Latest Conservation easement Stories

Announcement joins other protected lands to add to one of America's largest protected wildlife corridors WESTON, Colo., June 4, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Louis Bacon's Tercio Ranch Holdings LLC and Red River Ranch Holdings LLC today officially announced an agreement with Colorado Open Lands to place 21,000 acres of Tercio Ranch and Red River Ranch into perpetual conservation easements, which will create nearly 800,000 acres of publicly and privately connected lands stretching from...

POULSBO, Wash., May 10, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Pope Resources (Nasdaq: POPE) announced a $5.7 million conservation sale to Columbia Land Trust of 2,330 acres on the southern flanks of Mount St. Helens. The sale conserves approximately nine miles of sensitive Pine Creek riparian habitat and adjacent forestlands. Pine Creek is a prime habitat for bull trout, a threatened species listed under the federal Endangered Species Act. Columbia Land Trust acquired the land with a grant from the...

DAVIS, Calif., March 5, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Private landowners interested in enhancing, restoring or protecting their wetlands or grasslands may want to get their applications in soon. The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in California has set April 5, 2013, as the deadline for considering projects for 2013 Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP) and Grassland Reserve Program (GRP) funding. WRP is a voluntary program that provides farmers, ranchers and other...

NEW YORK, Jan. 18, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Louis Bacon, an environmental philanthropist and avid outdoor sportsman, who has advocated for more than twenty years for conservation and protection of natural resources in the United States and abroad, last night received the Audubon Medal at the National Audubon Society Gala Dinner in New York. The National Audubon Society's prestigious award recognizes outstanding conservation achievements. Mr. Bacon is only the 52nd person in the National...

DENVER, Dec. 19, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A ranch east of Denver which scientists say is one of the world's best places to study evidence of the extinction of the dinosaurs is being permanently protected, three conservation organizations announced today. "This will be a great place for children to learn about dinosaurs, what caused their extinction, and for more scientific research," said Justin Spring, The Trust for Public Land project manager who led the protection effort....

$4.3 million available for farmland conservation in California DAVIS, Calif., Dec. 17, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in California has set Feb. 15, 2013, as the deadline for accepting applications for the Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program (FRPP). "This program continues to offer private landowners the opportunity to protect farm and ranch lands in a way that keeps working land in production and preserves open space,"...

ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga., Oct. 1, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The St. Simons Land Trust announced today the closing of the organization's purchase of Cannon's Point, an undeveloped, 608-acre wilderness tract located on St. Simons Island,?Georgia. The sale transfers ownership of Cannon's Point from Wells Fargo to the Land Trust, which intends to manage the land as a publicly accessible wilderness preserve that will be protected by a conservation easement. The St. Simons Land Trust is a...

Study authors note that tax deductions, credits for donors remain worthwhile, further measures should be explored The policies that several states have adopted giving tax deductions or credits to living organ donors do not appear to have increased donation rates. Authors of the study, appearing in the August issue of the American Journal of Transplantation, found little difference in the annual number of living organ donations per 100,000 population between the 15 states that had enacted...

GRAND RAPIDS, Minn., Aug. 8, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- UPM Blandin and Minnesota Power (MP) have agreed to an easement exchange that will re-establish 160 acres of forest land north of Taconite. MP is vacating an existing utility easement for No. 94 transmission line on Blandin forest land. In exchange, Blandin has granted MP a 130-acre utility easement on UPM land north of Nashwauk to establish an electric transmission line that will shore up regional reliability for Iron Range...

SANGER, Calif., Feb. 16, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Creating a landmark legacy, Gerawan Farming has forever protected over 9,200 acres (more than 14 square miles) of fertile farmland in California's San Joaquin Valley. The Gerawan Family, farmers for nearly three-quarters of a century, has voluntarily placed this actively farmed land into a permanent agricultural conservation easement. The easement will be administered by the Wildlife Heritage Foundation, a non-profit, public-benefit...