The document discusses innovative approaches that rural communities are taking to manage growth while preserving open space, including: 1) Conservation subdivisions that cluster homes on a portion of the land, preserving the rest as open space, like developments in Maryland and Pennsylvania. 2) Transferring development rights between landowners to concentrate growth and protect sensitive lands, as in a New York town working with a land planner. 3) Advocacy groups educating rural officials on conservation design to link habitat areas and give homeowners more backyard space.

1. REALTORS® & Smart Growth
on common ground WINTER 2009
Voters Say Yes to Conservation
Farmland Protection
State Governments
Take the Lead
land conservation

2. Smart Growth:
Conserving Our Land
In the eight years we have been publishing But protecting the undeveloped
On Common Ground, we have reported countryside is still an important part
on the evolution of smart growth and of the smart growth equation. In this
its increased adoption throughout the issue we turn our attention back to
country. While in the 1990s stopping land conservation. At all scales — from
sprawl and protecting the countryside establishing city parks to preserving
from development was a prime focus farmland, from addressing sprawl in rural
of smart growth efforts, since 2000 communities to protecting wilderness
smart growth has matured to embrace areas on public lands — providing
walkable, mixed-use communities, and preserving open lands are vital
transit-oriented development, green to the health of communities and the
buildings and energy conservation. This environment. We highlight the activities
focus on developing better communities of a wide range of parties, including
that make better use of our resources is private corporations, nonprofit land
an approach that is meeting the needs of trusts, all levels of government, and
the marketplace while also helping us to REALTORS®, who are working together
slow global climate change. to conserve our land resources for
future generations.
For more information on NAR and smart growth, go to www.realtor.org/smartgrowth.
For more information on NAR and Housing Opportunity, go to www.realtor.org/housingopportunity.
On Common Ground is published twice a year by the Community and Political Affairs division of the NATIONAL
ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (NAR), and is distributed free of charge. The publication presents a wide range of views
on smart growth issues, with the goal of encouraging a dialogue among REALTORS®, elected officials and other interested
citizens. The opinions expressed in On Common Ground are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the
opinions or policy of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®, its members or affiliate organizations.
Editor
Joseph R. Molinaro
Managing Director, Smart Growth and Housing Opportunity
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®
500 New Jersey Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20001
Distribution
For more copies of this issue or to be placed on our mailing list for future issues of On Common Ground, please
contact Ted Wright, NAR, at (202) 383-1206 or twright@realtors.org.
2 ON COMMON GROUND WINTER 2009

3. On Common Ground
Winter 2009
The Smart Growth of Rural Towns 4
by David Goldberg
Voters Say Yes to Conservation
Historically Americans Support
Measures that Have a Tangible Result 8
by Gary Fineout
State Government Takes a Lead
in Open Space Preservation 12
by Heidi Johnson-Wright
Everybody Loves a Park
Green Space Is a Premium when
Building, Buying or Selling 20
by Brad Broberg
Land Trusts Preserving Our
Natural Lands 26
by Steve Wright
The Conservation Synergy
Private Corporations Are Securing
Open Space 36
by Christine Jordan Sexton
A Cherry of a Deal
Farmers Receive Much Needed
Assistance to Protect Their Land 42
by John Van Gieson
Protecting Our
Nation’s Wildlands 48
by Judy Newman
The Conservation Boom
Better Conservation Opportunities
Emerge from Lower Land Prices 56
by Steve Wright
REALTORS® Take Action
Making Smart Growth Happen 64
On Common Ground thanks the following contributors and organizations for photographs, illustrations
and artist renderings reprinted in this issue: Charles W. Barrowclough, Martin County Parks &
Recreation Department; Joelle Boros, Perry Rose, LLC; George Cofer, Hill Country Conservancy; Dave
Dadurka, The Nature Conservancy; Donald Drysdale, State of California Department of Conservation;
Shaun Fenlon, Maryland Department of Natural Resources; Christina Hailman, Friends of Patterson Park;
Corean Hamlin, Asheville Board of REALTORS®; Linda Harrell, Coldwell Banker Commercial Saunders
Real Estate; Gordon L. Hayward, Peninsula Township Planner; Barak Gale, Washington Wilderness
Coalition; Jennifer Jay, Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy; Toni Kellar, the Wilds; Land for
Maine’s Future; Kirt Manecke, LandChoices; Kit McGinnis, National Park Trust; Carrie Meek Gallagher,
Suffolk County Department of Environment and Energy; Jennifer Morrill, American Farmland Trust;
Kenneth E. Murray, California Farmland Conservancy Program; Gary E. Nichols, Park County, Colorado;
Carl Palmer, Beartooth Capital Partners; Cynthia W. Satterfield, Tar River Land Conservancy; Heather
Saucier, Harris County Flood Control District; Dean Saunders, Coldwell Banker Commercial Saunders
Real Estate; Stuart Sirota, TND Planning Group; Clark Stevens, New West Land Company, Inc.; Ron
Young, Phoenix Parks Development Division; and U.S. Sugar Corporation.
3

4. THE SMART GROWTH
Located
in Bethel
Township,
Pa., Garnet
Oaks contains
80 homes on
58 acres and
preserves
51 percent
of the land as
open space.
Courtesy of Randall Arendt and LandChoices
By David Goldberg
OF RURAL TOWNS
T
he rural township of Rhinebeck, N.Y., had tion could double in size “overnight.” Some landowners,
gotten the message on Smart Growth. With meanwhile, complained that their land had been deval-
development creeping up the Hudson River ued by the down-zoning.
from New York City, 90 miles away, the Those complaints are the almost inevitable result of ef-
township, four years ago, embarked on an forts to grow rural towns by adding contiguous develop-
effort to plan for the inevitable growth in a ment and preserving the surrounding countryside, con-
way that would prevent it from chewing up the 2,000 tends Randall Arendt, a land planner and author known
acres of unspoiled green buffering the village of Rhine- for advocating conservation design. “You run into the
beck and an unincorporated hamlet on the river. problem of ‘wipeouts and windfalls’,” Arendt says. “The
The concept that emerged would have required most owner whose land gets designated for growth nodes gets
of the expected growth to hug the existing hamlet, al- an instant windfall, while others see the potential to de-
lowing for mixed use near the center and about 200 velop their property wiped out.”
small residential lots. The surrounding land meanwhile, For years, these very issues have hampered many rural
would be down-zoned from one house per five acres to communities in their efforts to prevent urban sprawl
one per 20. from sucking the vitality of their downtowns, chewing
“Philosophically, it may have made sense,” says David up farmland and undermining the viability of agricul-
Anthone, an architect who at the time was chairman of ture, marring treasured landscapes and chasing wildlife
the hamlet of Rhinecliff. “The only trouble was that it out of their habitat (and often into town). Despite
was impractical.” growing concerns around the country, only one state,
Oregon, has taken the dramatic step of imposing a state-
The most immediate challenges to the plan were politi-
wide solution, requiring cities to establish urban growth
cal: Residents of the hamlet, part of the nation’s largest
boundaries and designating farm and forest zones that
historic district and a place that had changed slowly over
are off-limits to development.
many generations, reacted in horror that their popula-
4 ON COMMON GROUND WINTER 2009

