LANDMARKS 09 FA L L / W I N T E R
Newsletter for Kachemak Heritage Land Trust Kachemak Heritage Land Trust Celebrating 20 Years of Protecting Land in Perpetuity
IN THIS ISSUE: Spectacular Bondurant Kenai River Property for Sale Dot to Dot: Building on Success National Trails Day Celebration Calvin & Coyle Woodland Park Nature Trail Re-Development Project Donating Non-Conservation Land Differentiating Donations Volunteer Opportunities
Director’s Column
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Marie McCarty EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
y family has a motion and heat sensing camera tied to a tree in the woods near our house. It’s the kind of thing you might have if your spouse is a biologist. This year our camera snapped a photo of two yearling black bear cubs trying to eat it (pink mouth shots of blurry teeth), many bears and cubs, scores of snowshoe hares, four bears on a mission together, lots of moose with gangly calves, and our kids on an Easter egg hunt in the snow. Most of the photos were snapped in daylight. The camera is 100 yards from our house in a grove of young spruce. I had no idea there was that level of activity during the day so close to home. One of the best parts of life in Alaska is the proximity of people to nature. For many of us, it’s why we love it here. Honoring people’s ability to live tucked into the woods while respecting the natural world is an important value to Kachemak Heritage Land Trust, and likely to you too. Most of the properties we protect through conservation easements encompass people’s homes while permanently preserving the properties’ conservation values. These
Kachemak Heritage Land Trust Celebrating 20 Years of Protecting Land in Perpetuity two things are not mutually exclusive. We work with landowners to decide how best to meet their practical needs and their desire to preserve the conservation values of their properties. It’s a way for landowners to maintain homes and essential property rights, and “rule from the grave” with recorded conservation easements that stay with properties in perpetuity. The cover of the September issue of National Geographic shows Manhattan now and as imagined in the 1600’s. It’s hard to project that level of development onto the Kenai Peninsula four hundred years from now. However, as one of our board members reminds me, land is a perishable product. What seventeenth century inhabitant of the land that became Manhattan could have imagined the level of development there today? Those of you fortunate enough to own those true jewels of land on the Kenai Peninsula, imagine the future you want here. You may want to consider working with us to preserve your property’s important conservation values. For those who don’t own those unique parcels, you are still key to our future. You can help out as volunteers and as financial contributors, so our collective efforts ensure that the Kenai Peninsula of the future is one that remains the special blend of community and nature that we cherish.
Marie McCarty Executive Director
ur last issue included a thank you to all of our current and past board members for their dedicated efforts on behalf of KHLT. We were embarrassed to find after publication that the list of board members had been truncated in a cut and paste process, and we had failed to catch the error in our proof. We apologize to those who were inadvertently dropped from the list, and wish to assure them and their families that their efforts are very much appreciated! Peggy Tener, Toby Tyler, Vicki Van Fleet, Olga Von Ziegesar, Betsy Webb, Charlie Welles, Toby Wheeler, Andy Wills, Mike Yourkowski. 1
Dotti Harness, President Roger Pearson, Vice President Larsen Klingel, Treasurer Scott Connelly, Secretary Marian Beck Sam Means John Mouw Shirley Schollenberg
KHLT Staff Marie McCarty, Executive Director Dorothy Melambianakis, Conservation Director Nina Daley, Development Assistant Sheryl Ohlsen, Accounting Manager
KHLT Contact Information Kachemak Heritage Land Trust 315 Klondike Avenue Homer, AK 99603 (907) 235-5263 | (907) 235-1503 (fax) www.KachemakLandTrust.org
Credits Cover Photo | Steve Baird, Kachemak Bay Research Reserve Layout Design | Debi Bodett
CONTENTS 1 DIRECTOR’S COLUMN 2 BONDURANT KENAI RIVER PROPERTY FOR SALE 3 DOT TO DOT: BUILDING ON SUCCESS NATIONAL TRAILS DAY CELEBRATION 4 CALVIN & COYLE WOODLAND PARK NATURE TRAIL RE-DEVELOPMENT PROJECT 5 DONATING NON-CONSERVATION LAND
Correction to Spring Newsletter
