mar-apr 2009 landlines newsletter ~ land conservancy of san luis obispo county

8/8/2019 Mar-Apr 2009 Landlines Newsletter ~ Land Conservancy of San Luis Obispo County

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Super-Heroes Boost Land Protection

In todays world of high fashion, it is increasingly rare to see someone wear a cape. Reachintheir fashion zenith in the 1890s, capes gave way around 1915 to the coats we wear today.

But the cape did come back briefly in 1939, enjoying a major resurgence among super-hero

like Batman, Superman and The Flame. If I could bring back the cape one more time, I

would place it on the Land Conservancys Board of Trustees. They are the new super-hero

of land conservation in San Luis Obispo County.

This January, our Board of Trustees bestowed

upon the Land Conservancy a cumulative gift of

$251,000. This combination of cash, pledges, andplanned gifts was committed to launch the Conser-

vancys newly created action funds and to propel our

conservation programs. The gift is also intended to

inspire conservation-minded people in our County

to join our growing conservation mission.

The Trustees spent many months working with

staff and key supporters on developing and testing

the funding programs that will carry us forward.

They also spent significant time developing our new

strategic plan. They made difficult decisions in an uncertain economy, and weighed the im-portance of the Land Conservancys mission against their own needs. In short, they shed

their mild-mannered personas to dawn the capes of success.

Our Trustees donate many hours in the governance of our organization and every one of

them gives. This year, however, the actions of the Trustees are truly transformational, and

each has come to a new way of thinking regarding their roles as leaders in the community.

Their commitment will increase the pace of land conservation, establish the permanency of

our organization, help more people form bonds with the land, and help us care for the land

we have conserved. Their actions on behalf of land conservation will forever change our or

ganization and our county.

When the Board of Trustees thought hard about the importance of land conservation

and our role in the organizations success, we knew that investing all we could

was the right thing to do for our community.- Gary Felsman, Board President

Interestingly, in the 1890s when capes were all the rage in fashion, John Muir was protectin

Yosemite Park. Coincidence? I dont think so. Its nice to know that people are still workin

to conserve special places, including those we know and love in San Luis Obispo County.

So, keep your eyes open. If you see anyone downtown wearing a cape, it might just be a Lan

Conservancy Board Trustee.

AuthorBrian Starkconsiders it an honor to have served as Executive Director for 5 years under the

superheroes mentioned above.

Trustees L to R: Herb Kandel, BK Richard, Penny

Rappa, Gary Felsman, Bev Gingg, Herb Stroh, V

erie Endres, Alex Rothenberg (missing: Lisa Wis

2009UpcomingEventsLower SLO Creek

Volunteer Days

2nd & 4th Saturdays

9am-12pm

RSVP: Dave Rau 544 9096

Earth DayFood & Wine Festival

Saturday, April 18th

2-5pm

Santa Margarita Ranch

www.VineyardTeam.org

Octagon Barn Tour

Tuesday, April 21st

10am 12noon

MEMBERS ONLY

Happy (Volunteer) Hour

Wednesday, April 22nd

5-7pm

All LC Volunteers Welcome!

Octagon BarnVolunteer Work Days

Saturdays, April 11 &25th

9-12am

4595 South Higuera St, SLO

San Luis BeautifulArt at the Octagon Barn

May 2nd & 3rd

Sat. 11-5pm; Sun. 11-3pm

4595 South Higuera St, SLO

Vol. 25 No. 2 - March/April 2009


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Sowing the Seeds of Farm Succession

Succession planning is a critical step in facilitating a smooth transfer of family assets to the next generation and can provide some assurance that working family lands will stay in agriculture. While related to estate planning, succession plan-ning goes beyond asset transfer and tax planning to include decision-making around sharing of responsibilities and helping the next generation prepare to run a business.

"Sowing the Seeds of Farm Succession: Planning the Transition to the Next

Generation of Family Farmers is a workshop designed to help farm families deal withretirement planning, strategic business planning, conflict resolution, conservationeasements as a succession tool, and more. Interactive sessions coordinated by CaliforniaFarmLink, University of California Cooperative Extension and San Luis Obispo CountyFarm Bureau will help families begin to co-create their farm or ranch succession plan.The Land Conservancys Executive Director, Brian Stark, will present the role ofConservation Easements as a succession planning tool.

I look forward to discussing conservation as a farm planning tool becausekeeping farmland in production is an important goal for our organization.

