The North American Land Trust Ethos
Lead Whitman Woods Project adviser North American Land Trust (NALT) has been committed to land preservation since its founding in 1992. It tailors Conservation Management Plans to respond to the growing demand for creative solutions to Green Space stewardship.
Roughly 80 percent of Americans reside in urban areas. The 2020 global pandemic underscored the need to include accessible Green Spaces and Nature in urban design for the benefit of the environment and the health and wellbeing of humans and wildlife. Protecting and conserving pockets of Nature that provide more urban dwellers with access to Nature is an imperative. Of equal importance is converting and restoring Green Spaces within older parts of cities and towns; Whitman Woods Project embodies the latter.
To ensure its successful restoration/preservation, it is essential to establish appropriate “Whitman Woods” Conservation Management objectives (see Site Plan) and secure the financial means to achieve these goals. Regardless of whether a preserve is shoreline, wooded, agricultural, meadow or woodland, the old assumption that natural lands can “maintain themselves” or that a “let it be” management approach is the preferred option, is no longer applicable nor feasible.
Creating a Conservation Management Plan
While some properties need minimal maintenance and others require extensive measures to control erosion, restore wetlands or enhance woodlands, all lands merit a Conservation Management Plan (CMP) and an owner/steward committed to its implementation. Any use or goal requires a management presence to sustain the desired result.
Utilizing the best current natural resource management strategies, NALT implements Conservation Management practices that reflect a site’s unique elements and the land’s natural features in a custom Conservation Management Plan.
Conservation Services
As stewards and caregivers, NALT can help responsibly manage and conserve a property’s natural resources. Its Conservation Management planning services include:
- Wetland & Stream restoration
- Habitat enhancement
- Invasive Species management
- Wildlife management
- Forest management
- Trail Networks
- Pollinator Meadows
- Corporate campuses or large corporate open space
- Cost-share programs (state or local municipal program to offset)
Landowners can use a NALT Conservation Management Plan with or without an existing Conservation Easement on their land. To create a plan, NALT biologists and mapping experts first complete an extensive land evaluation, which includes a biological assessment and an evaluation of the project’s goals and vision. The resulting CMP is an extensive document that consists of priority goals and the steps to achieve them, species fact sheets, mapping, professional resources, technical recommendations and budgeting to guide the owner/steward through enhancing and managing the site.
NALT’s Conservation Management clients include private landowners, developers, corporations and local governments.