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KHLT Board Members
6 PLATT PROPERTY POTATO PROJECT 7 DIFFERENTIATING DONATIONS HELP KHLT GO GREEN 8 WELCOME SHERYL OHLSEN COVER PHOTO SUMMER PROGRAM THANKS TECHNOLOGY ASSISTANCE 9 KHLT MEMBERS HELP COLUMBIA LAND TRUST BE INVOLVED: VOLUNTEER! 10 2009 BUSINESS MEMBERS HERITAGE CLUB HONORS
Spectacular Bondurant Kenai River Property for Sale
Photo by Wild North Photography
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ur last newsletter included an article about the late Dale Bondurant, who bequeathed his beautiful 6.98-acre Kenai Riverfront property to Kachemak Heritage Land Trust. He gave the property with the understanding that it could be sold to benefit the organization while KHLT continues to enforce the provisions of the existing conservation easement after the sale to new owners. Located across the Kenai River from Bings Landing at river mile 39.5, the land includes 5.8 acres on the mainland and a 1.18-acre island adjacent to it. The property’s diverse habitat supports moose that calve on the island, black bear, lynx, beaver, river otter, and other small mammals. Bald eagles roost on the island, while ducks and other bird species frequent the area. A great horned owl was routinely spotted observing KHLT staff visits this year from one of the old birch trees in the evening. Five species of salmon travel the Kenai River along the property, with Coho and Chinook smolt and adults in particular resting in the slower backwater area between the mainland and island. Rainbow trout and Dolly Varden also inhabit this stretch of water.
Interested parties are encouraged to contact Bill Hutchinson of Freedom Realty in Soldotna for more information or a viewing at 907-262-1770, or at bill@freedomrealty.com. We are pleased to be working with “Hutch”, who has lived in Soldotna for 30 years and been with Freedom Realty since it opened in 1986. The listing can be found at www.freedomrealty.com. Kachemak Heritage Land Trust’s board of directors intends to use the proceeds of the Kenai River property sale to further KHLT’s land conservation work in accordance with its mission to preserve, for public benefit, land with significant conservation values by working with willing landowners across the Kenai Peninsula. Dale’s gifts to KHLT, and to other important organizations on the Kenai Peninsula, leave an amazing legacy that will benefit wildlife as well as residents, visitors and the community at large for many generations to come.
LANDMARKS • NEWSLETTER FOR KACHEMAK HERITAGE LAND TRUST • FALL/WINTER 09 • www.KachemakLandTrust.org
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Dot to Dot: Building on Success KHLT
is pleased to have received a U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Coastal Program grant to continue our Kenai Peninsula Landscape Connectivity Project. This project involves working to preserve land adjacent to properties already permanently protected by government agencies or non-profit conservation organizations, and to help us steward the land under our care. By working to preserve these properties, we help to ensure that our wildlife species have intact corridors for movement. This is a dollar-for-dollar matching grant that is being matched by our supporters through donations of cash or securities. Most recently under this grant, our summer intern Allison Gillum prepared a management plan for our 28-acre Calvin and Coyle Woodland Park, located next to Paul Banks Elementary School in Homer. The plan will guide our future stewardship of this special property, and creates a maintenance framework for the trail and its recreational and educational uses.
2009 National Trails Day Celebration
at KHLT’s Calvin & Coyle Woodland Park
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hen was the last time you hiked the Calvin & Coyle Trail? In the past it was a fantastic family-friendly nature hike through mature spruce forest. But the bark beetle epidemic of the late 1990’s changed the area significantly, and the interpretive trails we had worked so hard to develop no longer described the features of the changing forest. Last fall, KHLT worked with the Homer Soil and Water Conservation District to submit a Recreational Trails Grant proposal through the Alaska Department of Natural Resources to again make this area a special experience for all. The grant was funded to relocate the trail to higher ground and create new interpretive signage.
