Workshop Descriptions
Saturday, April 5, 2008
3:00 - 4:30 PM

Session 3a
Using Your Personal Resources Strategically
Peter Lane, Institute for Conservation Leadership
Description: Land trust leaders are faced with multiple demands on their time and talents. Overwork and imbalance can lead to burnout. This workshop will help leaders including executive directors, staff, board, and volunteers to assess their personal priorities and time management practices, recognize areas where they’d like to have better balance, and identify changes they would like to make in order to achieve greater balance and satisfaction in their life and work. .

Session 3b
Applying for Accreditation:
Experiences of PA Land Trusts
Theodosia Price, Brandywine Conservancy
Laura DiBetta, Land Trust Accred. Commission
Barbara Drew, Bedminster Land Conservancy
Linda Thoma, North Branch Land Trust
Estelle Wynn, Brandywine Conservancy
Sharon Young, Heritage Conservancy
As pilot applicants to the Land Trust Accreditation Program of the Land Trust Accreditation Commission, the Bedminster Land Conservancy, Heritage Conservancy and the Brandywine Conservancy are in the unique position to offer insight from their application experiences to other PA land trusts considering applying to this program. This roundtable session will serve as an open forum of information and questions and answers for those trusts considering applying for accreditation, or for those selected as 2008 Land Trust Accreditation Applicants. Through this session, participating land trusts have the opportunity to share their experiences and serve as mentors to other trusts from the Commonwealth on what to expect and how to be prepared for regarding the application process.

Session 3c
More Effective Conservation Through Better Models for Development
Kendra Briechle, The Conservation Fund
Diane Kripas, PA Dept of Conservation & Natural Resources
This session will introduce tools and resources designed to help communicate about the connection between development and conservation. It will also provide resources to implement practices that ensure attractive, livable communities. Creative use of existing tools can result in better development—and more effective conservation. Diane Kripas, Division Chief, DCNR’s Greenways and Conservation Partnerships, will introduce this session. Kendra J. Briechle of The Conservation Fund will provide an overview of Better Models for Development through an engaging slideshow and demonstration of the toolkit, followed by participant questions. All participants will receive a copy of the Better Models for Development in Pennsylvania guidebook and the Implementing Better Models toolkit to move from ideas to action.

Session 3d
Finding Continuity: Preserving Active Farm Lands and Natural Resources
Jeff Marshall, Heritage Conservancy
Laura Baird, Heritage Conservancy
Jackie Kramer, Farm & Natural Lands Trust of York County
Land conservation continues to become more complicated and expensive. Many properties have a combination of conservation values that deserve protection such as agriculture, critical wildlife habitat and natural resources. Traditionally, groups have often focused on either agricultural preservation or natural resource protection. In many parts of the State, conservation easements are getting so expensive that county agricultural boards, land trusts and local municipalities are finding it necessary to work together. This session will focus on the ways in which different land trusts can work together with other types of land trusts and government agencies to preserve both agriculture and natural resources on a property that contains both resources. The speakers will discuss distinctions between “open space” and “farmland preservation” and how different government programs such as CREP, and WRP can bring them into closer alignment. There will be examples of funding options, project that contain joint easement, overlay easement and separate types easements on an individual property and on the overall role that land trust may have in collaborating these different efforts.

Session 3e CLE CREDITS/CEUs
The Nuts & Bolts of Conservation Acquisitions
Michelle Chapkis, Western PA Conservancy
Peter Olmstead, Lancaster Farmland Trust
Steven Schiffman, Esq., Serratelli, Schiffman, Brown & Calhoun PC
This session will provide a comprehensive overview of fee and conservation easement acquisitions. A panel will discuss legal implications, the negotation process and specific guidelines for successful acquisition transactions.

Session 3f
The Nature Conversation: How to Do Land Protection and (Live to) Talk About it to Landowners and Others
Lynn Wodell, Lancaster County Conservancy
“Nature Conversations” are the most critical conversations you will have regarding land protection. Until you know how to prepare for negotiations and how to talk to the landowners, your protection efforts will not be as strong, complete, efficient or effective as they can be. There is a gap between the knowledge you have regarding financing, agreements, resource planning and management. Come close the gap.

Session 3g
Growing with Green Infrastructure
Karen Williamson, Heritage Conservancy
The sustainability of communities is increasingly a focus of ecological and social research in the 21st century. This session explores (1) how the concept of green infrastructure can be used to approach sustainability issues at the local level in response to a variety of social pressures and (2) discusses how land trusts are in a unique position to advance green infrastructure principles. Participants will work in small groups to analyze the characteristics of a hypothetical community and recommend how the local resources could be used to develop a green infrastructure system.

Session 3g
Prioritizing Land for Preservation: The Schuylkill Watershed Plan
Jennifer Adkins, Partnership for the Delaware Estuary
Paula Conolly, Philadelphia Water Dept.
Patty Elkis, Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission
The Schuylkill Watershed Land Prioritization Strategy is a new tool that recognizes the “Land-Water Connection” and identifies the highest priority resource areas to protect. This project uses sophisticated GIS modeling to identify lands within the Schuylkill Watershed that are the most important to preserve for both ecological and source drinking water protection, further defined by development threat over the next 20 years. The tool is a series of maps that can be viewed on-line through a browser, or can be downloaded in GIS for further analysis.

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