paul Knierim Mike Long Jim Veltrop CONTENTS 1 Letter from the President 2 Managing Our Valued Resources 4 Tanager Hill Acquisition Complete 6 Preston and Estelle Case Profile 7 Laird and Ann Mortimer Profile 8 Financial Highlights 9 Membership Donations Inside back cover Map of SLT Properties Letter from the President As I look forward to our next 12 months engineer to help in planning a low impact I see a unique opportunity for the parking area which will serve Tanager Hill Simsbury Land Trust to celebrate our as well as our Owen-Mortimer trail. accomplishments, learn from the past and As we increase the quality and depth enthusiastically stride into the future. The of our conservation management we will be year 2016 will be our 40th anniversary, in need of significant and consistent and thanks to the enthusiastic and funding. For that reason we will also be unwavering support from our members unveiling our Endowment Initiative later and the community, we certainly have this year. We will be able to manage this much to celebrate. endowment through the fund we have Over the last 39 years we have been established with the Hartford Foundation fortunate to preserve over 1,100 acres as for Public Giving. This fall we also initiate open space in Simsbury. These acres not only represent a the second of our ambitious long-term strategic plans. tangible asset but allude to a process by which the community As we go forward I would again like to ask everyone to has been educated about and concerned with the conservation make an effort to get a friend out on a trail or bring them to of threatened land. As we move forward we take the lessons an event during the upcoming year. As always your continued learned and hope to shape our efforts toward even more support is noted and greatly appreciated. success. An educated and motivated membership has been the See you soon, backbone of the Simsbury Land Trust’s success. Education programs will be key for us as we work to grow our membership, donor base and get more people out on the trails. Currently we are using a professional environmental consultant to help put a comprehensive plan together for our Fred Feibel newly acquired Tanager Hill property. We have also hired an President 1 Managing Our Valued Resources Dick Davis, SLT Trustee When we think of an organization, it is most often within the care of itself quite well for millions of years before we came context of what it does and what comes most immediately to along. However, we now exert a disproportionately harmful mind when we think of the Simsbury Land Trust is the force on our environment. Air and water pollution, acquisition of land. And no wonder. Throughout most of our monoculture agriculture, development that does not consider nearly 40 years and particularly over the past 15, our public its context in the land, the introduction of invasive species and focus has been either a plea for help for our latest acquisition the steady increase in extinctions due to habitat loss come or the celebration of a recent purchase. immediately to mind. Without some selective intervention on However, the more important question is often not what our part, the natural world as we know it and upon which we an organization does but why it does it. In the case of the SLT, depend may not survive us. we have carefully chosen individual properties that represent Two significant areas of management illustrate the the rich diversity of the Town’s natural setting — farm fields challenges facing the SLT. One is the management of invasive and natural meadows, woods in the sandy river bottom and species. As long as man has traveled across the landscape he along the high hillsides, ponds and streams, swamps, bogs, wet has taken with him seeds, plants and animals, sometimes meadows and vernal pools, trap rock ridges, sand hills and purposefully, often by accident. Birds, animals and the wind glacial moraines. In doing so, we have tried to enlarge tracts of also carry seeds but usually over shorter distances and at a land that are already protected and to connect them into slower pace. Today seeds, plants and animals can travel with natural corridors. the speed of a jet plane, into every nook and cranny of the The mix of the natural habitats and the size of the world, and in much larger quantity than ever before. In prior protected areas are both important. Each plant and animal has times, when foreign species traveled much more slowly and in its own requirements without which it will not survive. Some smaller quantities, the native species often had the time and forms of life will eat almost any plant or animal and remain space to adapt to the new species. The problem today is not healthy. Others can remain healthy with a narrower mix of with every migrating species but with those occasionals that food. Still others need one specific plant or animal to eat. All thrive in the climate of their new home and that find no need some form of protection from the elements and from meaningful enemies to keep their population in check. As a each other — a tree top, a burrow, a thicket, a pool. Some result the “invasive” species crowds out the natives, and in spend part of their life cycle in the water, part on land or part extreme cases becomes a monoculture significantly reducing in the air. Others move with the seasons, a few dozen feet or the number of species in the mix and creating a much more halfway across the world. Animals also need space to breed vulnerable habitat. We cannot eliminate an invasive once it and to raise their young. Each has a different level of tolerance gets established. Even if we could eradicate every individual for others and, like us, they need space for relief from the on a given site, individuals from neighboring sites would stress of overcrowding. Some require only a few inches, some a hundred feet, others a mile or more. Some thrive in our backyards but many need privacy from people. The more varied the habitat mix, the larger the natural areas, and the more connected by corridors, the greater the biodiversity an area can support. And the more vibrant the biodiversity, the greater are the chances for a healthy environment for the earth and for us. By owning and managing land and conservation easements the SLT helps protect the Town’s biodiversity and the environment we need for our own physical and mental health. This variety in our natural surroundings provides beauty, interest and tranquility that enrich our lives. Most of us understand the value of SLT ownership in helping protect these natural areas. But what is the value of our attempting to manage them? After all, nature has taken 2 quickly repopulate it. The best we can do is “weed” the site on a regular basis in order to enable native species to continue to survive and perhaps eventually evolve into a meaningful competitor for the invasive. We can also repair disturbed areas that are particularly inviting to invasives and watch for newcomers and remove them before they get established. Controlling invasives is a worthwhile effort because whenever we lose one native, we risk losing other wildlife that depends on that species for its food, shelter or breeding. Another key challenge is managing conflicting uses. The SLT encourages public access because we believe it is important that more people become aware of and appreciate these habitats. As a rule, we generally appreciate things only after we understand them and generally, we do not These are but two of the management challenges we face. understand them until we have seen and spent some time As difficult as it is to steward the land, it is vitally important getting to know them. Because our efforts to protect the land we do this, both for the environment in which we spend our for ourselves and the next generation depends heavily on lives and for the enjoyment and excitement of all who venture public understanding and appreciation, we spend a lot of time out onto the trails. Hopefully, this leads the way to a healthier and effort maintaining trails and promoting them through physical and emotional environment for ourselves. In addition, regular guided walks. We want people to get out on the trails, how we care for and how we relate to the land sets an example to experience the physical for our children, the community challenge, get to know the wildlife By owning and managing land and and beyond. and learn more about it, and to We have accomplished a relax and enjoy the tranquil beauty. conservation easements the SLT helps great deal over the past 39 years, This is an activity that interests a protect the Town’s biodiversity and and this success is due to a wide range of people and can be number of factors. However, enjoyed by people of all ages, the environment we need for our own the one critical factor has been either alone or in groups.