Also under this grant, our Conservation Director Dorothy Melambianakis is drafting a management plan for our 160-acre Krishna Venta Conservation Area (the “Barefooters” property) located at the head of Kachemak Bay. As noted in our spring newsletter, we are beginning to train volunteers to monitor select KHLT fee-owned conservation properties. Training will include a review of management intentions for each property, site visits with our Conservation Director, and procedural and safety training for working in the field. Our first volunteer monitor, Michelle Michaud, has already been thinking of ways to use her knowledge and interest in migratory birds as a way to help us better understand and steward properties in the Stariski area. The presence of more eyes and ears (and brains!) on site will allow KHLT to monitor our properties more often, and to better manage the conservation, recreational, and scientific uses of the land.
On June 6, KHLT and the Homer Soil and Water Conservation District hosted a groundbreaking celebration with a “survey tape cutting”. Homer City Council member Dennis Novak, along with three grandchildren of two of the property’s donors, cut the survey tape to begin this community project. The kids then helped lead volunteers from among the guests into the woods to lop and saw brush. Over the summer, Alder Seaman of Homer Soil and Water Conservation District led a crew to relocate the trail and add boardwalk through areas too wet for a traditional treaded trail. Next summer KHLT will continue to work on the trail tread and corridor, and will work with teachers from Paul Banks Elementary School, scientists, and local volunteers to create an informational kiosk and provide interpretation of the relocated trail.
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Calvin & Coyle Woodland Park Nature Trail Re-Development Project
ConocoPhillips provided funding to build a new parking lot with significant help from the City of Homer, Jeff Middleton, Steve Gibson of Small Potatoes Lumber, Kelly Snow, and Josh Hankin-Foley. Eric Clarke, with the Department of Natural Resources, assisted with the trail layout. Eagle Scout Kyle Wentz raised the funds and completed the work to build two bridges on the trail. Thank you to all of these generous funders and volunteers for their vital assistance on this great community project!
LANDMARKS • NEWSLETTER FOR KACHEMAK HERITAGE LAND TRUST • FALL/WINTER 09 • www.KachemakLandTrust.org
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“I’d love to donate my land to KHLT, but it lacks conservation value”
Summer Intern Allison Gillum: City Girl Goes Alaskan
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ou probably know that Kachemak Heritage Land Trust accepts donations of conservation land to be preserved for wildlife habitat, clean water, open space, and other natural values. But even though your property may not meet KHLT’s criteria for conservation, you may still be able to donate it and make a significant impact on our mission to preserve land with real conservation value, for the benefit of future generations in perpetuity. Land donated with the understanding that the property will be sold and the proceeds invested in KHLT’s conservation activities, is known as ”trade land”. Trade land might consist of a city lot, or a rural, undeveloped parcel that is simply too small to preserve; commercial property, a single family home, a condominium or another type of real estate. With the donor’s explicit permission to sell the donated property, KHLT can convert the value of that real estate into funds to support the acquisition and protection of other significant conservation land. In effect, your non-conservation land is turned into a conservation fund! The donor of the real estate may qualify for a substantial income tax deduction based upon the appraised value of the donation, and avoid the potential capital gains tax generated by a sale.
What are KHLT’s criteria for accepting trade land? Kachmmak Heritage Land Trust staff will meet with you to discuss your objectives for the property and use of the revenue to be received by KHLT from the sale. Staff will then visit your property to evaluate its potential for sale and check for hazardous materials or other potential liabilities. Explicit agreement between the donor and staff on terms of the donation is required, along with proof of clear title. As with all donations, KHLT is unable to offer tax or legal advice. Potential land donors are always encouraged to consult with their financial or legal advisors before making a donation.
his summer we were pleased to have Allison Gillum join KHLT as our seasonal intern. Allison came to KHLT from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, where she is a master’s candidate in their City Planning program. Funding for her position came through our Kenai Peninsula Landscape Connectivity Project grant from the US Fish & Wildlife Service Coastal Program. She came well versed in land trust operations, allowing her to be a quick study in our work.
