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Summary of 2008 Activities
1. Raised private contributions to match the $75,000 grant from the CT DEP, enabling us to purchase the Rookery property.
We are developing plans and raising additional funds to properly care for this sensitive wetland which is home to several
nesting pairs of Great Blue Herons. The Kent Land Trust now protects 1,625 acres of open space in our community!
2. Continued to sponsor Megan Haney's Marble Valley Farm on KLT property. Haney nearly doubled her offering of high-quality
organic vegetables and other healthy, locally-produced food in her second year. And she is expanding her fields and completing
contruction of a hoop-house to continue to expand and extend the season next year.
3. Hosted our second Community Picnic following the Memorial Day Parade. The Picnic featured environmental workshops, fund
and educational games, live music, and lots of entertainment and food. Over 400 guests had a delightful afternoon and judged
it a tremendous success.
4. Participated actively in the Litchfield Hills Greenprint Collaborative to identify key properties and develop strategies
to protect them.
5. Advanced our property stewardship program, in which we visit each of our conservation easements at least annually to confirm
that their conservation values are being protected, and manage our fee-owned properties to maximize their conservation value.
6. Prepared to seek accreditation from the Land Trust Alliance which will confirm that we are operating according to recommended
"best practices".
7. Hired Connie Manes as part-time Executive Director to help us prepare for accreditation and to assist in our land protection
work. Connie is an attorney with non-profit management and governance experience, and lives in Kent.
Summary of 2007 Activities
1. Received gifts in late 2006 of two properties and one easement, bringing the total amount of land we now protect to just
over 1,600 acres.
2. Partnered with the Kent Volunteer Fire Department to remove overhead wiring and install buried utilities at the Kent Land
Trust Field.
3. Hosted our first Community Picnic following Kent's Memorial Day Parade. The Picnic featured environmental workshops,
fun and educational games for children, live music, and lots of great entertainment and food. The Picnic received an enthusiastic
community response, and we plan to make this an annual event.
4. Again opened the KLT Field to the Kent Cultural Arts Commission, which held its final community concert on Labor Day weekend.
5. Sponsored Megan Haney's Marble Valley Farm at the KLT riverfront property north of Bull's Bridge. Haney's first year was
a huge success, bringing high-quality organic vegetables and other healthy, locally-produced food to Kent. We also completed
several improvements to the barn and farm property to enable Megan to operate her farm and farmstand.
6. Continued to support full funding of the second phase of the Skiff Mountain Forest Legacy Project. Congress authorized
funding which will conclude the purchase of conservation easements on nine parcels totaling 719 acres. This will not only
protect the Skiff Mountain viewshed but will also add to a contiguous 7,000-acre network of forested properties owned by the
Pond Mountain Trust, The Appalachian Trail, and the Kent and Sharon Land Trusts.
7. Received a $75,000 matching grant from the CT Department of Environmental Protection Open Space Acquisition fund for the
purchase of an environmentally sensitive 11-acre wetland parcel. The parcel is home to about a dozen nesting pairs of Great
Blue Heron.
8. Began work to prepare to seek accreditation from the Land Trust Alliance which when complete will confirm that we are operating
according to recommended "best practices". Accrediation will put KLT in the top rank of land trusts nationally and assure
that we are fulfilling all of our responsibilities as a non-profit organization working for the public benefit.
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