Support
ALT's
2011-2012
Annual Appeal Drive!!
CLICK HERE to Donate to the ALT Annual
Appeal!!!
Please give to ALT's Annual Appeal today because, together, we can
secure our Islands beauty and protect our drinking water, farms,
wildlife habitat, parks, fields and landscapes for current and
future generations. Your gift of $25, $50, $100, $250 or more will
be an investment that pays lasting green returns.
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Aquidneck Island's Conserved Lands Mapping
Project
Dear Supporters:
We are sending you
the results of the Aquidneck Land Trust's ("ALT") 2012 Aquidneck
Island's Conserved Lands Mapping Project, which updates the results
from our 2004 mapping project. Please click here to see the 2012 results.
ALT is a 501(c)(3)
non-profit organization founded in 1990 with a mission to conserve
Aquidneck Island's open spaces and natural character for the lasting
benefit of our island community. To date, ALT has conserved 2,387
acres on 66 properties across the island. ALT takes a holistic
approach to land conservation in order to help our community achieve a
sustainable future. Thus, ALT works to protect a number of natural
resource types that we depend upon as a species (wildlife habitat,
agricultural lands, water resource areas, outdoor recreational space,
scenic vistas, etc.).
There are a few
major take-home messages on the enclosed maps worth highlighting. First, good conservation is like good government, it requires
checks and balances, and not all conserved lands have adequate checks
and balances. For simplicity purposes, most conserved lands
can fit into one of the following protection level categories: Land
Conserved with a Perpetual Conservation Restriction (strongest level
of protection); Land Conserved with a Deed Restriction (middle level
of protection); and Land Conserved with Conservation Intent Alone
(lowest level of protection). On our island, the pressures on our
remaining open spaces will only be increasing as there is less and
less land available for development proposals. Nationally and
locally, many conserved open spaces that lacked adequate conservation
protections have been lost to development. In recognition of the
above, we can place perpetual conservation restrictions (i.e., a
Conservation Easement) on important and weakly protected open spaces.
Second, only 20.6%
of Aquidneck Island's land area is conserved. Compare that to the percentage of land area conserved for other large
islands in the Northeast: Manhattan 19%; Block Island 34%; Martha’s
Vineyard 36%; and Nantucket 45%.
Third, while only a
small percentage of Aquidneck Island's land area is conserved there
remain many important land conservation opportunities. For example, in 2011, ALT completed a year-long mapping and
prioritization study of all the remaining and threatened open space
parcels within Aquidneck Island’s seven primary watersheds. The study
identified almost 300 open space parcels, representing over 3,000
acres, at risk of development within Aquidneck Island's main
watersheds.
In sum, we all have
a lot of good conservation work left to do to ensure a sustainable
future, both economically and environmentally, for our beloved
island. We owe this to ourselves and future generations!
Sincerely,
Edward Sortwell
Clement, Jr.
Executive Director
ALT's
time-sensitive mission is to conserve Aquidneck Island's open spaces
and natural character for the lasting benefit of our community. The
organization has conserved 2,386.50 acres on 66 properties on
Aquidneck Island since 1990. ALT is a 501(c)(3) non-profit
organization, and the first land trust in Rhode Island to have
received national accreditation. For more information, visit www.AquidneckLandTrust.org.
As
always, thank you for your continued support
for conservation on
our Island.
This email update has been sent to
the entire Aquidneck Land Trust email list. Please let us know if you
do not wish to receive these email updates by unsubscribing at the
bottom of this
message. If you have any questions or comments, please call
401-849-2799 x18 or jpohl@ailt.org. |