Allison completed a management plan for our Calvin and Coyle Woodland Park, provided outreach information at the Farmer’s Market, and completed many tasks around the KHLT office that help us to be more efficient in our work. Out in the field she cheerfully weathered a broad range of Alaskan experiences. Her adventures on duty included riding out to a remote property on horseback, seeing a spruce tree trunk shredded by a bear, and enduring an assault by mosquitoes at the height of the season in a wetlands location. Off the job, Allison trolled for salmon, went on a bearviewing trip, fly-fished for Dolly Varden, and learned to shoot a rifle and shotgun. However, attempts to get out halibut fishing always met with obstacles, so we hope to see her back to finish the course!
What should I do if I have potential trade land that I would like to donate to KHLT?
Call KHLT at (907) 235-5263 or email Marie@kachemaklandtrust.org
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Thanks for all your help, Allison, and good luck back in the city at the University of Pennsylvania!
Platt Property Gets Face-lift
Potato Project Success
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his spring and summer we were blessed with lots of warm sunny weather, along with the requisite amount of rain, to keep our landscapes and gardens green. The Platt property where our office is located also benefited from lots of extra effort by a number of energetic volunteers. A spring spruce-up of the Community Garden on our Platt property was accomplished with key assistance from Michael Sharp, who led tree pruning and garden plot delineation efforts. Karen Hoerner, a student at APU, completely gutted and organized the greenhouse for us. Kids from the South Peninsula Behavioral Health Services painted our picnic table under their staff supervision. Thomas and Bobbi Paulino helped weed neglected garden plots and the potato patch that was planted in May, as reported in our spring newsletter. Other portions of our office property got a face-lift too. Thank you to Ryjil Christiansen at the Pratt Museum, who sent their summer interns over to help us in early June. These young folks did a great job of pruning alders and cutting back weeds that relentlessly attempt to overrun our driveway. Refreshments for the Platt clean-up were provided by Safeway Food & Drug. Thanks also to Homer Saw & Cycle, who donated parts and service for our chainsaw, so that staff could safely use it for the bigger pruning jobs. Cookie’s Greenhouse helped jumpstart the flower season with a beautiful potted arrangement.
Photo by Lyn Maslow
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ast spring Lyn Maslow and students from West Homer Elementary School planted potatoes in the lower portion of KHLT’s community garden, with garden prep help from other of our friends as reported in our last newsletter. Lyn, Steve Dean, and Judy Miller assisted with weeding the potato patch over the summer. In early October, Lyn and students harvested their crop, yielding a whopping 300 pounds of potatoes for the Homer Food Pantry! A big “thank you” again to all who helped out in the trial year of this fun and educational way to get our kids involved with the land and helping their community.
Later in the summer we began cutting back alders and pushki along the trails on the property, to make them more userfriendly. We would be remiss if we did not thank our staff’s wonderful husbands/partners, who all helped with our office property maintenance in various ways over the summer: Steve Baird, Phil Cowan, Buck Curry, and Kelly Snow.