5. In recent years, however, a number of highly motivated
Developer Carl Wright hired a new urbanist master
communities, as well as developers and property own- planner to develop plans for Kennedyville, Md.
ers, around the country have been experimenting with After community feedback, the final design
innovative solutions that help towns grow in healthier incorporated a corner store and duplexes.
ways while preserving important lands.
Communities in rural America can be roughly divided
into three categories: Those that are holding their own
in terms of population and are changing very little;
those that are spreading out evenly with zero or nega-
tive population growth, hollowing themselves out, in
essence; and those that are exploding, in relative terms,
because they are within a lengthy commute of a major
metro area.
Kent County, on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, falls
into that last category. Development pressures from the
Washington-Baltimore region in the last several years
have pushed into the pastoral, scenic area, leading the
county to adopt growth-management measures. Those
measures were put to the test in 2004 when developer
Carl Wright obtained an option on 25 acres adjacent to
Kennedyville, an unincorporated village of 150 outside
of Chestertown, says Stuart Sirota, a new urbanist mas-
ter planner hired by the developer to shepherd a devel-
opment plan into existence.
“The county’s comprehensive plan called for contiguous
development outside of Kennedyville, which was in a
priority-growth area,” a state designation that makes an
area eligible for infrastructure and other subsidies, Sirota
recalls. “But that didn’t mean the community was ready
for it.”
Sirota was inspired by the opportunity to expand on the
historic pattern and character of the village, rather than the opportunity to shape the new neighborhood to ad-
create a cookie-cutter subdivision. He recognized, how- dress their desires and concerns.
ever, that the scale of the change — though relatively “We had to learn together at every step about the trade-
small by metropolitan standards — would be alarming offs you have to make,” Sirota says. “For example, they
to residents. He began by holding a charrette, or design wanted to ensure that people who live there could actu-
workshop, over three days that was open to the collabo- ally buy there. They didn’t want it just to be an exclusive,
ration of every one of the community’s 150 residents. second-home kind of place. People didn’t want sprawl,
“We did face extreme opposition at first from people but they resisted anything that wasn’t a single-family
who thought this was too much, too fast. They didn’t house. They wanted affordable, but they wanted large
want to lose the quality of the place they had,” Sirota houses that were on large lots, because they thought that
says. Most recognized, however, that they could not stop would ensure stable residents. Townhomes, which are
all development in their area. The charrette gave them more affordable, to them were an invitation to crime.”
5

6. Tryon Farm is
a conservation
subdivision in
northwest
Indiana. This
40-acre field
is farmed and
permanently
preserved. The
preserved barn
is enjoyed by
the residents.
Photos courtesy
of LandChoices
The ultimate design, rendered after several iterations of Officials often express a desire to preserve their land-
feedback from the community, envisioned a pocket park scapes and working farms, but then adopt zoning that
open to all, a corner shop where the land met the state mandates subdivisions with equal sized lots, or lots that
highway, and plans for “semi-detached” duplexes that are too large for clustering. Some, of course, have no
looked like a single house. zoning at all, so adopting land-use regulations often
“When we started we had people yelling at us, and at the must be the hard-won step one.
end the same people stood up and applauded,” Sirota To help visual learners, Manecke carries a card show-
said. “They thanked us for listening and working with ing a “cookie-cutter” subdivision — in which all of
them, even though they didn’t like absolutely everything a given parcel of land is carved into equal-sized lots
about what we were planning.” — along side a conservation subdivision, where homes
But the struggles to create a compatible development are grouped in nodes according to topography, leaving
for the rural area didn’t end there. After the approvals most of the land open. “I’ve never had anyone point to
were secured, which took about a year, the developer the cookie-cutter subdivision and say, ‘That’s where I
began working with a national builder, who pushed for want to live.’ They always want to pick the conservation
higher prices and seemed to misread the market, Sirota subdivision. And the developers are learning that you
said. When that builder pulled out, the developer found can build the same number of houses, but save money
a more local builder, who scaled back the prices and be- on the land clearing.”
gan selling homes, even as the market was entering the After finding some success promoting the model around
current slump. “Even though not much is selling in the his home of Farmington Hills, Manecke has launched
county, it’s doing fairly well,” Sirota said. a national campaign dubbed “Supersize My Backyard,”
The trouble with planning in rural areas is that most which he hopes will lure more citizens into advocating
communities have very limited resources, said Kirt for design that preserves 50 percent or more of rural
Manecke, a former salesman who started a group called lands. He stresses that, in order to save meaningful wild-
Land Choices to advocate for conservation design in his life habitat, “what we really want to see is linking the
home state of Michigan. contiguous swaths of preserved land.”
“The people we work with are the nice people who are “I might be idealistic but I think, gosh, you know, in 50
volunteer planners,” says Manecke. “They are a plumber or 100 years we might not have any of this stuff if we
by day and a planning commissioner by night. We try don’t do something like this.”
to help them understand a lot of these issues, because all
this stuff is foreign to them.”
6 ON COMMON GROUND

7. Top photo: Landowners turned down a developer’s
proposal that would have destroyed the 50-acre
orchard on this 120-acre property named The Ponds
at Woodward in Pennsylvania. Developers received a
62 percent greater return by preserving the orchard in
In Rhinebeck, meanwhile, landowners, citizens and lo- a conservation design subdivision with 57 homes. As a
result, two-thirds of the property has been permanently
cal officials are still working out the kinks in an alterna- protected, including 10 acres of mature woodlands
tive plan with the help of Arendt, who was hired by the and a working orchard (producing apples and peaches)
landowners to offer a workable solution. encompassing more than 50 acres.
“As we were driving to the area I said, ‘I am in favor Bottom photo: Trim’s Ridge in Rhode Island is a
10-acre conservation design subdivision, located
of building right next to existing population centers,’”
in New Harbor, New Shoreham, R.I., which protects
Arendt recalls. “But then I walked the land and saw the three-fourths of the site as open space.
steep slopes, a working lumber yard within the planned
‘node’ and the drainage issues. It was simply unsuited to
a traditional neighborhood development. On paper it Photos courtesy of Randall Arendt and LandChoices
looked terrific, but when you got below the surface there
were problems. I said if you want to do Smart Growth,
let’s do something we can do.”
Working with five area landowners and local citizens,
Arendt devised a plan to group the 200 units in pockets
on 15 percent of their land while preserving the rest.
The owners of property that remained undeveloped
would sell, or “transfer”, their development rights to
those whose land on which was built.
“At first the town only saw us as being NIMBY,” or Not
in My Backyard, Anthone recalls. “But when you looked
at it from a practical perspective, there was no developer
who was going to build on those slopes, with the wet-
lands and streams draining to the Hudson.”
While the 20-acre zonings would merely have created
“large-lot sprawl”, the new plan “protects special view-
sheds and watersheds, as well as the hamlet and our
historic district, and allows for growth,” Anthone says.
The planning is ongoing because the transfer of devel-
opments rights can be tricky, and the town is working
to ensure moderate and affordable housing, because “we
don’t want to be just the place you commute to the city
from,” Anthone says.
As for the key lesson learned: “You can’t just say you
don’t want something without an alternative plan that is
viable, because the alternative could be much worse.” 
David A. Goldberg is the communications director
for Smart Growth America, a nationwide coalition
based in Washington, D.C. that advocates for land-
use policy reform. In 2002, Mr. Goldberg was award-
ed a Loeb Fellowship at Harvard University, where he
studied urban policy.
WINTER 2009 7

