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PLTA-0103 Nature Conservancy 3/19/04 4:00 PM Page 1

...... Pennsylvania’s Land Trusts The Nature Conservancy About Land Trusts Conservation Options Conserving our Commonwealth Pennsylvania Chapter Land trusts are charitable organizations that conserve land Land trusts and landowners as well as government can by purchasing or accepting donations of land and conservation access a variety of voluntary tools for conserving special ...... easements. Land trust work is based on voluntary agreements places. The basic tools are described below. The privilege of possessing Produced by the the earth entails the Pennsylvania Land Trust Association with landowners and creating projects with win-win A land trust can acquire land. The land trust then responsibility of passing it on, working in partnership with outcomes for communities. takes care of the property as a wildlife preserve, the better for our use, Pennsylvania’s land trusts Nearly a hundred land trusts work to protect important public recreation area or other conservation purpose. not only to immediate posterity, but to the unknown future, with financial support from the lands across Pennsylvania. Governed by unpaid A landowner and land trust may create an the nature of which is not William Penn Foundation, Have You Been to the ? boards of directors, they range from all-volunteer agreement known as a conservation easement. given us to know. an anonymous donor and the groups working in a single municipality The easement limits certain uses on all or a ~ Aldo Leopold Pennsylvania Department of Conservation n spring days, the Tannersville Bog This kind of wonder saved the bog for today and for to large multi-county organizations with portion of a property for conservation and Natural Resources belongs to fourth-graders. future generations: The bog could easily have been a a dozen or more staff. They depend purposes while keeping the property in Bureau of Recreation and Conservation Growing Greener Program casualty of development if it weren’t for a group of on landowner goodwill, member the landowner’s ownership and control. O In the bog they see their lessons come alive. enthusiastic, committed people. support and other donations for Landowners can donate land and Donna T. Morelli, writer and researcher They touch in the dense foliage that they only Andrew M. Loza, editor and writer their continuing efforts. easements. These charitable gifts knew from pictures and words. One of The Nature Conservancy’s first purchases, Some land trusts address a may qualify the donor for federal tax Our warmest appreciation to the many The young explorers have the bog is used by teachers, wide variety of conservation needs. deductions. In unusual cases, the thoughtful and generous people who make no idea of the struggle to save land trust work possible. scientists, photographers and Some focus on a single conservation land trust may offer to purchase a the and open it to the nature lovers. But the bog is priority. Land trusts may conserve property interest for an agreed-to Photography credits: public. They just think it’s cool. land to protect our rivers, streams and price using donations from others. Jerry Keltz and T. L.Gettings; more than a wetland and Children photos, Donna Morelli, PALTA staff groundwater. They may protect community A land trust can acquire a property, “Show a fourth-grader an more than a school classroom. open space for new parks, scenic views, place a conservation easement on it, and insect-eating and that’s a It is part of the local culture, wildlife preserves or neighborhood gardens. then sell it to a conservation buyer—someone lesson easily taught,” says a part of the community. They may conserve productive farmland or working Roger Spotts, director of the who wants to own a conserved property. “There are few people in forests. Some focus on protecting while Monroe County Environmental Sometimes a municipality or state agency wishes to the area who haven’t been to others preserve traditional hunting grounds. Education Center. conserve a property but can’t meet the financial or timing the bog,” said Bud Cook, Regardless of size or conservation focus, Pennsylvania’s land demands of the landowner. A land trust can help by Fourth-graders in four director of The Nature trusts share a commitment to conserving natural resources for acquiring and then donating or selling the land to the printed on recycled paper Monroe County school districts Conservancy’s Northeastern the people of today and for the generations not yet born. government when the government is ready. have the bog written into their Debbie Harris’ fourth-graders at the bog Pennsylvania office. “I can’t The Nature Conservancy's mission is to preserve the plants, animals The Pennsylvania Land Trust Association fosters public understanding of curricula. Steve Wynings, a tell you how many people say, and natural communities that represent the diversity of life on Earth conservation issues, advances public policy and provides land trusts and local student in Debbie Harris’ class, is learning his lessons. “I’m really embarrassed. I haven’t been to the by protecting the lands governments with resources and training to more effectively Tannersville Bog. My kids keep bugging me to go.” and waters they need conserve land. It is comprised of more “It’s pretty cool,” says Steve as he inspects the flower to survive. than 70 voting conservation organizations. of a . “The pitcher plants have these little The appeal of this mass of , murky water and Visit www.nature.org Visit www.conserveland.org hairs inside—when bugs go in they can’t get back out.” spiky spruce, extends beyond the Poconos...... PLTA-0103 Nature Conservancy 3/19/04 4:01 PM Page 2

Have You Been to the Bog? ......

