Partners In Conservation
A Team Approach to Conserving the Land
This April 20 was the first time Scott and Sally Johnson had ever met Joan and Bill Hildreth in person, but by this time, they felt they knew each other well. Along with Tim Steele, the Johnsons and Hildreths had just been through a long journey together: the journey of conserving their land through an easement with the New England Forestry Foundation. With the feat accomplished, it was time to celebrate.
Scott and Sally Johnson, of Waterville, have spent the last decades piecing together what was once a 100 acre parcel of farm and intact forest–and thanks to their efforts, finally is again. In the 1960s, the farm was bought by a developer with a vision of turning it into 22 separate lots. A few roads were built and the land was divided into six parcels, but the project never came to fruition. When Scott and Sally landed one of these parcels shortly after, they recognized how special it was–and how drastically the landscape would be changed for both its human and wild residents if the developer’s vision had been realized. Over the next decades, they slowly bought back the pieces to complete the original 100 acres, which is intact once more.
Joan and Bill Hildreth live in Montgomery. Their 45-acre property may be smaller than the typical conservation parcel, but it is rich with wildlife. Avid wildlife watchers, Bill and Joan have tracked and photographed bobcat, black bear, fisher, mink, moose, and much more on their land. This makes sense, as the property has been mapped as a key link that connects forested habitat along the spine of the Green Mountains and into Canada. With the steady development of parcels along Route 242–a popular way to get to Jay Peak–their land is within one of the best remaining wildlife travel corridors in the region.
Tim Steele now lives in California, but his roots are in Vermont. He grew up here, and when he inherited 100 acres of forestland in Bakersfield when his mother passed away, he and his wife Victoria knew they wanted to honor her dream of keeping the rugged and remote forest intact. Tim’s land hosts at least one rare plant species, along with some unusually high elevation oak forest and steep cliffs.
Cold Hollow to Canada has identified all three parcels as conservation priorities. At the state level, all three are mapped as high priorities on Vermont Conservation Design–the state’s tool for identifying the lands most essential to maintaining ecological function. They contribute to some of the largest and most intact forest blocks in the state, forests that are part of a connected network that links the entire Northern Forest, from the Berkshires and Adirondacks all the way to the Gaspe Peninsula. Maintaining this connected network of high-quality forests has been identified as one of the best strategies for maintaining healthy, climate-resilient forests across the region. What happens here could make a difference for forests throughout the Northeast.
All three properties are also working forests, with management plans that encourage the harvesting of timber while also prioritizing long-term forest health. They contribute to the local economy. Their owners have conducted projects to increase species diversity, maintain forest integrity, and protect water quality.
And each property, individually, would be challenging to conserve, as land in our area is more often conserved in blocks of at least 200 acres.
This is where the New England Forestry Foundation (NEFF) comes in, along with a lovely story of partnership.
The New England Forestry Foundation is the “working forest” land trust in our region. They conserve forestland and then promote Exemplary Forestry on the lands they protect–forest management that continues to produce wood or other products while simultaneously encouraging forest function, water quality, and wildlife habitat. Based in Massachusetts, NEFF has been increasingly engaged in conservation in Vermont, though they had not previously conserved land in the Cold Hollow to Canada region.
Here’s the thing: If any one of these landowners alone had talked with NEFF about a conservation easement, it’s likely that a project wouldn’t have seemed feasible. The cost for NEFF to provide long-term stewardship to a single 100-acre parcel in northern Vermont would likely have seemed too high to consider. But together, a partnership was born.
Partners in Land Conservation
Cold Hollow to Canada (CHC) has been working with landowners in northern Vermont since 2009. While land conservation has always been one of our priorities, we’re better known for our land stewardship Woodlots programs, in which those who own and manage land come together several times a year to learn about and discuss ways to care for land sustainably and thoughtfully. In recent years, land conservation has become an interest to an increasing number of program members, and CHC has been looking for ways to make it more feasible. By “feasible,” CHC is trying to address the myriad ways that land conservation can be challenging for a landowner. At the top of this list is funding; the process of conserving land can be surprisingly costly. In order for a land trust to hold a conservation easement, they must find the funding not only to cover the staff time needed to close the deal but also funds to partake in an annual review of what’s happening on the land. After all, holding a conservation easement is only effective if the land trust knows what’s happening on the land and is able to take action if the land is not being cared for. Finding these long-term funds is often left to the landowner–and often, this just isn’t a reality. Many important parcels of land are therefore excluded from the conservation picture, even when their owners believe in the mission. And while land trusts may be willing to conduct some fundraising to help with such projects, they must think very carefully about which projects warrant such dedication of their own limited resources.
