Third Annual Land Summit

A TIME FOR BOTH CELEBRATION AND UNCERTAINTY

Environmental Groups Meet in Summit

Washington, DC - On December 8, the Cosmos Club was the setting for the third Land Summit, hosted by National Park Trust (NPT). Representatives of national conservation organizations gathered for the day long event strategizing on how best to utilize Congressional appropriations, $12 billion under Title VIII spread over the next six years, for land acquisitions to preserve parks, refuges, wilderness and open spaces.

Amidst this financial optimism, a note of caution was sounded by keynote speaker, Deb Callahan, President of League of Conservation Voters. With the presidential race still undecided, Callahan focused on what to expect from the next Congress, particularly potential chairs of House and Senate committees, and the ways they might be forced to cooperate and compromise given slim party majorities. As she distributed her organization’s National Environmental Scorecard documenting
the votes of the 106th Congress, Callahan remarked, "The environmental movement did well in electing some outstanding new members of both chambers." Donna Asbury, Executive Director of Association of Partners for Public Lands (APPL) agreed and felt that the greatest challenge will be for conservation organizations to work together to foster true bipartisan support for environmental priorities.

Barbara Zurhellen, Western Regional Director for NPT moderated a discussion on how to maximize our combined organizational resources to protect threatened acreage. Potential strategies were also debated on the continuing effort to pass the important CARA (Conservation and Reinvestment Act) legislation despite its recent congressional defeat.

In keeping with its educational mission, NPT presented Bob DeGroot, President of MAGIC (Maryland Alliance for Greenway Improvement and Conservation). DeGroot informed attendees about the overall effectiveness of creating ‘biological corridors’ in conservation efforts. He cited two successful models, the Appalachian Trail and the "Y to Y" project (Yellowstone to Yukon), in contrast with more conventional pockets of preservation. This corridor type of conservation allows for more natural migratory patterns, wider foraging range for wildlife and most importantly, a bigger gene pool to prevent potentially threatening inbreeding. DeGroot urged those present to consider this kind of strategic planning in land acquisitions, affording environmental organizational opportunities to work in concert to achieve greater successes.

The summit coincided with NPT’s celebration of its tenth year of land preservation. "We have learned much in this time," said Paul Pritchard, President and founder of NPT. "As the old Chinese expression goes, we live in exciting times. The Trust now finds that it needs to disperse that knowledge to help others increase their own effectiveness. It is a new adjunct to our mission that we find exciting, challenging and one that we hope will benefit the entire conservation community."

NPT also released figures documenting its own participation in the preservation of nearly 20,000 acres during a ten-year period from 1990 to 2000. Through an act of Congress, the Trust is the owner of the only privately held national park unit, Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve, in Kansas. Founded in 1983, National Park Trust is the only land conservancy dedicated to preserving our national system of parks, wildlife and historic monuments.

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Call To Action

In-holdings are privately held land still in the boudaries of national and state parks. They represent not just an oversight, but a major disgrace for our country. This land is vulnerable to development such as resorts or subdivisions. In-holdings are the core threat to existing units of our national system of parks. The National Park Trust is actively involved in finding ways to acquire in-holdings for preservation in the national park system. With 7 million acres still privately owned, the challenge is daunting. The National Park Trust funds available to national and state park directors are slowly reducing such in-holdings, but we still need your help. If you would like to participate in your favorite park or contribute, please contact the National Park Trust. We will be sure that your concern is represented as we fight this most significant threat.