NCLC Executive Director Katie Voelke and landowner Paul McCracken discuss the acquisition of Coal Creek Swamp near Nehalem
NCLC uses two main strategies when working to conserve land.
Fee title ownership: Land is either donated to NCLC by the landowner, or purchased outright by NCLC with funding coming from both private and public sources through individual donations and acquisition grants.
Easement: A property owner retains ownership of the land, but either donates or sells the development rights for the land to NCLC. A conservation easement is attached to the deed of the property so that even if ownership is transfered, the easement on the property remains in place.
When land is owned outright by a land trust such as NCLC, an easement is not necessary to protect the land in perpetuity. However, sometimes easements are still placed on lands we purchase as conditions of the acquisition. Easements on NCLC owned land are not held by NCLC, but by other organizations.
For each property NCLC owns, our Stewardship Director conducts a baseline assessment of the land that includes descriptions of habitat and wildlife, maps and photo points. She then develops a stewardship plan for the property, and with the assistance of staff and stewardship committee volunteers with annual site visits and monitoring reports. For properties where more active ecological restoration is needed to control invasive plants and establish native habitat, we use a combination of grant funding and volunteer help to get the work done.
Easement properties are monitored annually to ensure that the conditions of the easement are being met.
Americorps volunteer Melissa Reich completes a monitoring report in the Little Gearhart Fen