For Cold Hollow to Canada, it’s important that land conservation be accessible to everyone. We believe that if a landowner would like to conserve their land, their financial status should not be the factor that stops a project. This was what led us to apply–successfully–for funds from the Canaday Family Charitable Trust. While these funds don’t compensate landowners for the value of donating their easements, they do pay for some of the other associated costs: surveys, appraisals, some legal fees, etc. They can also help with the long-term stewardship costs needed by the land trust.
This Canaday Family grant allowed CHC to fill another crucial need in the land conservation picture, too. Landowners tell us that in addition to finances, another barrier is simply the daunting nature of approaching conservation. For an individual without a background in land use law, navigating the system can be quite challenging. Funding from the Canaday Family Charitable Trust allows CHC staff to act as liaisons between landowners and land trusts. As professionals who have often worked with the individual landowners, are familiar with the local geography, and understand the language and processes of land conservation, we are in an ideal spot to work with both landowners and land trusts. We understand what landowners are looking for in an easement–and we can also speak the language of the land trusts and understand what they need.
The partnership doesn’t end here, either. One more group has been crucial to the success of the project: The Catalyst Fund, a project of the Network for Landscape Conservation. This group supports the partnerships necessary for conservation projects that set priorities through a landscape-scale lens. Their support allowed for the exploration of a solid, lasting partnership between NEFF and CHC. For future projects, this partnership will also include the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board (VHCB), a group that has funds to actually compensate landowners for the value of an easement in certain situations. In our quest to allow equal access to conservation, this addition to the partnership is crucial.
Team Approach
Of course, the core members of the team have been the generous landowners wishing to conserve their land. Once it became clear that NEFF would be able to take on all three projects, CHC reached back out to the Johnsons, Hildreths, and Steeles to check in: Would they like to share the experience with others undergoing the same process? In all cases, the answer was a resounding “yes!” The three parcels would require three separate easements, each with slight variations, but the basic process was the same. Over the following 18 months, we met every six weeks or so–virtually–to share information, ask and answer questions, and simply be there for each other. Discussion of appraisals, surveys, when to seek legal advice, easement wording, and really anything was fair game. In some cases, CHC or NEFF could answer questions. In other cases, landowners could support one another.
“The team approach was wonderful!” say Joan and Bill Hildreth. “It was a pleasure going through the process together with Tim, Scott and Sally, even though our properties are conserved separately. We had many of the same questions and thoughts, and we definitely learned from them. It was comforting to be a part of this group. We were not alone!”
Tim Steele adds, “Going through the process alone, I would have been more anxious and uncertain. But talking with the Hildreths and the Johnsons--and with Cold Hollow to Canada and NEFF--I've been able to proceed with confidence in and curiosity about the easement process.”
The approach worked well for CHC and NEFF, too. Sophie Anthony, Conservation Project Manager for NEFF, says, “It was a pleasure working with the Johnsons, Hildreths and Tim Steele to protect their properties. NEFF is extremely grateful for their commitment to conservation and we are happy to be involved in such an important partnership, which will help to preserve important conservation values in the Cold Hollow to Canada region.”
The Future
For the Johnsons, Hildreths, and Steeles, we’re approaching the end of the conservation easement process–but not the end of the projects. A conservation easement is “in perpetuity.” These lands are currently intact forest and open space–and so they will remain. In Joan Hildreth’s words, “We’ve always loved to walk around our property and to just be with it. Now there’s an added peace and joy in knowing that we’re doing what we can to protect it, not just while we’re here, but forever. We’ve always felt a powerful connection to this place, but that connection somehow feels even closer and stronger now.”
No matter what happens around them, these lands have been given a purpose. They will continue to provide habitat for wildlife and to protect water quality. They will provide scenic beauty and be a sustainable source of forest products. They will provide resilience to a changing climate and open, undeveloped space for both human and wild inhabitants. Forever.
Photos provided by the New England Forestry Foundation