2015Regional Land Trust Board Summit Series

July 8, 2015

Housatonic Valley Association (HVA)

150 Kent Road
Cornwall Bridge, CT 06754

7:00-8:30pm

Co-hosted by:

HVA/Litchfield Hills Greenprint Collaborative

Attendees: Gene Newell – Goshen Land Trust; Marie Kennedy – Litchfield Land Trust; Barton Jones – Cornwall Conservation Trust; Stan Greenbaum – Naromi Land Trust; Hector Prud’homme – Colebrook Land Conservancy; Amy Bernstein – Colebrook Land Conservancy; Tim Abbot – HVA/Greenprint; Rachel Murray – Land for Good; Kip Kolesinskas – UCONN Extension; Bill Arnold – Kent Land Trust; Anne Westerman – Flanders Nature Center & Land Trust; George Massay – Salisbury Association Land Trust

Lansford Perry – Canton Land Conservation Trust/Landowner; Amy B. Paterson, CLCC

Discussion: After brief introductionswe listed off the topics we hoped to discuss:

1. Leasing Land Trust land to farmers

2. Funding sources for acquisition and operations

3. Fundraising Ideas

4. Open Space & Watershed Land Acquisition Program (OSWA) delays!

5. Cross-border activities

6. State purchases through the Recreation and Natural Heritage Trust Program

7. Capacity issues for all-volunteer land trusts

1. Farmland Leasing

  • Land for Good – Rachel Murray described the organization. She is available to give presentations to land trust boards on leasing land trust land to farmers (Note: Land for Good)
  • Resources to help match farmers with landowners willing to lease their land: New England Farmland Finder and CT Farmlink (recently improved).
  • Monetary resources are available for restoration and acquisition of farmland. See: Conservation Options for Connecticut’s Farmland (AFT et. al.)
  • Rachel and Kip are available to assist with leases/language. Templates are posted on CLCC’s website HERE.
  • Land for Good Toolbox provides resources to learn about and take action on farmland access, tenure and transfer issues.
  • UConn Extension – Resources available to help including tenant selection
  • Easements/Infrastructure: DoAG will fund infrastructure. DEEP OSWA Will Not
  • Obstacles
  • Zoning: Work to have P&Z regs. more farm friendly
  • Cost of land/accessibility

2. Conservation Projects

  • Capacity – Pressure is on to be accredited – can’t do it all!
  • OSWA
  • Application is okay but the two Yellow Book appraisal requirement is expensive and onerous. Why not require one with the application and one after the grant has been approved subject to submission of second appraisal, A-2 etc.?
  • Fair Market Value: There needs to be more transparency with the appraisal reviews.
  • Why does it take the agency so much time to make decision? For some landowners the process is just too slow and deals are lost.
  • Coming up with matching funds continues to be a big deterrent to doing deals
  • Make sure you invite your local, state and federal representatives to all project celebrations.
  • Audits continue to be a risk of donation – IRS audits are on the increase (Report any landowner audits to Russ Shay at the Land Trust Alliance)
  • Group agreed that fee gifts are safer and asked whether we are seeing a decrease in CE deals versus fee transfers
  • Group also agreed that the land trust needs to have a conversation at outset with the landowner regarding valuation/appraisals

3. Funding for Acquisition

  • Public funding: there are always strings attached which may cause issues with the landowner or the land trust
  • Alternatives to public money (state and federal) include family foundations
  • If there is a farmland component – state and federal programs may be used in whole or in part as match funds, depending upon the program. Or if farmland preservation is the primary purpose of the project then there are several state funding options including the Farmland Preservation Program. See: Conservation Options for Connecticut’s Farmland (AFT et. al.)
  • Farmland preservation programs generally are easement programs
  • Due Diligence expenses can be prohibitive
  • $15-20k up front
  • Cox Foundation grant for Regional Conservation Partnerships will help with transaction associated expenses – Greenprint is in the running for funding.
  • Showing connectivity helps your application – makes it more competitive with funders
  • What about an OSWA application specifically for multi-town projects?

4. Capacity – What would they need?

  • P/T paid staff would be okay, provided they are trained
  • Shared staff arrangements are of interest but also need to be trained
  • Keeping up with accreditation requirements, including recordkeeping, is forcing the land trusts to re-visit the idea of shared staff .
  • Recordkeeping software? Land trusts are looking for a list of choices
  • Record keeping
  • Bookkeeping
  • In satellite office with staff?

5. CT Land Trust Listserv: sign up today!

Meeting adjourned at 8:35pm

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