Keeping farming and ranching viable in our County is the best way to protectthe character of our communities. - Brian Stark, Executive Director

CA FarmLinks goal is to help producers take concrete steps to address difficult questions like: How do you minimizedebt for the farm business and successors while being fair to all heirs and retaining an adequate retirement income?How do you reconcile the goals of retiring farmers, non-farm heirs, and beginning farmers?

California FarmLinkworks with aspiring & retiring farmers to facilitate the entry of skilled and committed individuals into agriculture

Farm Succession Conferen

Saturday, March 288:30 am to 4:30 pm

Courtyard Marriot Hotel, SL

Cost: $70/person;$40/addtl. family member

Registration includes resourpackets, continental breakfacatered lunch and reception

www.californiafarmlink.or

(831) 425-0303


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Can You Find Your San Luis Beautiful?

Join us at the Octagon Barn to celebrate the places you know and love.and dis-cover new ones you havent even seen before! The Land Conservancyand San

Luis Obispo Painters for the Environment(SLOPE) are teaming up to celebrate

our 25th anniversary, almost exactly to the day, since our formation.

We invite the community and our members to our special benefit event,

San Luis Beautiful ~ Art at the Octagon Barnin honor of our 25-year land protection legacy.

Dont miss this opportunity to see the turn-of-the-century Barn transformed into a

fine-art exhibition filled with stunning collectible artwork, live music, and festivities.

The talented SLOPE painters have been exploring the treasures of our County all

year, including sites like Filipponi Ecological Area and Bob Jones Trail (below)

where many of you have visited or volunteered. Fourteen artists from this nationally

renowned group will display oils, pastels, and watercolors from locales all over the

County that vividly remind us of the important conservation we have done and have

yet to do. Framed originals, prints and cards will be for sale with 40% of sales bene-

fitting future conservation efforts!

Take a peek at a plein air artist in motion, or listen to a poetry reading while enjoying

some local beer or wine and light snacks. We also have Barn tours and great raffle

prizes lined up, including Barn memorabilia, art, and local wine tasting tours.

You may have wandered on these trails, spent volunteer hours restoring the Barn or

the creeks, or read about our successes from afar. Nows your chance to visit the

Barn and take home a treasure while giving a hand to the land!

Visitwww.LCSLO.org or call us at 544-9096 to purchase tickets.

Rosanne Seitz

Fayrene Parrish

Volunteer Opportunities! We need lots of help to put on this commemorative

event. Volunteers who commit to at least one shift will be awarded free eventaccess. If you can help, pick a task and timeslot, then callDave Rau at 544-9096 ext. 14.

Volunteer Shifts

10:30 a.m. 1 p.m.

12:30 p.m. 3 p.m.

2:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. (Sat. only)

When

May 2-3, 2009Sat: 11-5pm & Sun: 11-3pm

WhereOctagon Barn

4595 South Higuera St.San Luis Obispo, CA 93401

Ticket Donation

$20 Pre-sale $25 At the doorTickets valid for both days;

Children 12 and under are FREEwww.LCSLO.org

EntertainmentArt Sale

Barn ToursRaffle Prizes

Light AppetizersKids Art ActivitiesLocal Beer & Wine

Live MusicSat: Bluegrass Music

byBetter Late Than NeverSun: Classical Music featuring

Youth Symphony Principals

Get Involved

Sponsor the EventDonate a Raffle Item

Spread the WordHelp Sell Tickets

Contact Wende or Judith at(805) 544-9096

Fayrene Parish

Task & # of volunteers per shift each day:

Ticket Sales 5

Raffles 2

Beverages 3

Food 1

Kids Art Activities 2


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Transforming Knowledge into Action

Leave a Legacy

Maybe youve thought about making a bequest toThe Land Conservancy, but were unsure of how toproceed. While we dont give direct estate planning

advice, were happy to work with you or your financialadvisor to ensure your gift is used as you wish.

One popular way to give is to list The Land Conservanc

of San Luis Obispo County as a beneficiary on your IRA

Keogh, or other retirement plan assets. These assets ar

not taxed upon distribution to a nonprofit.

Our legal designation is: The Land Conservancy of San Luis Obispo Count

501 (c) (3) nonprofit corporation

Tax ID #: 77-0039294

We would also like to get advice from existing plannedgivers to improve the service we provide to those who

wish to leave a land legacy. Please call Brian Stark (805

544-9096 to share your thoughts or to learn more about

The Land Conservancys Terra Firma Society.

