ISSUE 1, 2018
Beyond this Lifetime
W
BY LAURA JUSTIN Executive Director
hen we say that we protect land forever it sounds pretty audacious. So few things last “forever” in this world, it makes you realize just how seriously we have to take our work and our commitment to conservation easement donors. We are the people who make the promise to protect the land you love, even if that means defending a conservation easement (CE) in court.
Well, they were justified in their fears and have watched as the old farm fields have been bought up, chopped up and built up, faster than you can imagine. Cutting down trees to place house trailers on 2-5 acre lots. It’s embarrassing to admit that I thought this would never happen in my backyard. I grew up wanting to move away from this boring country setting and now, broken hearted, long for what used to be.
In order for us to plan for the future of your land’s protection, HeadWaters must be a vital and growing organization for decades to come. Because of your financial support and the partnership of the J.A. Woollam Foundation, we are working to secure our today, tomorrow and beyond. With dynamic incentives like the $50,000 Match Grant, we know our land protection projects will steadily increase.
But there is a beautiful end to this story. Because my folks bought the property they could, and cared so deeply for the land and all the plants and animals it sustains, they have created a very special place, a buffer from poorly planned growth. There are hundreds of trees, tall and full, native grasses have returned to the fields and natural habitats flourish. It is a sight to behold when dozens of bluebirds sip from the birdbaths and Sandhill cranes raise a clatter while also raising their chicks each year. Turkeys and grouse visit regularly and walk around with the deer. The list of birds, from orioles to buntings who nest or just pass through for food and rest is endless. In short, this is a little oasis, a splendor of life and beauty that often takes your breath away.
Although we don’t spend our days pulling invasive species out of a field, or repairing erosion on a riverbank, our work is incredibly important in the long term. By keeping land intact, not allowing for dozens of homes to crowd a riverbank or a forest or fertile farm lands, the impact is felt by all of us. My parents were the first people to talk to me about conservation easements, long before I was at HeadWaters. In the ensuing years, they took the limited resources they had and purchased the land around them, knowing growth was coming. I didn’t have their vision and thought they were kind of crazy for spending what little they had on land they weren’t going to farm or timber or hunt. And besides, who would want to build out in the middle of nowhere?
Thank you to my parents and all of you who have the vision I lacked in my younger days. Thank you for conserving places for nature and people to flourish and grow. Planning for “forever” is a daunting task for all of us, especially when our time on this planet is finite. Enjoy each day you have and work hard to do the big, important, lasting things that will outlive us all. Your children will thank you for it… I promise.