2011 CT Land Conservation Conference
The 27th Annual Connecticut Land Conservation Conference held on April 11, 2011 at Wesleyan University was a resounding success! Over 200 attendees participated in over 24 workshops and lunch-time discussions covering the full spectrum of land protection, funding and stewardship topics and joined their colleagues from around the state in celebrating achievements in land conservation.
CLCC’s annual conference is the state's largest conservation gathering of land trust board members, volunteers, staff, municipal commission members, land use professionals and others interested in land conservation. Held every spring, this year’s conference featured Andy Kendall, President of The Trustees of Reservations -- considered the country’s first land trust -- as the keynote speaker.
The day began with opening remarks by Bill Toomey, Executive Director of Highstead and Co-Chair of the CLCC Steering Committee, who thanked the attendees for joining CLCC members and their conservation colleagues and friends for this exciting event. Bill then turned the presentation over to CLCC Executive Director, Amy Paterson, who reviewed the many positive accomplishments that were realized in land conservation this past year – all being especially impressive during these very challenging economic times.
Amy encouraged the land conservation community to get further involved with advocacy and told the audience that it was her goal to have at least one member from each land trust in the state act as a legislative liaison to CLCC. She also suggested that members make an effort to get to know their state and federal legislators by sending them newsletters and updates, inviting them to celebrations and work party events and otherwise sharing with them news of the hard earned conservation accomplishments that make their communities so special.
In furtherance of the day’s theme of collaborations and partnerships, Tim Abbott, Director of the Litchfield Hills Greenprint and CLCC Steering Committee Co-Chair, presented Excellence in Conservation Awards to eight land conservation organizations and individuals for the following conservation achievements:
- Successful Collaboration in Stewardship to Joshua’s Tract Conservation and Historic Trust for an experiential, environmental educational program for middle school students facilitated in collaboration with EastConn.
- Successful Collaboration in Land Acquisition to Branford Land Trust and the Connecticut Farmland Trust for the protection of the Johnson Farm in Branford, CT. (Honorable Mention to Conserving Tolland for its promotion of forest and agricultural land conservation in Tolland, CT).
- Outstanding Land Acquisition Effort to Groton Open Space Association for its efforts in protecting and restoring the historic Sheep Farm in Groton, CT. (Honorable Mention to the Town of Pomfret for its recent acquisition of over 1,000 acres of farmland and open space).
- Exemplary Outreach Project to the Beacon Falls Conservation Commission for hosting a Community Forum to celebrate open space in the town.
- Exemplary Fundraising Effort to Alicia Betty, Project Manager, The Trust for Public Land, for her fundraising and outreach effort to purchase and conserve the Griswold Airport in Madison.
Tim then went on to introduce keynote speaker, Andy Kendall, President of The Trustees of Reservations, providing some personal insight into Andy’s background and his remarkable achievements at the helm of TTOR. In his presentation entitled, “Toward 2050: Making Conservation Relevent in the 21st Century”, Andy described TTOR’s success in advancing land conservation through creative partnerships and collaboration in the region. Andy’s speech and the examples of conservation success stories that he shared inspired us all to continue to think creatively when evaluating partnerships and the viability of a project.
The success of this year’s conference would not have been possible without the strong support of dedicated financial partners including lead sponsor, Connecticut Light & Power, a Northeast Utilities Company, as well as the Land Trust Alliance, The Trust for Public Land, the Norcross Wildlife Foundation, the USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Services Connecticut, The Rockfall Foundation and sixteen additional businesses and conservation organizations from around the state. Additional in-kind support was provided by Ellington Printery, CT Forest and Park Association and Chris Armentano. We are most appreciative of their support.
We are grateful to the CLCC conference planning committee who helped organized the 2011 event: Hunter Brawley (Brawley Consulting Group), Kevin Case and Rob Cardeiro (Land Trust Alliance), Liba Furhman (Hunt Hill Farm Trust), Ginny Gwynn (Greenwich Land Trust), Amy Paterson (CLCC), and Bill Toomey (Highstead).
A sincere thank you is also due to the following CLCC Steering Committee members who volunteered the day of the event: Hunter Brawley (Brawley Consulting Group), Katchen Coley (Middletown Conservation Commission), Elaine LaBella (Housatonic Valley Association), David Sutherland (The Nature Conservancy) and Tom ODell (Town of Westbrook).
And finally, very special thanks go to the presenters who volunteered their time and expertise and to Sarah Pellegrino of The Nature Conservancy for once again taking the lead on Conference organization.
Thank you all for your participation in making the day a success and for your continued support, dedication and contributions to land conservation in Connecticut.