Ranching Sustainability

Self-Assessment WorkshopThursday, March 19th

8:30am 3pmVeterans Memorial Building, 801 Grand Ave., SLO

$15 includes refreshments and lunchhttp://danr.ucop.edu/ihrmp/

Learn more about the economic, ecological, andsocial aspects of ranching sustainability by:

1) self-assessing your ranching operation withsustainability in mind;2) discussing the self-assessment process and severalaspects of sustainability with other ranchers; and3) reviewing rangeland water quality issues.

Hosted byUC Cooperative Extensionand supportedby a grant from Californias Oak Woodland

Conservation Program

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Last month, a group of scientists representing the states preeminent dune ecology specialists met to hear Land Con-servancy Stewardship Manager, Daniel Bohlman, reveal the results of 5 years of invasive species management work in

the Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes. The Dune Restoration Task Force consists of scientific experts from the Guadalupe

Dunes National Wildlife Refuge, California Dept. of Fish & Game, California Dept. of Parks and Recreation, the Dunes Center, Th

Land Conservancy, andJenesis Ecological Services(consultant to Chevron for Guadalupe Oil Field restoration). In 2003, th

body of experts set an aggressive Restoration Management Plan for the Dunes. Since that time, The Land Conservanc

has led on-the-ground restoration efforts and coordinated monitoring results in the field. The extensive monitoring

sought to answer the basic questionWill simply removing invasive plant species lead to the recovery of native plant

communities?

In this case, the best answer is that the prescribed management of weeds does

dramatically reduce invasive plant populations. In fact, it is estimated that o

invasive species management program has set back invasive plant infest

tions 30 years. While that is good news, the monitoring results also reveal tha

native plants require a more active strategy to help to successfully recover from

years of competition.

Based on the data, the Restoration Task Force recommended program change

including more robust invasive species treatments, seeding and employing met

ods to help foster seed grow, and adjusting the monitoring protocol to better

resolve both successes and failures. Having reviewed the monitoring data over

the past five years, The Land Conservancy anticipated the need to adjust methodology and began working on a test si

to evaluate new treatments last year. We are already seeing progress at this site and plan to incorporate some of these

new methods into our future restoration work.

Thank YouLand Conservancy Restoration

Staff for making the world a better place.


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Changing Faces of the Restoration Program

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This month, Kaila Dettman returned to the Land Conservancy and to her previousrole as Restoration Program Manager. Kaila came back after an 18-month sabbatical

traversing the United States, sailing Lake Powell and the Florida Coast, and travelling to

the South Pacific. She is excited to re-join the effort to restore and enhance our local

lands and waterways. Kailas return allows outgoing Program Manager, MichaelLeBrun, to concentrate his efforts at a Project Management level with a focus on Black

Lake Canyon restoration. Welcome back Kaila, and thank you Michael for your great work!

We welcome Paul Valley as a restoration special-ist. Paul Valley was born and raised in Crescent City,

where the redwoods meet the sea.

Paul has worked for the CCC restoring salmon habitat, removing exotic plants,

and protecting riparian zones. Hes also done trail construction in Humboldt,

Yosemite and the Trinity Alps Wilderness. While attending Cal Poly, Paulworked seasonally for Redwood National Park and Point Reyes National Sea-

shore in the trail construction and maintenance divisions.

Paul holds a bachelors degree from Cal Poly in Recreation, Parks and Tourism Administration with a concentration

in Natural Resources Management. By working with the Land Conservancy, he hopes to learn how our County has

managed to keep such a strong economy and preserve such a tremendous amount of green space. For fun, Paul likes

to backpack, surf, swim, and cliff dive. Were glad to have you, Paul, join our Land Conservancy restoration team !

PhotosbyDaveRau

Happy ( Volunteer ) Hour !

We are delighted that so much has been accomplishedwith the help of all our wonderful volunteers this

year.and its only March! Restoration volunteers tend

to sensitive sites in need, office helpers send out mailings

sharing our good news, and committee volunteers coordi-

nate successful events like the Annual Conservation Re-

ception. In total you have donated more than 4,100 hours

to saving special places over the past twelve months.

Now its time to celebrate!

Office volunteerTeresa Tibstra alw

offers a smile and a willing ha

Some of the Lower SLO

Creek Regulars volunteers

George Brusch, Bob

Lindquist,Anita Fabre,

Michael Gleason plan the

next move with Project

Manager Don Applegate.

Land Conservancy Volunteers Are Invited To

Happy (Volunteer) HourWednesday, April 22nd (Earth Day)

5-7 pm

547 Marsh St, SLO

Office Gardens

Stories, munchies, prizes, fun and camaraderie!