8. Vo t e r s S a y
Ye s to Conser vation
Historically Americans Support Measures
That Have A Tangible Result
By Gary Fineout
A
desert mountain preserve in Phoenix. A
community park in northern Georgia.
Farms in the state of Maine.
Across the country American voters
have embraced the idea of paying more
to preserve open spaces, keep farmland
intact, expand parks and acquire environmentally fragile
pieces of property.
During the last 20 years, more than 2,100 ballot mea-
sures at the city, county and state level have gone before
voters, according to a database maintained by the non-
Unique to profit Trust for Public Land, and more than 1,600 were
the Sonoran given a yes vote.
Desert, the
While some ballot measures had other items — such as
Saguaro Cactus
can be seen road construction projects — included with them, the
for miles in Trust for Public Land says the total amount of money
Phoenix, Ariz. dedicated to conservation alone during that time period
Courtesy of Phoenix Parks Development Division
is a staggering $46.8 billion.
Voters from Maine all the way to Hawaii have approved
Voters from Maine all the way to the measures, which have utilized a variety of different
Hawaii have approved measures, funding mechanisms, from dedicated property taxes,
increased sales taxes, bonds and even a portion of lot-
which have utilized a variety of
different funding mechanisms.
8 ON COMMON GROUND WINTER 2009

9. Photo courtesy of Phoenix Parks Development Division
“As a REALTOR®, I think open space helps the quality of life. We
need to find a way to make that open space a reality.”
tery ticket sales. Only five states — Indiana, Kentucky, 1998 as well as four bond measures in California total-
North Dakota, South Dakota and West Virginia — ing more than $7 billion that have been approved since
have not had a conservation measure go before voters. 2000. Voters in Forsyth County, Georgia — located
And measures have been approved in 43 of the 45 states north of Atlanta — approved a $100 million initiative
where they reached the ballot. in February, while voters in Phoenix, Arizona, approved
Will Abberger, associate director of conservation finance a $900 million measure this past May.
for the Trust for Public Land, says the success rate of the Peggy Neely, a REALTOR® and vice mayor of the city of
initiatives shows that Americans are willing to pay more Phoenix, said she supported the Phoenix Parks and Pre-
for something that has a tangible, visible benefit. serve Initiative because creating additional open spaces
“Any time you are talking about a tax increase, which is a must for growing communities.
most of them are, that’s hard for people, especially in the “As a REALTOR®, I think open space helps the quality
economic climate we’re in,” said Abberger, who works on of life,” said Neely, who owns Arizona Home Team and
initiatives in the eastern United States. “But Americans has been in the real estate business since 1990. “We need
are willing to increase their taxes if they know it’s going to find a way to make that open space a reality.”
to be spent on something reasonable, like land conversa-
Neely pointed out that the Phoenix Parks and Preserve
tion. When people can actually see the benefit of what
Initiative — which dedicated one-tenth of one percent
they are doing, they are willing to vote for this.”
sales tax to purchase land for preservation and construct
What started out as just a trickle in 1988 has turned into neighborhood parks — was first approved in 1999. The
a torrent. While there was an estimated 24 measures on money has been used to add 3,700 acres to the Phoenix
the ballot 20 years ago, the number has skyrocketed in Sonoran Preserve, build six regional parks and make
recent years. Each of the last two presidential election improvements to 160 neighborhood parks. Voters this
years has featured more than 200 initiatives. year were asked to extend the tax for another 30 years,
Some of the largest approved measures include a $2.94 a move that will help the community accelerate its pres-
billion bond referendum approved in New Jersey back in ervation efforts.
9

10. Neely said boosting land acquisition efforts were needed for parks and open space was defeated in June after it
because of escalating land prices in the Phoenix area. failed to get a required yes vote from two-thirds of vot-
She said other efforts to create open space — such as ers. A similar measure in that county had been defeated
density transfers — had proven to be unwieldy. in 2006.
“We needed to go ahead and find a mechanism to make The measure in Minnesota, which adds three-eighths of
it work,” said Neely. one percent increase in the state sales tax for the next
Nationwide, so far in 2008 a total of 25 measures have 25 years, is also controversial and has drawn opposition
been already approved and nearly 80 more will be decid- from the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce which says
ed this fall, including a statewide initiative in Minnesota businesses in that state cannot afford another tax.
that would dedicate some $5.5 billion for parks, trails Ken Martin, the campaign director of Yes for Minne-
and wildlife habitat and watershed protection. sota campaign, remains confident that the measure will
“I think this year will be comparable to other general pass. The amendment is backed by a coalition that
election years in terms of ballot activity,” said Abberger, includes hunting and fishing organizations as well as
who said that three out of every four initiatives are environmental groups.
approved by voters. “I think Minnesotans over time have shown that they
But not every initiative is a winner. A $401 million are willing to invest in things that are priorities in
measure in San Mateo County in California that called this state,” said Martin publicly at the time the group
for a one-eighth cent sales tax hike for 25 years to pay launched its campaign in favor of the amendment.
Photo courtesy of Phoenix Parks Development Division
People are worried
about losing their
legacy. They are tied
to the land.
10 ON COMMON GROUND

11. It’s important for us to grow better over the next 10 million people
than we did the last 10 million.
While the initiatives tracked by the Trust for Public encourage farmers and others to maintain their land
Land call for dedicating money for land conversation, a the way it is now, argued Eric Draper from Audubon
constitutional amendment on the ballot in Florida calls of Florida.
for a cheaper way to preserve property. Voters will be “This could result in a tremendous private effort,”
asked this fall to grant a permanent property tax break said Draper.
to landowners who agree to place a conservation ease-
ment on their property. So instead of having govern- Eric Gorsegner, assistant director of the Sun Corridor
ment buy the property, the landowner is instead given a Legacy Program with the Sonoran Institute in Arizona,
financial incentive to keep it undeveloped. predicts that land conservation measures will continue
to be popular with voters who want to see parts of their
The amendment has won the backing of environmental heritage preserved. He said the Phoenix initiative has
groups and business organizations who called it a “bal- enabled the city to keep undeveloped mountain land
ance between economic growth and environmental that now is viewed as a hallmark for the community, in
stewardship.” the same way that the Golden Gate Bridge is the hall-
“It’s important for us to grow better over the next mark for San Francisco.
10 million people than we did the last 10 million, “Even in these rough times, this is an enduring issue,” said
otherwise there won’t be a Florida to pass on to the next Gorsegner, who was once worked on behalf of the Phoenix
generation,” said Adam Babington, legislative counsel Association of REALTORS®. “People are worried about
for the Florida Chamber of Commerce. losing their legacy. They are tied to the land.” 
The measure would also direct the Florida Legislature Gary Fineout is an award-winning journal-
to pass a greenbelt law that would guarantee that land- ist who covered politics and government for
owners would pay property taxes based on existing use nearly 20 years. He previously worked in the
Tallahassee bureau of The Miami Herald and his
instead of “highest and best use.” That practice could work has also appeared in The New York Times
and several other Florida newspapers. He is now an
independent journalist.
WINTER 2009 11

