Conservation Stewardship Collaborative (CSC) plans to start on a stewardship program for preserved and protected lands


By RUDI HEMPE
CELS News Editor & Reporter

More than 100,000 acres in Rhode Island are set aside in some form of preservation but just because those lands cannot be chopped up into house lots or used for some other development, doesn't mean they can be ignored.

As a result a group called the Conservation Stewardship Collaborative (CSC) has been formed with a considerable amount of involvement by the College of the Environment and Life Sciences.

The CSC made the news recently when it was announced that Peggy and Henry Sharpe of North Kingstown have given $1 million to the Rhode Island Foundation in support of the collaborative. With the earnings from the invested gift, the CSC plans to start on a stewardship program for preserved and protected lands.

"Providing stewardship of lands is the issue," says Dr. Peter August, director of the Coastal Institute, who is credited widely for being instrumental in putting the collaborative together.

"Everyone is interested in buying (lands) for preservation. Not many have the capacity or the training to maintain those lands," he says.

The collaborative is a partnership of seven private and public organizations, all of which are major participants in land preservation in Rhode Island. The partners are the Audubon Society of Rhode Island, the Rhode Island Chapter of The Nature Conservancy, the Rhode Island Land Trust Council, the URI Department of Natural Resources Science, the Rhode Island Natural History Survey (which is based in CELS), the state Department of Environmental Management and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

The mission of the CSC is to "advance long-term protection and stewardship of terrestrial, aquatic, coastal, estuarine, and marine areas in Rhode Island that have been conserved by fee, easement, or other means."

That's a tall order considering there are 100,000 acres of preserved land areas in the state and counting.

"Rhode Islanders love land protection," says August. He's right. There are 45 land trusts in the state and Rhode Island voters have yet to shoot down referenda for land preservation at the polls.

The state owns the greatest amount of conservation land but its financial and staff resources to steward this land are lean, notes August. On the other hand some organizations, such as Audubon, The Nature Conservancy, and US Fish and Wildlife, have the knowledge and

Properties such as the Cumberland Monastary could be eligible for stewardship assistance through the new Conservation Stewardship Collaborative. Here Erik Endrulat, a data manager for the RI Natural History Survey and David Newton, a survey member, check out plants during the 2006 BioBlitz.

limited capacity to maintain their lands, but it is never enough.

Right now the collaborative is soliciting input from land conservation organizations about obstacles they face in trying to provide stewardship over their land.

All kinds of things can befall protected lands which are not maintained, says August, noting that such lands can be subjected to unauthorized logging, trespassing vehicles (which can tear up the terrain), invasive species and illegal dumping. If the lands have public access, there are other issues such as maintenance of trails and signage.

August said previous attempts at landing grants or garnering fees to support stewardship have not been productive. Granting organizations are more interested in buying land than stewarding it.

So the idea of the collaborative was born. "We did not want to create another outside group. We just wanted to pull the big players together," says August who noted the collaborative has zero staff, zero operating budget. In addition, the decision was made not to file for a 501(c)(3) non profit status. Rather the collaborative uses the services of the Rhode Island Foundation to receive gifts and donations.

August has nothing but praise for the Sharpes. "They understand how stewardship must follow conservation," he says.

It is estimated that the earnings from the Sharpes' gift will amount to $45,000 a year. How that money will be allocated is yet to be determined by the collaborative partners.

Besides the obvious stewardship issues, there are the hidden ones, says August.

For example, many parcels are preserved by way of easements but if the easements are not monitored, problems can arise. Lands can change hands and with the deeds go the easements. But after a few changes in ownership, a new owner might not have the conservation ethic of the original land owners and be tempted to legally challenge an easement. It follows that an easement must have a solid legal basis and yet many land trusts, for example, do not have the legal expertise to answer a challenge, he says.

In addition to the Sharpes, the collaborative has another $1 million donor in the wings-this one is anonymous.

The arrangement is that the anonymous benefactor will answer any donation of $1,000 or more given to the collaborative endowment at the RI Foundation with a matching gift to the conservation group of the donor's choice. The matching gift can go to any organization but has to be used for stewardship of conservation

land in Rhode Island. The anonymous benefactor has agreed to make the matches up until the year 2010 or until the $1,000,000 matching fund limit has been reached.

Over at the RI Natural History Survey, a CELS outreach program and one of the seven organizations in the collaborative, Executive Director David Gregg says his organization is in a unique position to assist all members of the collaborative because of its extensive database on species and habitats. The survey, based in Ranger Hall, can serve as a conduit for expertise from the College of the Environment and Life Sciences to the communities, notes Gregg.

"The whole idea is to get people focused on stewardship," says Gregg. "There's a reason why you buy a certain parcel. If you buy a parcel for a field, a nesting bird habitat, for example, you have to keep that field mowed or it will revert back to shrubs and forest." He noted there are other more obvious stewardship issues such as maintaining boat ramps, keeping trails open, combating invasives and preventing dumping.

Gregg says once the collaborative receives its first money from the Sharpe gift, the members will look at the stewardship tasks needed on Rhode Island's conservation land and then look at the impediments. "Then we will come up with ideas how to overcome the impediments and then consider the budget."

The task will be a challenge and there is a great need to attract more donors to the collaborative, he adds, comparing conservation land to museums or academic buildings. "It's one thing to get someone to pay for a new building," says Gregg. "It's another thing to get them to help keep the lights on."

Donations of $1,000 or more can be made to the Conservation Stewardship Endowment Fund at the RI Foundation. The Challenge Match will make a gift in the same amount to a conservation organization of your choice. The organization receiving the matching gift must use the funds to support their conservation stewardship programs in Rhode Island. Instructions and forms can be found at www.ricsc.org.

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