Photo by Lyn Maslow LANDMARKS • NEWSLETTER FOR KACHEMAK HERITAGE LAND TRUST • FALL/WINTER 09 • www.KachemakLandTrust.org
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Differentiating Donations
Donate to KHLT Online
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ave you ever wondered what the difference is between a membership donation and a donation for an annual appeal or other specific request? Doesn’t all the money go in the same pot? Actually no, there are crucial differences, which is why you may hear from us more than once or twice a year. Grants from foundations are a significant source of revenue for Kachemak Heritage Land Trust. Grants are almost always written for specific projects, or even specific aspects of a project. Funds received are restricted to those uses allowed by the grantor, in line with their own mission and purpose for charitable giving. Sometimes the funds come as a “matching grant” where we are required to raise the same amount of funding from other sources. The additional funds raised as a match are restricted to the same purposes as the original grant funds.
e’re pleased to announce that we can now take donations online! Check out the DonateNow button on our website at www.kachemaklandtrust.org. Making a donation is simple and secure! Online donations are processed by Network for Good, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping other non-profits. You will receive an instant online receipt, as well as our regular receipt and thank you letter, which you can opt to also receive via email. At the time of this writing, online donations through our website are only for unrestricted membership funds, but we will add specific categories for special appeals in coming months. Thank you for your patience as we update our online capabilities.
Project expenses allowed by grants sometimes do not include staff time, or at best cover only a portion of the total staff time, and they often do not support overhead costs. Hence revenue for payroll and other general operating expenses must come from other sources. Membership donations and revenue from special events, along with other non-specific donations, are unrestricted funds vital to covering our general operating expenses. These are the funds that pay our utility bills, buy office supplies, and enable us to hire qualified staff. Without these unrestricted funds we would be unable to carry out our conservation mission. So next time you get an appeal or membership renewal letter and think, “Didn’t I just send them a donation?” remember that not all donations cover the same needs, but they are all vital to keeping our conservation mission alive. Thank you for each and every donation you can make!
Help KHLT go Green
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lease let us know if you would like to cut down on paper mailings by receiving membership renewal notices and other communications via email. We want to make the most of your generous donations for land conservation, and email saves on our expenses for printing, postage, and staff time. We are happy to continue with paper mailings if that is your preference— we still have lots of those little remittance envelopes in stock! If you wish to switch to electronic communications, please send an email to Nina@kachemaklandtrust.org. Please specify how you’d like to receive your newsletter, as well as renewal notices, appeals and our receipt/thank you letters. 7
On the Cover
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ur cover photo was taken in October 2006 by Steve Baird, a research biologist with the Alaska Department of Fish & Game, Kachemak Bay Research Reserve. Steve tells us that it’s a leaf-pack in one of the Kenai Peninsula anadromous streams. Leaf-packs have ecological significance in providing nutrients and habitat for stream invertebrates, Photo by Steve Baird Kachemak Bay Research Reserve mostly juvenile insects, which in turn are important food for juvenile salmonids. On the Peninsula, the significance is even higher because many of the leaves are from alders, which are nitrogen fixers. The southern Kenai Peninsula streams are rich in phosphorus, but not nitrogen, and the leaf-packs add needed nitrogen to the system as they decay and are broken down by insects. And you thought it was just a bunch of leaves in a steam. . .
Summer Program Thanks
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ur Summer Program events are made possible by our friends who generously volunteer their time to help us get people out on the land for fun and educational activities. Thank you to this year’s event hosts Mark Marette, Jason Sodergren, Taz Tally, Shirley Schollenberg, Lynn Whitmore, Marian Beck, Dale Chorman, and Karl Stoltzfus. Thanks also to Charlie Welles for his help posting event flyers all across town throughout the summer.
Join the Kachemak Heritage Land Trust Facebook Group!
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e are pleased that our intern, Allison Gillum, set up a Facebook page for KHLT this summer. If you’re already on Facebook, just search for “Kachemak Heritage Land Trust” and join our group! Upcoming KHLT events, photos, and other information are listed on our page. We’re still learning to use this new way to network with our supporters, so if you have suggestions, please let us know!