12. State government
takes a lead in
open space preservation
By Heidi Johnson-Wright
P
reserving the Atlantic Coastal States from the Atlantic Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico, hundreds
The tourists and retirees came to Florida in of miles of pristine sandy coastline, thick citrus groves and
droves, lured by sunny days and year-round dense forest, plus an ecosystem unique to the world — a
warmth. Then the young families, military river of grass and gators known as the Everglades.
folks, immigrants and frozen northerners But when tens of millions of people choose to live in
came by the millions to stake their Sun- a wild peninsula of a state, the ravenous demand for
shine State claim in the prime of their lives. waterfront condos and inland suburban dwellings cre-
The incredible population growth was fueled by people ates an inevitable clash between the people and the very
creating new lives in an enchanting land of sparkling waters environment that enticed them to leave the snow of the
north for Florida’s natural charms.
In order to meet these demands while preserving its open
space, the state created Florida Forever — a fund that can
be used for buying sensitive lands for conservation.
Florida Forever is one of the best-known efforts among
states that are putting their land preservation money
where their mouth is — even in tough economic times
that are creating billion-dollar budget deficits.
The Presumpscot River located in
Southern Maine’s Cumberland County.
12 ON COMMON GROUND

13. The use of conservation easement options in
Florida has successfully protected millions of
acres of wildlife habitat and open space, keeping
land in private hands and generating significant
public benefits.
Around the nation, state governments are realizing that quality of life requires
a delicate balance between land development and land conservation.
Around the nation, state governments are realizing that
quality of life requires a delicate balance between land
development and land conservation.
And just like they make master plans and budgets for
roads, transit, commerce and housing, they are com-
mitting large sums of public dollars and government
resources toward protecting unique and pristine lands.
The Florida Forever program was recently extended
through the year 2020, to provide $300 million per year
for land conservation.
“Florida continues to demonstrate a commitment to
preserving the natural, cultural and historical resources
that make the state so unique,” said Michael W. Sole,
Secretary of the Florida Department of Environmental
Protection. “The state Legislature recently extended our
most important land conservation tool, the Florida For-
ever program, another 10 years. Through this program,
the largest in the nation, and its predecessor, more than
two million acres of Florida’s vital lands, valuable wa-
terways and springs have been preserved, and habitat
has been protected for countless numbers of Florida’s
natural plant and animal species.”
13

14. From Florida to Maine
On the other end of the Atlantic coast, Land for Maine’s and landowner wanted to maintain one of the area’s last
Future (LMF) is a state agency that funds numerous working farms, but the landowner could not afford to
success stories in its state. donate the property. LMF and federal funding, along
with a generous bargain sale of a conservation easement,
• The Downeast Lakes Forestry Partnership is a project
led to the protection of the farm.
initiated by sporting camp owners, guides and crafts-
men who sought to protect the land base that provided • The Fuller Farm is a mix of hayfields, grasslands and
for their livelihood. Centered in and around Grand woodlands that slope down to the Nonesuch River in
Lake Stream in Downeast Maine, this effort has now Scarborough, Maine. The 180-acre tract protects every-
conserved more than 342,000 acres. The lakes and rivers thing from moose to mink to meadowlarks. It also hosts
that form the core assets of the region are now largely skiing and a snowmobile trail. It almost became a subdi-
conserved, but lands remain in the traditional develop- vision of two-acre house lots, but the owners sold it for
ment centers for activity that supports the traditional less than appraised value to the Scarborough Land Con-
economies of the region. servation Trust, which was supported by a loan from the
Trust for Public land and funding from LMF.
Photo left: Members of
the Scarborough Land
Conservation Trust
celebrate the protection
of the Fuller Farm with
a special dedication to
the community. Photo
right: Jordans Farm has
been a local favorite of
Cape Elizabeth, Maine
residents to pick up fresh
farm vegetables for more
than 60 years.
Landowners see the need for
“Outright donations of conservation lands continue to
permanent conservation of be a significant part of Maine’s conservation scene, and
I understand this to be true in many other states,” said
our natural heritage. Tim Glidden, director of Land for Maine’s Future. “I
believe the principal motivation continues to be altru-
• The Maine Huts and Trail system will eventually
istic. However, it is also true that we are witnessing a
connect two of Maine’s premier tourism centers: the
massive, generational transfer of accumulated wealth in
Moosehead Lake area to Bethel in western Maine. The
this country and many landowners see both the need for
trail system not only adds a recreation asset, but also is
permanent conservation of our natural heritage and the
expected to generate substantial economic activity such
opportunity for significant tax benefits. Recent changes
as second homes and resorts.
in tax law have been particularly important for the do-
• The Jordan Farm project in Cape Elizabeth is an nation of permanent conservation easements.”
example of land conservation co-existing with and
complementing residential development. The town
14 ON COMMON GROUND

15. Every state in the union should make land conservation a priority
because of the vast benefits.
Maryland’s Rural Legacy Program
provides the focus and funding
necessary to protect large,
contiguous tracts of land and
other strategic areas from devel-
opment and to enhance natural
resource, agricultural, forestry and
environmental protection through
cooperative efforts among state and
local governments and land trusts.
Above: Garrett County, Md.
Left: Potomac River
Maryland’s Early Conservation Efforts Maryland, including the Chesapeake Bay, would look
The state of Maryland can boast that it is enter- like in the year 2050 if we hadn’t ever done any land con-
ing its fifth decade of dedicating resources to land servation starting in the late 1960s and hadn’t continued
conservation. Various state agencies and initiatives have doing it in a focused way over the next 42 years.”
protected nearly 400,000 acres. Fenlon said every state in the union should make land con-
Shaun Fenlon, director of Land Acquisition and servation a priority because of the vast benefits including
Planning for the Maryland Department of Natural better water and air quality; additional natural recreational
Resources, estimates that he has participated in at least sites; Smart Growth planning, which discourages sprawl;
200 conservation easement deals where a landowner locally produced food and fiber to support our nation’s
is paid to permanently protect his property from demand without being affected by global markets; and the
harmful development. moral imperative of preserving land for future generations.
“There are a lot of benefits from land conservation,” he
said. “What I’ve said to some people is to imagine what
WINTER 2009 15

16. Hawaii’s Pristine Lands vation easement transaction in the state of Hawaii’s his-
On Hawaii’s Big Island, the 24,000-acre Kealakekua tory, involving nearly 9,000 acres, $4 million in federal
Heritage Ranch in Kona was once slated for intense Forest Legacy funding, and more than $12 million value
development with 500 houses. in donation, for a total expected value of more than $16
million,” said Laura H. Thielen, chairperson of the
But working with state officials, a land trust and an Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources, a
architect-planner with a vision for sustainability, the state agency.
ranch-owning Pace family was able to create a land-
mark conservation deal that will protect almost all the Stevens, the designer of the Kealakekua Heritage Ranch-
pristine property. Hokukano Preserve, said the final project will have 96
percent protected open space for orchards, pasture and
“The Pace family had a different vision,” said Greg Hen- native forest — including all of the areas above 4,000
drickson, ranch manager and an attorney with expertise feet in elevation, “which is the critical line for survival
in conservation easements. “The family is committed of native bird species as it is above the avian malaria
to protecting this land from the kind of development elevation.”
planned for it prior to their purchase, and is instead
interested in maintaining this ranch as working lands.” The one-of-a-kind conservation development also will
feature hundreds of miles of trails remaining from his-
The result will be development of 200 to 250 private toric logging and current grazing in the forest areas. “The
inhabitation compounds in average of four-acre enclo- project is planned to be off the grid, with rebates off of
sures, with the balance of a homeowner’s 20-acre deeded the price of the lot going to those who employ alternative
lot being leased to the public for a recreational and agricul- energy and certified sustainable construction materials
tural common area, according to architect Clark Stevens. and techniques in a point system similar to the LEED
“The acquisition of this conservation easement on Keal- approach,” said Stevens, stressing that even the fraction of
akekua Heritage Ranch will be the largest single conser- developed lands will be very green and sustainable.
16 ON COMMON GROUND

