Posted January 25, 200619 yr http://www.crainscleveland.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060125/FREE/60125002/1004&Profile=1004 Local land preservation groups merge By SCOTT SUTTELL 10:55 am, January 25, 2006 Eight Northeast Ohio groups dedicated to land preservation have merged into a single regional organization called the Western Reserve Land Conservancy. The merged organization said that its goal is to “protect forests, farms, wetlands and other natural areas” in a 14-county area of Northeast Ohio. The territory covers stretches from Ashtabula, Mahoning and Trumbull counties in the east, to Erie and Huron counties in the west. It also includes Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, Lorain, Medina, Portage, Summit, Stark and Wayne counties.
January 25, 200619 yr I like it. More power to them, because if they can acquire enough land, it will create a de-facto urban growth boundary around the metro area. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
January 25, 200619 yr This is excellent. True regional cooperation. Efforts like this are critical to the health and vitality of sprawling urban regions that exist all over the country, but are rarely this comprehensive.
June 29, 200618 yr From the 6/29/06 PD: Group gets $1 million gift to conserve land Thursday, June 29, 2006 John C. Kuehner Plain Dealer Reporter The newly formed Western Reserve Land Conservancy received a $1 million donation this month that will dramatically boost its efforts to preserve open space across 14 Ohio counties. Susan and Dick Grimm of Hunting Valley donated the money because they love the outdoors and want to see it protected. http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/1151569925122510.xml&coll=2
October 15, 200618 yr Conservancy hopes to create huge regional network of open land Friday, October 13, 2006 John Kuehner Plain Dealer Columnist Article Removed
October 11, 200717 yr Western Reserve Land Conservancy reaches 10,000-acre milestone Aurora Advocate October 10, 2007 With the recent preservation of land in Chester Township, Western Reserve Land Conservancy surpassed its 10,000th preserved acre, reaching the mark less than two years after a merger of eight land trusts. The largest of the merging groups, Chagrin River Land Conservancy, was founded in 1987. By 2003, it had reached 6,000 protected acres ... ... More at http://www.auroraadvocate.com/news/article/2672691
October 17, 200717 yr In my opinion, the Western Reserve Land Conservancy is one of the most important organizations in Northeast Ohio right now. Wish they had a higher profile, particularly in Cuyahoga County, as people should really be aware of the extraordinary work they're doing. Then again, maybe they'll be more successful if people aren't aware that they're preventing future exurbs by ... gasp ... preserving natural land. :wink: Lorain County farm sells permanent easement to Ohio Wednesday, October 17, 2007 Michael Scott, Plain Dealer Reporter Rochester Township- Jarvis Babcock's family goes back six generations on a 1,000-acre family farm in southern Lorain County. And the farming will go forward indefinitely following a preservation deal with the Ohio Department of Agriculture and the Western Reserve Land Conservancy ... ... More from http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/1192610697273970.xml&coll=2
October 17, 200717 yr If you haven't already seen it, here's the map of existing parks and areas protected directly by the WRLC: http://www.wrlc.cc/media/images/gallery/WRLC%20protected%20properties1.pdf Obviously, there is a long way to go, and we would be wise to donate substantially to the organization to increase their capacity, but this is a great start in my opinion.
October 17, 200717 yr Except for Geauga County and the eastern edge of Cuyahoga County, they've got a long way to go. It would be nice if some farmers in Lorain and Medina counties would donate their lands to the conservancy. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
October 17, 200717 yr I think that's the direction they're headed strategically. It should be noted that the Chagrin River Land Conservancy was the best organized of the land conservancies and gathered most of the Geauga properties before the merger took place. Now those efforts are occurring on a much more regional level. As noted in the article three posts up, the recently conserved farmland in Lorain County was their largest single conservancy easement to date. This is an organization that should, in my opinion, be given substantial funding to try to stategically piece together parcels in contiguous lines, rather than relying primarily on scattered donations. Moreover, their efforts could be more robust if they were to collaborate with NOACA in a regional planning process to try to limit infrastructure expansions in proximity to protected parcels. These will only serve as true barriers to exurban development if the farmland and preserves are not surrounded by cut-through roads and highways. That being said, they should be commended to date.
October 18, 200717 yr I don't know if it is their intention or within their capacity to stop or substantially slow urban sprawl. The amount of land they would need to conserve would be tremendous. The real value in what they do is in saving key pieces of land from development- like the Chagrin River Valley. Urban sprawl will be stopped by changing our transportation spending priorities and by making a real concerted efforts to improve our inner cities.
October 18, 200717 yr The real value in what they do is in saving key pieces of land from development- like the Chagrin River Valley. And recognizing they could not do it individually, but rather as a single entity.
October 18, 200717 yr I'm sorry, by individually do you mean the landowners who originally held the land and donated it, or the smaller conservation groups that merged?
October 18, 200717 yr OK, yeah, I agree it is good they merged resources. They are better off together. I was making somewhat of a general statement about Land Conservancies as a sprawl reducing strategy, using them as the example.
October 19, 200717 yr As a solitary effort for fighting sprawl, I agree. But I think they can be a component. While their efforts are obviously limited in capacity, every parcel that they protect is a piece of land that can't be developed upon in the future ... incrementally moving us further toward a time when commute times make outlying areas less desirable to live in. But if that's our only strategy, we'll lose the fight, since employment centers are moving away from the city proper (shortening commute times for exurbanites) faster than we're combatting sprawl. That being said, I can't think of too many cities that are thriving that don't have some kind of geographic barriers to development, whether they be located on islands or in proximity to mountains, major rivers, lakes and oceans. Cleveland's got the lake, and the metroparks and national park provide another piece of the puzzle. Creating a ring of conserved properties is a step in the right direction, even if the conservancy can't accumulate enough land to serve as a defacto growth barrier. But you're right ... we need a more comprehensive agenda for combatting sprawl and a regional land use plan. Until that happy day ...
November 16, 200816 yr Land preservation group among award semifinalists http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081115/NEWS16/811140224 A Cleveland-area group that focuses on conserving land in 14 northern Ohio counties, including Erie and Huron, is in the running for a new award that offers a $250,000 prize. A spokesman for the fledgling Western Reserve Land Conservancy, in Novelty, Ohio, said it is one of 30 semifinalists for the Collaboration Prize, which was created earlier this year by the Lodestar Foundation and the Arizona-Indiana-Michigan Alliance to promote efficiency among nonprofit groups. The winner will be announced March 5. The conservancy’s latest work includes the preservation of the 453-acre Camp Firelands Boy Scout Reservation in Lorain and Erie counties and the creation of the nine-acre Scheeff East Point Nature Preserve on South Bass Island.
December 5, 20231 yr The Western Reserve Land Conservancy is hosting a public forum December 7th on improving the use of vacant land in Cleveland. https://levin.csuohio.edu/events/building-healthy-and-resilient-cleveland-neighborhoods-through-vacant-land-reuse Edited December 5, 20231 yr by LibertyBlvd
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