2008 Maine Land Conservation Conference

Workshops – Session B: Saturday, May 3^rd 1:30 – 3:00 PM

B1 Energizing Your Appeal with Effective Letters and Mailing Strategies

Presenter: Patty Renaud, Membership Manager, Maine Coast Heritage Trust

Drafting an annual appeal letter can fill even seasoned fundraisers with dread. This session will demystify the appeal letter by providing proven structures and formats, key elements to include in your message, and tips on developing a package and obtaining lists of sound prospects. Participants will leave with techniques, tools and resources to bring new life to old appeals. Bring questions and samples of your best and worst to share. All

B2 Integrated Strategy for Success and Sustainability -- Part I

Presenter: Karen Buck, Conservation Impact

To be successful, nonprofits must be clear about their identity, have capacity to do the job, and create meaningful relationships with their constituents. The integrated strategy shows how these three areas work together to achieve sustainability. During the first half of this two part workshop, participants will be introduced to this powerful concept and will learn how to evaluate their organization in these three key areas. Intermediate /Advanced

B3 Increasing Capacity through Effective Board Committees

Presenter: Deb Chapman, Land Trust Circuit Rider, MCHT

All land trusts can benefit substantially by having strong committees that function effectively. Come to this session to hear experienced staff and board members describe the key features of high functioning committee systems and how to build them. All

B4 Dipping a Toe into the World of Conservation Easements: Running Through the Process from Start to Finish

Presenter: Liz Petruska, Executive Director, Medomak Valley Land Trust

Conservation easements offer a way to permanently limit the uses and development of a property, while keeping it in private ownership and on the tax rolls. Come learn the recommended steps for responsibly working through the entire conservation easement process. This workshop is designed for municipalities or land trusts that are interested in learning or improving their process, but it would also interest landowners thinking of or engaged in doing a conservation easement. We will work through the steps from planning for a region, to landowner contact, to consideration of a proposed easement and its planning negotiation and design, to the baseline data, steps at closing, and transition to stewardship. Beginner

B5 Farmland Protection 201

Presenters: John Piotti, Executive Director, Maine Farmland Trust; LouAnna Perkins, Legal Counsel for Maine Farmland Trust

This session will present strategies and options for organizations that have done some work protecting farmland and want to take their scope of work to the next level. Presenters will talk about structuring, negotiating and monitoring complex working landscape projects including the Friends of Unity Wetlands' Fields and Forests Forever Initiative and Maine Farmland Trust's Buy/Protect/Sell Program. MFT's FarmLink Program, which helps to connect farmland owners with farmers who want to work protected land, will also be covered. Advanced

B6 Ins and Outs of Double Layers

Presenter: Karin Marchetti Ponte, General Counsel, Maine Coast Heritage Trust

Are your fee preserves permanently protected? Are they beyond the reach of creditors? Are they eligible for property tax exemption? Learn about double layers of protection, easements and declarations of trust designed to keep your preserves forever undeveloped. Intermediate/Advanced

B7 Successfully Implementing a Conservation-Minded Timber Harvest

Presenter: Morten Moesswilde, Midcoast District Forester, Maine Forest Service

This session is intended to help land trusts to manage their own properties where forest vegetation management might be appropriate, to work more knowledgeably with private landowners who wish to harvest, and to provide useful information about timber harvesting to a wider audience.

Nearly one third of Maine's forests are in small, non-public ownerships ñ and well over 100,000 of these acres are harvested every year. ìTimber harvestingî on such lots can include a very diverse range of objectives and activities, but implementation of any given harvest based on some basic principles can make a great difference in how the forest responds. How such harvests are conducted can have a major impact on key conservation concerns locally and regionally.

This session will focus on timber harvesting nuts and bolts based on several examples. Participants will gain an overview of the process for planning and implementing commercial timber harvests that meet conservation goals and objectives. The presentation will address key steps, including: deciding whether to harvest (or not); hiring a forester/forester services; the economics of harvesting; job layout and matching equipment to conditions; protecting non-timber resources; and closing out the harvest. Intermediate

B8 Property Management Plans: The Nuts and Bolts of Stewardship Planning

Presenters: Steven Hufnagel,Director of Lands and Stewardship, Damariscotta River Association; Ian Stewart, Conservation Lands Manager, Coastal Mountains Land Trust; Erika Rowland, Stewardship Coordinator, Blue Hill Heritage Trust

Management plans are critical for providing long-term stewardship of conservation land, and their development and use are indicators upon which accreditation is based. Learn the essential components of a plan and how to involve the local community in building support for the property. The workshop will discuss the necessary information to begin planning (e.g., natural resource inventory), how to identify conservation targets and threats, and how to formulate actions that will conserve a property's most important resources. Intermediate

B9 No Child Left Inside

Presenters: Doug Beck, Recreation Superintendent, Auburn Parks and Recreation Department; Drew Dumsch, Executive Director, Ferry Beach Ecology School; Sheridan Steele, Superintendent, Acadia National Park

This session will highlight federal, state, and local efforts to improve environmental education. Come hear what conservation organizations, state agencies and educators are doing to encourage youth to experience Maine's outdoors. All

B10 Idea Forum -- Part I

Presenter: Katherine Birnie, Conservation Innovation Program Manager, MCHT

What new financing mechanisms, partnerships, and tools will help propel land conservation in Maine? This session is a chance to hear from colleagues who have ideas -- whether in seedling form or more fully hatched -- and to together brainstorm and discuss the implications of and strategies for implementing those ideas. We will also hear what's afoot with MCHT's new Innovation Program. If you have an idea you'd like to present, please email info@mltn.org by April 7 (topics to be posted on conference website by April 10). Advanced

B11 Managing the Landscape for Ticks: Issues for Land Managers in the Ecology of Lyme Disease

Presenter: Charles Lubelczyk, Field Biologist, Vector-borne Disease Laboratory, Maine Medical Center Research Institute

The session will focus on aspects of the ecology of the deer tick as it pertains to land managers. Habitat considerations, including the potential role invasive plants may play, and the role of overabundant deer will be among the topics discussed. Intermediate