17. Thielen praised the Pace family and landowners who are
beginning to understand that there are land use options
that will allow them to keep their land and continue Map: The New West Land Company has a comprehensive
producing income from it — as well as gain long-term conservation land use plan for both Hokukano and
tax benefits and reduced property taxes. Kealakekua Ranches in Hawaii.
“In the short-term, the successful completion of a
conservation easement for Kealakekua Heritage Ranch
strengthens the state’s credibility to complete large con-
servation easement transactions,” said Thielen. “Con-
servation easements support our economy, preserve
ecosystems and products communities need to flourish
and protect our cultural values for future generations.
Kealakekua Heritage Ranch is a Hawaiian example of
finding common ground between conservation and
working lands.”
Jean Murphy, past president of the Hawaii Association
of REALTORS® and still an active REALTOR® with
Clark Realty on the Big Island, has preached the value
of open space, preserved view corridors and conserved
natural areas throughout her 46 years of working on
property development in the real estate profession.
“The vistas (in Hawaii) are so beautiful and when you Conservation easements support our
look down and see those hills are not changed, that the
land is kept natural in perpetuity — it gives you a good economy, preserve ecosystems and
feeling,” she said. products communities need to flourish
In the mid-1980s, Murphy was working with a devel-
oper during a tough real estate market.
and protect our cultural values for
“The developer wanted to put in more condos, but I future generations.
suggested a golf course — which substitutes for open
space some time,” she recalled. “I mailed 10,000 people
and asked them whether they would want to be next to
more condos or in a residential community with mini-
mum 15,000-square-foot lots with unspoiled vistas.
Ninety-eight percent said they preferred to buy a house
with views from on and above a golf course.”
Murphy’s land conservation poll received an amazing
four percent return rate and helped shape a future of
preservation at Kona’s Keauhou Resort.
“The people’s vote was followed and 135 lots sold out
in three years. The home values have remained high; we
recently had a resale for $1.8 million,” she said.
Murphy also worked to preserve ocean views on the Kona-
Kohala Coast on the western side of the Big Island.
WINTER 2009 17

18. major historical sites have been restored on the grounds:
the Lekeleke Burial Grounds and the birthplace of
Kamehameha III, Hawaii’s longest-reigning monarch.
An Example for the Nation
Back in Florida, the state hopes to soon close a historic
deal that would purchase 187,000 acres (three times the
size of the city of Orlando) of sugar cane growing land
from U.S. Sugar.
The $1.75 billion purchase would be made by the state’s
South Florida Water Management District, and used to
support the federal government’s $10 billion Everglades
restoration project. The largest conservation purchase in
state history would use some of the land for a series of
reservoirs and pollution filtering areas that would restore
the flow of water between Lake Okeechobee and Ever-
glades National Park. (See additional details on page 40
of the Conservation Synergy article.)
“The possible acquisition of the land and assets of Unit-
ed States Sugar has huge potential for the restoration of
America’s Everglades,” said Sole. “If we do acquire these
tracts of land, it would give us the chance to store and
A stalled development had built a seven-story, concrete
clean water on a scale we never thought possible, allow-
building right on the water’s edge. Murphy came on
ing us to better manage water critical for the restoration
board in 1990 to help a developer revive the project.
of our treasured River of Grass, as well as protect our
“I told them to tear down that seven-story concrete coastal estuaries.”
monstrosity,” she said.
U.S. Sugar’s 77-year-old cane operation would shut
The result was the Resort at Hualalai, a world-renown, down in about six years. But more than 100,000 acres of
low-rise development of homes, villas, championship state-purchased lands could be turned back to farming.
golf courses, spa and the five diamond Four Seasons
Resort Hualalai. The scenic Pal Mar
contains 13,330 acres
Murphy also has worked on master plans for developments of conservation land
of the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Estate, a trust that owns protected in Martin
one-eighth of the land in Hawaii. Created from the will of County, Fla.
Bishop — the last royal princess of the Hawaiian Islands
— the multibillion dollar trust funds the Kamehameha
Schools, a private, co-educational college preparatory
institution with several campuses across the islands.
Murphy is well-aware of the delicate balance between
developing land to fund the historic schools founded in
1887 and the need to preserve archaeological sites on
the ancestral lands.
The Keauhou Resort’s charter and a cultural advisory
committee ensure that future development is culturally
correct and restoration of historic sites is a priority. Two
18 ON COMMON GROUND

19. Florida Forever helps to lower the
cost per home for developers by
moving imperiled species.
Forever has obvious benefits when it comes to preserving
the environment, but it also makes it economically feasible
to live and work in Florida.”
Cory said Florida Forever has been instrumental in
protecting imperiled species such as the gopher tortoise
and panthers.
“[The program] helps to lower the cost per home for
This urban stormwater retrofit in Martin County,
Fla., is designed to mitigate erosive flows, reduce
developers by moving imperiled species to protected
pollutants in stormwater runoff and promote areas and creating sites for alternative water supply
conditions for improved aquatic habitat. programs,” she explained. “It’s also about finding lands
for alternative water supply programs — not huge, ugly
desalinization plants, but things like reservoirs.”
Keyna Cory, a principal in Public Affairs Consultants
and chief lobbyist for Associated Industries of Florida, Cory said no one in the business community wants to
said many people forget the strong economic benefits see a totally blacktopped Florida.
of conservation. “The Florida Forever project is a unique situation
“Florida Forever isn’t just about preserving land but also is because it’s the first time businesses and conservationists
about better land management and addressing problems worked arm and arm to work together on a bill like this,”
of invasive plant species that can ruin land. It is about pro- she said. 
tecting land, wildlife and access to waterways,” she said. Heidi Johnson-Wright frequently writes about Smart
“Without access to waterways and things like boat ramps, Growth and sustainable communities. She and her
Florida’s marine industry is adversely affected. Florida husband live in a restored historic home in the heart
of Miami’s Little Havana. Contact her at: hjohnsonw
right@yahoo.com.
WINTER 2009 19

20. Everybody Loves a Park
Green Space Is a Premium when Building, Buying or Selling
By Brad Broberg
H
undreds of homeowners can lay claim Parks help make neighborhoods
to Baltimore’s best back yard. That’s
because it’s not really a back yard. It’s more valuable.
Patterson Park.
A decade ago, the neighborhoods sur-
rounding the park were in decline. So
was the 137-acre park.
“It was in pretty bad shape,” said Chris Ryer, president
and CEO of the South East Community Development
Corporation (SECDC) in Baltimore.
Not anymore.
When the SECDC and other community organizations
launched a neighborhood revitalization campaign, their
strategy revolved around improving Patterson Park. A
new group, the Friends of Patterson Park, raised money,
recruited volunteers and ultimately convinced the city
to create a master plan to overhaul the park.
While many of the plan’s recommendations remain to
be carried out, many have been completed, including
cleaning up a lake, restoring a historic pagoda, renovat- Patterson Park in Baltimore, Md.
ing a swimming pool and stepping up maintenance. “It’s
a very attractive park now,” Ryer said.
How attractive? A community development organiza-
tion bought several hundred homes around the park,
renovated them and then used the park as a marketing
tool, said Ryer. After paying as little as $60,000, the
organization is selling the homes for up to $200,000
— with some that directly border the park going for
$300-$400,000.
The park’s Web site proudly proclaims Patterson Park as
“the best back yard in Baltimore.” Ryer calls it a “classic
example” of the power of parks to help make neighbor-
hoods more valuable — especially where development
is dense.
20 ON COMMON GROUND WINTER 2009