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Congratulations to Octagon

Bird-Barn raffle winners

Bob & Jamie Carr. The

raffle raised over $450 for the

LC and the El Camino Arts

Association.

Marguerite

Erickson

helps KalenaCirone read

the winning

raffle ticket.Andrea Miller, Julie Stowasse

Shawna Scott, Jaime Hill and Ma

Reents toast to local land

PhotosbyD.

Rau&T.

Tibstra

Conservation Director Bob Hill, Executive

Director Brian Stark, and past Executive. Direc-

tor Ray Belknap celebrate 25 years of conserva-

tion.

Santa Maria 2nd grade

teacher Lucia Casalinuovo

(pictured below center)led herstudents and some of their par-

ents on a how to plant oak seed-

lings her students have been tend-

ing since fall. Look for the babyoaks along Black Lake Canyon

near Callendar Road in Nipomo.

Expert Richard Welch shows the life cycle of a Monarch

Butterfly at the annual February Butterfly Hike at Black

Lake in Nipomo.

Rincon Consultantsvolunteer

planting natives at Filipponi

Ecological Area.

Central Coast Brewing owners,

Jim Aaron & George Peterson,

talk local beer with Ed Eby and

Charlie Gulyash.

Local People, Local Land

Photosby

CurtBentzinger

Restoration Program Manager Michael LeBrun dis-

plays the artistic talent of Restoration Specialist Ryan

Ihm on our new signage.


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Special Thanks

Wish List

Page 7

Irrigation piping & supplies (used or new; good condition )

Volunteer to translate into Spanish some of our outreach materials.New or gently used tablecloths for long rectangular tables; dark green preferred.

Game camera (weatherproof, outdoor, motion-detecting camera)

All donations are tax-deductible and greatly appreciated!

Board Of TrusteesGary Felsman, President

Herb Stroh,Vice PresidentLisa Wise,Treasurer

Valerie EndresBeverly GinggHerb KandelPenny RappaBK Richard

Alex RothenbergEd Carson, Emeritus

StaffExecutive Director: Brian Stark

Conservation Director: Bob Hill

Restoration Program Manager:Kaila Dettman

Membership & Development Manaand LandlinesEditor:Wende David

Stewardship Manager:Daniel Bohlman

Business Manager: Crystal Elwood

Project Managers:Mark Skinner, Michael LeBrun, Don Applegate

Conservation Planning Associate:Margo Heekin Clark

Community Connection Liaison:Dave Rau

Community Program Aide:Judith Hildinger

Crew Leader: Brian OSullivan

Restoration Specialists:Ryan Ihm, Matt Logue, & PaulValley

LANDLINES is printed on recycled paper. Sign up for our eco-friendly on-line newsletter and preview all the same great photos & stories in full color!

Nipomo ChapterContact Herb Kandel at

[email protected]

Santa MargaritaCommunity Forestry

Contact Beverly Gingg at

[email protected]

Thank Youto the following for your outstanding contributions:Turley Wine Cellars, Central Coast Brewing, New Frontiers, SLO Baked

Bakeries & Scolaris for donating delicious food & drink to ourAnnual Reception.

Mary Lou Wilhelm & Richard Root for donation of a popup canopy.

Nancy Watts for donation of a popup canopy and professional display system.

Curt Bentzinger ofImagearium for donating Annual Reception photographs.

Frame Works for helping raise $137 dollars for the Octagon Barn Center duringthe 3rd AnnualArt Eco Exhibition.

Joan Goodall & Marvin Kroeger from El Camino Art Association for creating and

donating the lovely Octagon Bird Barn.

547 Marsh St., San Luis Obispo, CA 934

The Land Conservancy of San Luis Obispo Countyis your local, non-profit land trust working exclusively in nearby

communities. That means your donations go to work right here at home.

We use voluntary and collaborative measures, to permanently protect

lands having scenic, agricultural, habitat and cultural valuesfor the benefit of wildlife and people.

Protecting the health of our communities means assuring that landconservation keeps pace with growth. We know that our communities are

growing, and it is our job to make sure that this growth is always balanced withconservation. This is our pledge as your local land trust.

If you support what we do, please tell your friendsand encourage others to join.

Celebrating 25 Yearsof Land Preservation in SLO County547 Marsh Street, San Luis Obispo, CA 93401

mar-apr 2009 landlines newsletter ~ land conservancy of san luis obispo county

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