Statewide Land Conservation Conference This Saturday

The 2011 CT Land Conservation Conference will be held Saturday, April 30th at Wesleyan University in Middletown, CT.

2011 Conference Highlights

•24 workshops covering a range of topics directly affecting citizens and environments across Connecticut.

•Keynote Presentation by Andy Kendall, President of the Trustees of Reservations. Drawing from his experiences at The Trustees of Reservations (considered America’s first land trust) over the last 11 years, Andy will highlight key opportunities to advance land conservation in the region and across the country. The philosophy and approach to the Trustees efforts is something that land trusts across the state will recognize as core to their efforts to engage communities, foster collaboration and increase relevance of the work they do to save Connecticut’s special places.

•Conference attendees are eligible for a free ticket to the Connecticut Forest & Park Association Outdoor Gear Expo taking place on Saturday at Wesleyan from 3-7 P.M. (number of tickets are limited).

•Networking opportunities, displays and much more!

This year's conference will be designed around a general theme of collaboration and partnerships, so many workshops will address that topic. Other categories likely to be covered at the conference include (but are not limited to):

• Advocacy
• Stewardship (monitoring, land management, baseline reports)
• Organizational Capacity Development
• Fundraising
• Outreach, Education and Communications
• Leadership (board and staff)
• Land Conservation Transactions

Directions and Parking

The conference will be held in the Exley Science Center. Parking will be available at the Vine Street parking lot (Lot V on map; shuttle service will run from this lot) as well as on the streets around campus. Please be in touch if you require special accomodations. The Science Center and Lot V may be found on map below (or explore via interactive map).

Map of Campus

Directions to Wesleyan

Statewide Conservation Conference A Success

On Saturday April 4th, the Connecticut Land Conservation Conference was held in Middletown, drawing hundreds of Connecticut Conservation and Land Trust volunteers and members from around the state. The conference was a wonderful opportunity for conservationists to connect and meet peers from around the state as well as to see and hear about the great work that is being done around the state for conservation. Not to mention, it was a huge showoff of Middletown and our convenient central location, University resources and generally enjoyable destination town. I heard from many attendees how enthused they were to be travelling to Middletown for this event.

The Conference featured twenty-five workshops on a a range of topics directly affecting citizens and environments across Connecticut, as well as keynote speaker and an introduction to the Connecticut Land Conservation Council (CLCC), featuring enhanced member services and grants. Of course there were also many displays including brochures on organic land care and organic farming just to name a couple.

Especially poignant was the well-represented work of The Bridgeport Land Trust. The BLT had wonderful presenters on Community Gardens (Bridgeport has dozens!) and the Ash Creek Sand Spit Sanctuary preservation. Christine Cook and her colleagues from Bridgeport had an excellent presentation with amazing photos of wildlife, flora and fauna all found right in Bridgeport, and tales of engaging neighborhood kids in some good old-fashioned digging in the dirt.

The Keynote Presentation was delivered with skill and humor by Russ Brenneman, who participated in the formation of the first land trusts in CT, drafted the CT conservation easement law, and served as president of the CT Forest and Park Association. He has been a Trustee of The Nature Conservancy and was a founding member of the Great Meadows Land Trust. He currently teaches environmental law and policy at Trinity College and is of counsel to the law firm of Murtha Cullina LLP.

Representatives from Land Trusts in the towns of Southbury, Branford, and Canton had nice presentations on how they have engaged the community about the preserved land in their towns. Their work has spanned countless events which all looked like a load of fun while connecting people with the land and the towns.

The Middletown Conservation Commission is hard at work on many such events as well. More information is always available at http://www.middletownplanning.com/ . Click on "Conservation" at left to go to the Conservation Commission's page.