21. The premium for homes
bordering a park can start at
20 percent and extends to
homes within three blocks at
a gradually declining rate.
Harnick doesn’t buy the argument that dense develop-
ment around a park sullies its beauty. Putting parks in
heavily populated neighborhoods enables more people
to walk to them instead of drive — another principle of
Smart Growth.
“It’s a little counter-intuitive, but you want green space “If you have large estates surrounding a park, you have
in a high-density area,” he said. “The green space is what a smaller population (with easy access to) the park,” he
allows the density to happen. Patterson Park is a great said. “The more people you pull up tight to the park …
example of that because there is nothing denser than the more people you have who will use the park and the
southeast Baltimore. It’s street after street of row houses more benefit you get from the park.”
as far as the eye can see.”
Increased property values are often among those benefits
That strategy — balancing the yin of green space — a fact confirmed by more than a dozen studies, said
against the yang of greater density — is a cornerstone of John Crompton, a professor in the Recreation, Park and
Smart Growth. Tourism Sciences at Texas A & M University.
Smart Growth encourages compact development as an Crompton is the author of “The Proximate Principle:
antidote to sprawl. Preserving green space is part and The Impact of Parks, Open Space and Water Features
parcel to that approach. The green space makes the on Residential Property Values and the Property Tax
density more palatable and the density makes the green Base.” His conclusion: the premium for homes border-
space more desirable. ing a park can start at 20 percent and extends to homes
“I’m a fan of density around parks,” said Peter Harnick within three blocks at a gradually declining rate.
of the Trust for Public Land.
21

22. Thanks to the number-crunching muscle of computers, Now, everything old is new again and the argument
that’s more than an educated guess. It’s a scientific ob- that parks make nearby real estate more valuable is once
servation. Yet it was known — and put to use — more more part of the rationale behind their development.
than a century ago. Smart Growth — with its focus on urban infill versus
“If you look at the history of the parks movement, the suburban sprawl — is a big reason why.
rationale in those early days for parks was that they gen- Example: Highlands’ Garden Village, a 27-acre urban
erated premiums for real estate,” Crompton said. infill project in Denver that dedicated a quarter of
Crompton browses the archives of every city he visits. the site to green space. “There are parks and gardens
“When you look up how their park systems evolved, you
see real estate interests coming forward,” he said. “They The argument that parks make
drove the early park systems.”
nearby real estate more valuable
That changed after World War II, said Crompton. Sub-
urbia gave homeowners their own green spaces. Parks, is once more part of the rationale
so desirable in urban settings, were no longer viewed in
behind their development.
terms of their potential to boost property values.
Living 10 minutes from downtown Denver, Highland Park residents value the
common park and garden areas, which provide premium open space near the city.
22 ON COMMON GROUND

23. Highlands’ Garden Village
everywhere within the project,” said Jonathan Rose, co- is a pedestrian-friendly,
developer of the mixed-use community. mixed-use, mixed-income
redevelopment on a historic
Parks are “tremendous value creators,” Rose said. “It’s abandoned amusement
always been recognized by some, but I think it’s becom- park in Denver, Colo.
ing more broadly recognized because the consumer
wants it.”
Citing a theory known as biophilia, Rose said humans
are “biologically designed” to appreciate nature. Trans-
lated into practical terms: “The consumer responds Parks are tremendous value
strongly to open space.”
creators … it’s becoming more
Rose finds it “entirely counter-intuitive” that measures
to save green space are often opposed by the local real broadly recognized because the
estate community. “I guess the inference is that … pre- consumer still wants it.
serving land means less land to develop,” he said. That
may be true, said Rose, but the loss of land is offset by
the value green space adds to nearby homes and the dol-
lars it adds to real estate transactions.
The Trust for Pubic Land recently analyzed the benefits
Philadelphia derives from its park system. The study
concluded that parks increased adjacent property values
by a combined $688.8 million in 2007 and generated an
additional $181.1 million in property taxes for the city.
When it comes to adding value, not all parks are created
equal. “Value is made up of a little bit of a lot of things,”
Harnick said. The two biggest drivers: distance from the
park and the quality of the park.
WINTER 2009 23

24. Crompton’s rule of thumb calculates the added value
at 20 percent for homes abutting or fronting a park,
10 percent for homes one block away and 5 percent for
homes two blocks away. Size does matter, though, and
large parks may add greater value over greater distances
than small ones, he said.
Much hinges on the park itself. “It depends on how
good the park is as a neighbor,” Harnick said.
Passive parks — also referred to as ornamental parks
— almost always add more value than active ones. In
fact, the lights, noise and traffic associated with sports
fields can actually lower the value of homes near active
parks, said Crompton. Likewise, a neglected or unsafe
passive park can also drive down values.
One way to gauge the value of green space is to look at
property values in golf course communities. Only one
in five households in golf course communities includes
someone who plays golf, yet people pay a 30- to 50-percent
premium to live there, said Crompton.
Image is one reason. The other? “It’s the view,” Crompton
said. “It’s the green space.”
Like anything else, the value added by green space is
a function of supply and demand. “I don’t think an
ornamental park in a rural area does anything for
property values because you’re drowning in green space
anyway,” Harnick said. “You sort of need a tight urban
fabric for an ornamental park to work.”
Rose, on the other hand, thinks even parks in rural
settings add at least some value. “They create a social
fabric for the community,” he said. “People don’t picnic
on their own land.”
Parks create a
social fabric for
the community.
24 ON COMMON GROUND

25. Chattanooga celebrates the opening of
Demand for parks will always provide a its 21st Century waterfront along the
Tennessee River.
driving force in the real estate market.
Still, it makes sense that urban residents would regard
green space as especially precious. Consider the reac-
much interest in them suggests they’re willing to pay
tion of downtown San Diego residents when the city
more to live nearby, she said.
adopted a new plan that boosted density.
Another example in Chattanooga, the development of
“We expected pushback on the density issue, but we
Coolidge Park along the Tennessee River helped revive
never got it,” said Alexandra Elias, former advance plan-
the dying North Shore commercial district by becom-
ning manager for the Centre City Development Cor-
ing a magnet, said Chad Wamack, a REALTOR® with
poration, a nonprofit agency spearheading downtown
Grubb & Ellis/Hudson Companies.
redevelopment. “People just wanted the amenities that
went with it, most of which were parks.” “It was sort of a depressed area (but) it’s just thriving
today, even in our slowing economy,” he said. “At the
The city obliged by including six new parks in the
same time, the residential areas that surround the North
downtown plan. “The parks became the centerpiece for
Shore district have experienced huge (appreciation).”
the redevelopment of downtown to meet growth in the
future,” Elias said. If history continues down the same path, demand
for parks will always provide a driving force in the real
Currently in various stages of progress, the parks are
estate market. 
situated so that every downtown resident is within a
Brad Broberg is a Seattle-based freelance writer spe-
five-minute walk of at least one of them. While Elias
cializing in business and development issues. His work
can’t point to any evidence that the parks are boosting appears regularly in the Puget Sound Business Jour-
property values, the fact that residents expressed so nal and the Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce.
WINTER 2009 25

