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Conservation Investment Program |
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One of the challenges that land trusts face is to develop innovative ways to protect land—ways that appeal to a broader audience than the one already reached. As Jack Aley, Executive Director of the Brunswick-Topsham Land Trust in Maine writes, "To be effective in competing in the real estate market, land trusts must develop the next generation of conservation tools." The Conservation Investment Program provides the Conservancy with one such tool. Through this program, we are able to purchase land when an opportunity arises, restrict it with a conservation easement, and then re-sell it to a conservation-minded buyer. The land remains protected from subdivision, while remaining in private ownership. So far, the Conservation Investment Program is showing great potential. Begun just last summer, we have already closed on our first project, and have several more in the works. For example:
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BearPaw Property 120
acres of land in Cheboygan County near Mackinaw City were purchased,
protected with a conservation easement, and sold to conservation buyer
Bill Welsh. Welsh will also be placing a conservation easement on his
40 acres which lie adjacent to the BearPaw property and to state land. |
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Ellenberger Property The Conservancy recently purchased a 354-acre parcel in Inverness Township, Cheboygan County which is available to a conservation-minded buyer. The property is located one mile north of the Wendy O’Neil Memorial Nature Preserve (Mud Lake Bog) and is a significant block of wildlife habitat. Ecologically, the land is a mix of uplands and wetlands. Ellenberger Property in Inverness Township, Cheboygan County. |
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Building the Program If you are interested in the Conservation Investment Program, please call one of our land protection staff to get more information at (231) 347-0991. We are very excited about the potential of this program and need help spreading the word. In
particular we are looking for:
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