The Little Forks Conservancy is looking upstream for solutions to an age-old conservation conundrum -- how to convince residents to take a more permanent step toward land preservation and conservation.
The
Midland-based land conservancy recently received a $15,000 grant from the
Saginaw Bay Watershed Initiative Network to develop a program designed to protect the water quality of a cold water trout stream in the Cedar River Watershed. If successful, the land registry program in Clare and Gladwin counties will be expanded to include more property along the Tittabawassee River Watershed and in the Midland area.
The conservancy, established in 1996, helps protect land and natural features in the region by partnering with private landowners along the Tittabawasee River Watershed, and by acquiring land and easements. Landowners who want to work with the conservancy sign a conservation easement that limits the type or amount of development on their property.
Property owners often want to work with the conservancy, but are reluctant to sign a permanent agreement regulating use of the land. The land registry program allows land owners to work with the conservancy, but does not require them to make a permanent agreement about how their property can be used in the future.
Protection of the cold-water trout stream -- a rarity in the Saginaw Bay Watershed -- and creation of a pilot land registry program seemed like a good fit for the Saginaw Bay Watershed Initiative Network, says Michael Kelly, director of the Great Lakes Office of The Conservation Fund, which oversees the watershed network.
"The idea of creating registry program is not new nationally, but it is new in Michigan and in particular in this part of the state," Kelly says. "We think that this is a great opportunity for Little Forks to reach new audiences that might not be ready for permanent land protection at this point, but might be ready to begin a relationship with their local land conservancy."
Writer: Jenny Cromie
Source: Little Forks Conservancy, Saginaw Bay Watershed Initiative Network
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