26. LAND TRUSTS New River Gorge, West Virginia
PRESERVING OUR
N AT U R A L L A N D S By Steve Wright
West Virginia’s New River Gorge, world renowned for
its white-water rafting and scenic views, is one of the
most popular natural areas in all of Middle America.
More than 1,700 land trusts in Any government agency on earth would just about leap
off a gorge’s cliffs to add thousands of acres of preserved
America work with federal, state
land to a famed wild and wonderful river.
and local governments plus Last year, the West Virginia Division of Natural Re-
developers, investors, individual sources had a willing seller ready to part with 4,600
picture-perfect acres overlooking the New River Gorge.
landowners and heirs to conserve
The seller wanted quick payment in one lump sum.
crucial natural areas. But the state of West Virginia, though salivating over
the chances to add the huge tract to its Beury Mountain
Wildlife Management Area, didn’t have the financial
resources to write one big check on the spot.
26 ON COMMON GROUND WINTER 2009

27. Enter The Nature Conservancy (TNC), a leading con- year. “This project is an excellent example of a wise state
servation organization whose more than one million investment in our natural resources. It provides a new
members have been responsible for protecting more place for public recreation, continuing to make West
than 15 million acres in the United States. The non- Virginia a destination for hunters and tourists and im-
profit land trust stepped in and purchased the largest proving the quality of life for West Virginians.”
preservation property acquired in West Virginia in more The Mountain State will pay back TNC over time, us-
than two decades. ing funds generated each year from hunting and fishing
“The Nature Conservancy has the ability to step in, license fees. The property, formerly owned by Mountain
borrow funds internally to pick up the property, and Top Management, Inc., borders National Park Service
then sell the property back to a government agency as lands of the New River Gorge National River for more
funding becomes available,” said Rodney Bartgis, state than 4.5 miles.
director for the Nature Conservancy in West Virginia. “We had completed a land transaction with the owner
“TNC gets reimbursed for the cost of the land and di- in Maryland, and they indicated they had this property
rect expenses like survey and appraisal.” available in West Virginia and inquired if we were in-
Such land-saving deals are taking place each day as more terested. We were, because it buffered the forests owned
than 1,700 land trusts in America work with federal, by the National Park Service in the New River Gorge,
state and local governments plus developers, investors, which we had identified as being important because it is
individual landowners and heirs to conserve crucial one of the least fragmented large forested blocks in the
natural areas. Central Appalachians,” said Bartgis, noting that the new
“Conserving this forest along the New River Gorge is a
conservation success story for all of West Virginia,” West
Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin III said in TNC release an-
nouncing the New River Gorge deal’s closing early this
Conserving this forest along
the New River Gorge is a
conservation success story
for all of West Virginia.
©Kent Mason
Bear Rocks Preserves
is on Dolly Sods, a
high plateau atop
the Allegheny Front
in West Virginia.
27

28. Land Trusts are growing throughout this nation as
a hedge against land misuse and urban sprawl.
Greens Bayou, purchase, added to existing conserved lands, protects a
Texas total of 10,000 acres of state-owned land on the plateau
overlooking the gorge.
According to TNC, a National Park Service study con-
cluded that tourists spend more than $75 million a year
in the four-county area surrounding the New River.
“I see conservation of land and economic development
as symbiotic,” Dave Arnold, member of the West Vir-
ginia Tourism Commission and co-owner of Class VI
River Runners, one of the New River Gorge’s largest
rafting companies, said in a statement released by TNC.
“The acquisition of this tract shows that we can strike
a balance between development and conservation. As-
suring these lands will be available for enjoyment of the
public spurs economic growth by drawing sportsmen to
local businesses and by providing another amenity that
can attract visitors to the region.”
Bartgis concluded “The Nature Conservancy used its
abilities to marshal financial resources at the speed of
business, enabling the state to undertake a transaction it
otherwise could not.”
Land trusts — such as TNC, the National Park Trust
and the Trust for Public Land down to little local non-
profits created simply to save a little park from being
paved over or to ensure that a stream is protected from
agricultural or industrial pollution — are growing
throughout this nation as a hedge against land misuse
and urban sprawl.
The Land Trust Alliance (LTA), a Washington D.C.-
based organization that coordinates procedure, infor-
mation, ethical standards, technology, policy, training
and more for 1,700 land trusts across America, counted
fewer than 450 state and local land trusts nationwide
when it was created 25 years ago.
“America’s 1,700 land trusts are local, citizen-led charities
that work to protect special places in their communities,
28 ON COMMON GROUND

29. Above: Arthur Storey Park in Harris County, Texas,
said LTA President Rand Wentworth. “Voters are in- effectively incorporates park and recreational features
creasingly demanding clean drinking water, local farms, with a 220-acre stormwater detention basin.
parks and wildlife habitat. Instead of meeting these needs Below: Wild flowers bloom in Onion Creek, which is
through government condemnation or regulation, land part of the beautiful Hill Country in Austin, Texas.
trusts are politically attractive since they respect private
property rights and offer tax incentives for landowners
to voluntarily conserve their property.”
The LTA worked with Congress to pass a major increase
in federal conservation tax incentives to help relieve
many farmers and ranchers from paying federal income
taxes for 16 years in exchange for donating a conserva-
tion easement on their land. The extension for the in-
creased incentive expires in 2009 and LTA is lobbying
hard to make the law permanent.
“Private land conservation makes economic sense,”
Wentworth said. “Unlike a new subdivision, farms and
green space do not require expensive public services like
schools, fire protection, water and sewer. So land con-
servation can help keep property taxes from increasing:
cows don’t go to school.”
Wentworth said the more than two million people that
are land trust members and, at the least, 90,000 profes-
sionals that work for America’s land trusts are making
unparalleled progress.
“During the 1990s America developed about 2.2 mil-
lion acres per year, according to the USDA’s Natural
WINTER 2009 29

30. Resources Inventory,” he said. Since the late 1990s, per- and permanently protect 5,000 acres — with 7,500
manent land protection by private landowners, working more acres in process to be protected,” he continued.
with land trusts, actually outpaced development. From “We’re really just getting started. The potential to help
1998-2005, approximately 2.6 million acres per year protect tens and even hundreds of thousands of acres
were permanently conserved by private land trusts.” through private investments is very real. If we’re going
Carl Palmer — principal and co-founder of Beartooth
Capital Partners, a conservation-minded investment
firm in Bozeman, Mt. — cut his teeth in the preserva-
tion business while serving as executive director of the
Ogden Nature Center, a land trust and education center
in Northern Utah.
Land trusts continue to be an important cog in his suc-
cessful group which makes private equity investments
that generate competitive risk-adjusted returns while
restoring and protecting ecologically important land in
the Western United States.
“We make investments that create value and mitigate risk
for our investors while having a compelling conservation
impact,” Palmer said. “We work with leading conserva-
tion groups including The Nature Conservancy and oth-
ers to enhance the amount of conservation they would
not otherwise be able to accomplish on their own.”
The vast landscape of Montana’s Little Wood Headwaters
“In the past two years, we have helped restore miles of Ranch and its surroundings include the Little Wood River
river and stream, return water rights to in-stream use (the largest riparian corridor); Baugh Creek (the smaller
corridor); and the Pioneer Mountains.
©Bear Tooth Capital, www.kestrelarial.com
In the past two years, we have helped restore miles of river and stream,
return water rights to in-stream use and permanently protect 5,000
acres — with 7,500 more acres in process to be protected.
30 ON COMMON GROUND