Welcome to Sheryl Ohlsen our new Accounting Manager
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ailing from Oregon, Sheryl Ohlsen arrived in Alaska in May 2008 with her husband and two daughters. She has worked with for-profit and nonprofit organizations as a business consultant and bookkeeper for the past 20 years, both as an employee and through her own consulting business. She continues to run her new business, Ohlsen’s Little Shop of Herbs, here in Homer. When Sheryl is not at a desk employing her accounting skills, she can usually be found wandering through the native vegetation, identifying and wildcrafting herbs to use in teas, creams and salves. Sheryl joined KHLT’s staff following the departure of Yvonne Prucha, who plans to pursue her accounting career in a warmer climate. Yvonne’s two years’ work as accounting manager for KHLT included a revision of our policies manual, help with organizing special events, and assistance with many other tasks beyond a normal bookkeeping regimen. We appreciate her hard work, and wish her well in her future pursuits. Thanks and good luck, Yvonne!
Technology Assistance Appreciated
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he use of technology in our stewardship program is invaluable. GIS and GPS are tools that we use to bring geographic information into and out of the field. Of course, technology is always improving and we’d like to thank the business MxGeo for providing KHLT a complimentary license for their MxGPS software, a great addition to our toolbox for our conservation mapping and monitoring tasks. Thanks also to Sam Means for the donation of a desktop printer, which allows our staff to more efficiently print various documents for different uses.
LANDMARKS • NEWSLETTER FOR KACHEMAK HERITAGE LAND TRUST • FALL/WINTER 09 • www.KachemakLandTrust.org
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KHLT Members Help Columbia Land Trust
Be Involved: Volunteer!
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achemak Heritage Land Trust members donated services for the Columbia Land Trust fundraising auction held last May. The auction offer supported by our members was a craneviewing trip to Homer in early September. Donna and Kevin Maltz donated two nights at A Memorable Experience B&B, while Mossy Kilcher gave the winning bidders a personalized crane-viewing expedition they will never forget, complete with a tour of the historic Kilcher Homestead and berry-picking at Seaside Farm. “Thank you!” Donna, Kevin, and Mossy, for your generous roles in the Columbia Land Trust fundraising auction, a ”friendraising” effort on our behalf.
olunteers are a vital part of non-profit organizations like Kachemak Heritage Land Trust. You can make a big difference to our efficiency by donating just a few hours a month to KHLT, and enjoy the satisfaction of being actively involved in your land trust.
;;Do you have a snowplow? We’re bound to need an occasional snowplowing this winter, and you could be our hero by stopping by and putting in just ten minutes to clear our driveway and parking area!
;;Are you a technology whiz? We are always looking for ways to streamline our office operations, with a mind towards saving natural resources, energy, and time. Ideas and expertise are always welcome.
;;Do you have carpentry skills? There’s always something to repair or update in our 1947 log cabin office. We will be working to winterize portions of our office this fall, thanks to a grant from the Homer Foundation, and could use a hand to make the necessary improvements.
;;Mailings are an ongoing and important part of our outreach and fundraising work. All that folding, stapling, stuffing, and sealing goes a lot faster with a team, and much of this work can be done at home if that suits you better. Thank you to Lia Schofield for her recent help with mailings! If you are interested in offering your knowledge and skills in any capacity to help further our mission of protecting land on the Kenai Peninsula, please contact us!
You can call us Monday – Friday, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. or email Nina@kachemaklandtrust.org
Contributing Photographer Jack Epperson
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Photos by Jack Epperson 9
e’ve all joined the ranks of budding photographers, posting our pictures on Facebook accounts, emailing them with our iPhones - the list is endless with possibilities. Long-time Homer resident Jack Epperson, 88, has recently jumped on board. In this issue he’s graciously shared photos from his recent sandhill crane series. Most noteworthy for Jack, and which sets him apart from the rest of us amateur photographers, is that he’s legally blind. Thank you for sharing Jack!