The bog was Inspiring art and science Niering authored numerous books on wetland ecology Although settled as a professor in the bog and far from their natural predators A special place designateda National and became a renowned wetland expert. Connecticut, Niering came home —were crowding out natives, damaging Jerry Keltz grew up near the bog, yet never paid Today, a floating —named for William Natural Landmark in the frequently to lead an effort to protect the unique ecosystem. By 1979, parts of attention to it. “Even though he was teaching at Connecticut Niering—brings visitors into the center of the bog. 1960s, earned ink in a the Tannersville Cranberry Bog. He the bog were a mess. College, anytime he came home he went to the bog,” The wooden plank structure rests on pontoons atop National Geographic “We weren’t allowed in there as kids,” he said, organized a group of concerned locals Keltz said. Frustrated with the situation, local the 40-foot deep peat and protects the bog’s publication, and was laughing. “My mom told me that there was quicksand. who did the legwork and raised the Nature Conservancy volunteers approached plants from trampling. studied by Ecuadorian We fished Cranberry Creek at night for eels and catfish, Niering also fought for the preservation of natural areas, money to finance the protection effort. the leaders of TNC’s newly formed Pennsylvania park officials. but not in the bog proper.” becoming a volunteer with The Nature Conservancy. In 1956, these volunteers helped TNC Chapter with a plea to do something. TNC went to At their guide’s prompting, Debbie Harris’ fourth- Fourth-grade students study and sketch purchase the first 63 acres of the bog. graders enthusiastically jump up and down, rocking the many plants they’ve read about. A lot of life took place between Jerry’s mother’s warnings the school, wondering if they would need to enforce a the boardwalk like a boat floating in thick soup. and his discovery of the bog’s wonders—a tour in the Air The Nature Conservancy “They were scrambling to protect the place they reverter clause in the transfer. There was no need, as Force, a long career and settling down with family in The Nature Conservancy (TNC) had just incorporated loved. They wanted to insure its protection beyond their the college was happy to give the property back. The pinkish white flowers of bog rosemary The Tannersville Cranberry Bog Northampton County. in 1951. With two or three employees and a thousand own lives. With The Nature Conservancy, they could do embrace the edge of the boardwalk, peeking up at was once a huge glacial lake. The property was chained and closed off to stop members nationwide, there were only hints that the it,” Cook said. Since the ice receded 10,000- When he retired, he started volunteering with The new damage. And then TNC’s volunteers began working the kids. The guide notices the blooms. Nature Conservancy, leading tours and documenting organization would grow to protect more than 117 million 15,000 years ago, approximately The local people formed a stewardship committee to for a long-term solution: How could they both protect “Botanists from far plant life at their preserves. It was this involvement acres of the world’s most special places. 40 feet of peat has accumulated on maintain the property. the bog’s rich biodiversity and open it to the public? away travel to Tannersville the floor of what was once the that led him home and into the bog. Cook chokes up when talking about TNC’s band just to see this plant,” the lake. Today, the bog stands out in Over the years, TNC and Pocono Township For six years, Jerry traveled to Tannersville every two guide tells the children. contrast to the surrounding acquired more land, protecting 775 acres of dedicated volunteers: “They were so emotionally forests. It is a world of weeks to catch plants in bloom. He photographically doc- at the Tannersville Cranberry Bog. involved. There was a bond among those who bled to The entire class bends its peat moss hosting beautiful plants umented every plant species in the bog. His photographs make things better at the bog.” collective head closer to like lilies, orchids, gold have been featured in Conservancy publications. the rosemary. With great effort, they crafted and implemented a thread and the carnivorous Stewardship “I was always in love with nature, but I was too busy plan to provide public access and on-site education “This is another sundew and pitcher The bog had great educational value and a local col- while working to enjoy it.” while protecting the resource that made recreation and world—a world not very plants, with smatterings lege was interested in the property. The Nature education at the preserve desirable. The Monroe many people get to see,” of shrubs like Labrador Another local boy fell so hard for the bog that it Conservancy agreed to transfer the property to the college Bog rosemary County Environmental Education Center joined the Debbie Harris says. “No tea, leatherleaf, sheep shaped his career, and in turn, he helped to protect it. in the 1960s, under the strict condition that it be main- endeavor, creating an education program that it man- one would get to see it at all if it weren’t for The laurel, bog rosemary and William Niering grew up a butcher’s son in rural Scotrun tained as a natural area. The college accepted. azalea. The bog with a fascination for the bog and its life. ages to this day. Nature Conservancy building this boardwalk and also provides habitat for But over time, the task of caring for such a sensitive protecting this land.” The Nature Conservancy, its volunteer steward- many mammals including After serving three years in World War II, Niering ecosystem proved too cumbersome for the school. returned to Pennsylvania. He studied botany at Penn ship committee and the Monroe County bears, otters, bobcats, Since European settlement, more than half of The bog was being damaged by too much traffic and Environmental Education Center have now been suc- The round-leaved sundew and pitcher plant , porcupines, minks State. His Master thesis delved into what he loved: the Volunteers from the Monroe County Vo-Tech School, Boy Scouts and The Nature Pennsylvania’s have been lost—filled in or are two of the bog’s carnivores. and snowshoe hares. flora of Monroe and Pike counties. Conservancy built the boardwalk. garbage dumping. Invasive plants—species not native to cessfully managing the preserve for more than 20 years. dammed. The heaviest loss is in the Pocono region...... For more information, visit www.conserveland.org