31. There are lots of opportunities
to create financial value while
protecting and enhancing
ecological value.
to create financial value while protecting and enhancing
ecological value — the two often go hand in hand if you
bring the right perspective to bear on the problem.”
Palmer and his partners started Beartooth because of the
tremendous potential they saw for private capital to play
an important role in increasing the amount of land con-
served. He said Beartooth is compiling a track record of
achievement that demonstrates investors can earn strong
returns while helping conservation groups fulfill their
to accomplish enough conservation in the next 10 to critical missions.
20 years to protect places like the Greater Yellowstone “The important work that nonprofits like The Nature
Ecosystem, we had better realize that potential.” Conservancy and Montana Land Reliance are doing is
Working with land trusts and landowners, Beartooth gen- absolutely critical if we’re going to protect the West’s
erates tax savings by placing conservation easements on wide-open landscapes and the wildlife that live there,”
properties that will remain private. It also has occasionally he said. “But the pace of habitat conversion and devel-
brokered the transfer of ownership of high-priority con- opment is such that everyone agrees we’re not getting
servation land to public agencies or nonprofits. enough done — we need to figure out ways to change
“We create value in a variety of ways, from fixing flaws the game and accomplish conservation at a greater scale.
with properties to enhancing their value as recreational Since there is so much more private capital than there is
ranches through restoration of rivers and streams.” philanthropic and government funding, the conserva-
Palmer explained. “Each project is unique — we simply tion community has long looked for vehicles that could
look for opportunities to create financial value while do- effectively put private investment capital to work in a
ing what is right for the land and what our conservation way that leads to real conservation results.”
partners want to see happen. It certainly doesn’t work Keith Fountain, director of land acquisition for The
for every property, but there are lots of opportunities Nature Conservancy’s Florida office, said land trusts can
WINTER 2009 31

32. ©Vernon Compton/The Nature Conservancy
Above: The rapids at the Blackwater River watershed in Florida are part of the 58-mile long river arising in southern Alabama and
flowing through the Florida Panhandle to the Gulf of Mexico. Below: Volunteers at the Nalle Bunny Run Wildlife Preserve in Texas
cut and pile cedar trunks and branches to create several large brush piles which serve as cover and nesting sites for small
mammals, reptiles and ground nesting birds.
Land trusts can
influence the
decisions of large
real estate
holders to protect
nature while also
protecting their
bottom line.
influence the decisions of large real estate holders to pro- said of Rayonier, which is proud that — as one of the
tect nature while also protecting their bottom line. largest private timberland owners in the U.S. — its forests
“Rayonier was auctioning a 3,000-acre block in the are certified by the Sustainable Forestry Initiative.
Florida Panhandle and southern Alabama and to their Fountain said the former Rayonier lands were crucial
credit, they pulled about one-third of land out of the because they were part of the “holes in the Swiss cheese”
auction package to sell it in a straight transaction to that represent private holdings within the huge Black-
us,” Fountain said of the publicly-traded company that water State Forest in Florida’s Panhandle.
owns, leases or manages 2.6 million acres of timberland Managed by the state’s Division of Forestry, the gigan-
in the U.S. and New Zealand and sells timber for use in tic tract along the Blackwater River offers recreational
domestic and export markets. opportunities such as hiking, swimming, camping,
“That company has a strong commitment to the sale of canoeing, fishing, hunting, mountain biking, horseback
their lands that are important for conservation,” Fountain riding and nature study.
32 ON COMMON GROUND

33. There is a realization that green space and conservation land enhances the
value of neighboring properties.
“There is a realization that green space and conservation
land enhances the value of neighboring properties. As
we often say, land is precious and they’re not making any
more of it,” said John Sebree, head of public policy for
the Florida Association of REALTORS®.
Sebree said REALTORS® are active with land trusts and
understand that the environmental impacts of develop-
ment can make it more difficult for communities to
protect their natural resources.
“Where and how communities accommodate growth
has a profound impact on the quality of their streams,
rivers, lakes and beaches,” he said. “Development that
uses land efficiently and protects undisturbed natural
lands allows a community to grow and still protect its
water resources.”
In Texas, the Hill Country Conservancy (HCC) just
completed a deal to save a 1,318-acre section of the
historic Storm Ranch located in northern Hays County.
Through various phases working with the U.S. Fish &
Wildlife Service and Texas Parks & Wildlife staff, the
HCC has conserved the “5,675-acre working cattle
ranch with ancient rock fences separating pastures of
native grasses, magnificent live oaks and numerous
creeks and streams.”
Above: Bald cypress trees line the banks of the Colorado George Cofer, executive director of the HCC, said the
River at the 35-acre Nalle Bunny Run Wildlife Preserve
in Texas.
final phase, to preserve the entire ranch, should be com-
pleted in 2010.
Below: Volunteers in the fall of 2007 contributed more
than 68 hours of service at the Storm Ranch in Texas. “Conservation and enhancement of the many ‘public
The Storm Ranch includes portions of the Onion Creek good’ values can be achieved through land trusts work-
Watershed, the Colorado River Basin and the Blanco
Watershed, and the Gaudalupe/Blanco River Basin.
ing collaboratively with landowners to ensure proper
range management practices that will conserve and
often enhance wildlife habitat, scenic vistas and open
space, water resources and archeological, historical
and cultural resources,” he said. “Land Conservation
can also provide environmental learning and public
recreational opportunities. Preservation of the rural
ranching/agricultural legacy is important to many com-
munities as well.” 
Wright frequently writes about Smart Growth and
sustainable communities. He and his wife live in a
restored historic home in the heart of Miami’s Little
Havana. Contact him at: stevewright64@yahoo.com
WINTER 2009 33

34. The Washington Family Legacy
The National Park Trust (NPT) is a private land trust Jefferson County, W. Va., the state’s easternmost county
organization founded in 1983 that focuses on land ac- and home to portions of Harpers Ferry National His-
quisition and the protection of the national parks. At torical Park and the Appalachian National Scenic Trail.
the heart of its vision is for everyone to have a national This is George Washington country. Washington
park experience. surveyed the area’s wild lands and was enchanted by
“We want to get kids back to nature because there’s a its beauty and fertility. He bought his first property,
correlation between outside activity and lowered rates of consisting of about 500 acres, and founded Bullskin
obesity and ADHD. There’s also a correlation between Plantation in 1750.
early positive experiences [at national parks] and desire Washington convinced his brothers to buy land there
to preserve later on,” said Kit McGinnis, NPT’s land as well. At one point, there were 12 Washington family
projects manager. homes located in the county. The Washingtons were the
NPT also strives to protect parkland from residential area’s most prominent family throughout the 1800s.
and commercial development. Threats to the continued This NPT project would create a National Historical
existence and quality of the national parks include 4.3 Park based on the George Washington Family Legacy
million acres of land that are privately held within parks. by linking the four non-contiguous sites as part of the
NPT is currently setting its sights on four properties in Harpers Ferry National Historical Park.
©Courtesy Curt Mason
34 ON COMMON GROUND