2009 Business Members
Heritage Club Honors Some of Our Special Donors
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lease join us in thanking our business members for their support:
Alaska Rivers Company Alaska Wildland Adventures, Inc. Alderfer Group Bay Excursions LLC
his spring, our current board of directors created a special giving club, called the Heritage Club, in honor of our 20th anniversary. This club is for current and former board members who make monetary contributions to KHLT outside of event purchases, in recognition of their ongoing financial support as well as their dedicated service as board members. Thank you to our 20th anniversary Heritage Club members:
Bay Realty
Robert Archibald
Judy Lund
Best Western Bidarka Inn
Marian Beck
Mark Luttrell
Bob’s Cabin & Guide Service
Lois Bettini
Diane McBride
Daisy Lee Bitter
Susan McLane
Pamela Brodie
John Mouw
Sue Christiansen
Angie Newby
Hallo Bay Wilderness Camp
Scott Connelly
Jon Osgood
Home Run Oil
Janice Schofield Eaton
Roger Pearson
Homer Brewing Company
Rick Foster
Richard Purington
Michael Gracz
Shirley Schollenberg
Mary Griswold
Barbara Seaman
Dotti Harness
Taz Tally
Land’s End Resort
Fred Harnisch
R. W. “Toby” Tyler
Latitude 59
Roberta Highland
Betsy Webb
Law Office of Daniel Westerburg
Larsen Klingel
Charlie Welles
Eric Johnson Lespin
Toby Wheeler
ConocoPhillips Derry & Associates F/V Kelsey, Annette & Marvin Bellamy Fresh Sourdough Express Bakery and Cafe
Homer Real Estate Jay-Brant General Contractors Kachemak Bay Ferry, Inc. Kachemak Bay Wilderness Lodge, Inc.
Magic Canyon Ranch B&B Marine Services of Alaska, Inc. MxGeo F/V Anna Lane, Barb Scalzi Organic Hair Design Ring of Fire Meadery Seaman’s Adventures Smokey Bay Air Spenard Builders Supply Sundog Consultants
Does Your Employer Match Charitable Contributions?
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f you work for a large or even mid-sized corporation, your employer may offer matching donations for charitable contributions. Please check with your corporate office to see if you could double your donation with an employer match!
The Saltry Wild North Photography LANDMARKS • NEWSLETTER FOR KACHEMAK HERITAGE LAND TRUST • FALL/WINTER 09 • www.KachemakLandTrust.org
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Non-Profit PRESORT STANDARD U.S. Postage PAID Homer, Alaska Permit #67
315 Klondike Ave. Homer, Alaska 99603 Return Service Requested
Preserving, for public benefit, land on Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula with significant natural, recreational, or cultural values by working with willing landowners.
www.KachemakLandTrust.org Photo by Debi Bodett
Printed on 50% recycled paper.
Alaska Congressional Delegation Introduces the Alaska Native Conservation Parity Act of 2009
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s you may know, there are income tax benefits associated with the donation of a conservation easement to a qualified holder such as Kachemak Heritage Land Trust. Private landowners can claim a deduction based on the difference of the ‘before’ and ‘after’ values of the land subject to the easement. Recently, all three members of Alaska’s congressional delegation jointly introduced legislation (S. 1673 and H.R. 3568) that would allow Alaska Native Corporations (ANCs) to claim the same deduction for preserving their land holdings with this conservation tool. “This legislation is long overdue in creating a level playing field for ANCs under the tax code, and important to encourage ANCs to protect land used for shareholder activities while still enabling appropriate resource development on tribal lands,” Senator Begich said. “Alaska Native Corporations were given
a strong mandate to both develop the resources of their lands as well as protecting the land for future generations. This law will help achieve that goal.” We thank Senators Begich and Murkowski and Representative Young for promoting the use of conservation easements as a tool available to a greater share of Alaska landowners! Kachemak Heritage Land Trust also thanks Representative Young for joining a majority of both Democrats and Republicans in co-sponsoring H.R. 1831, the Conservation Easement Incentive Act of 2009. This important piece of legislation would make the current tax deduction for conservation easement donations permanent rather than subject to expiring year to year. Thank you, Congressman Young!