Autumn 2001 Online Edition Newsletter
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New Executive Director Named
President's Message - Clare Oskay
From the Director - Marissa Codey
CPR for the Earth - Mary Wollitz-Dooley
Buy Land for $30 - Reta Rutledge
Autumn Stewardship Activities
New Interim Board Members Welcomed
Wish List
The Board of Directors is pleased to announce the hiring of Marissa Codey as Executive Director for Central Indiana Land Trust Incorporated. Ms. Codey graduated from Vassar College with a Bachelorıs Degree in Science, Technology, & Society and a minor in biology. She is currently completing a dual Masterıs Degree at Indiana University. In December she will hold an M.S. in Environmental Studies and a Master of Public Affairs. Most recently she has been employed as Project Administrator with the Indiana Conflict Resolution Institute.
Marissa brings to the job experience in grant writing as well as public outreach and education. She has had responsibility for supervision and is already involved in helping set up CILTIıs office. She has done field work in New York, Colorado, California, and last summer in Indiana. Her extensive computer skills include database and stewardship documentation, including GPS mapping.
Begin to make your acquaintance with her in her column of this Newsletter.
It has been an exciting, but hectic 2001 for the CILTI Board as we wrapped up our capital campaign and proceeded with our long range plan to hire an Executive Director and open an office. The search for an Executive Director netted responses from many qualified candidates from throughout the Midwest. Talking with these individuals and hearing about their commitments to nature and land protection was inspirational. Fortunately, we were able to find a candidate that we believe has just the right mix of educational background, work experience, leadership ability and a sincere desire to protect land in Central Indiana. The entire Board joins me in welcoming Marissa Codey as CILTIıs first Executive Director. Marissa will be working part-time until January, while she finishes up her Masters Degree at Indiana University, Bloomington.
Our next task was to locate suitable office space. With Marissaıs help, a committee visited several possible sites and agreed that the best location for our new ³home² is the Emrichıs building at 324 E. Morris Street. This building, the former Emrichıs Furniture Store, is being rehabilitated and remodeled into office space by the Concord Community Development Corporation. Concord is a neighborhood development group, which serves the near southside of Indianapolis. We will be joining several other not for profit organizations who are currently leasing office space in the building. By about mid-January, CILTI will have, for the first time in its history, a permanent, centralized and accessible base of operations.
It has been exciting to witness CILTIıs growth as an organization this past year. Next year is destined to bring even more excitement, as we will have a fulltime Executive Director visibly working to protect land and increase awareness of Central Indianaıs natural areas. At this time of year, when considering those "hard to buy for" folks on your holiday list, why not involve your friends and relatives in the excitement of land protection with a gift membership in CILTI? Admittedly, most of us already have enough "stuff", and putting that money to work protecting land will be a gift that lasts far longer than a necktie remains in style, perfume remains pungent, or a fruitcake remains fresh. (And, one size really does fit all!)
Best wishes for a peaceful Holiday Season!
As I begin my position as the first Executive Director of the Central Indiana Land Trust Incorporated (CILTI), I look forward to helping the organization reach new levels of success in land preservation as well as increased visibility and support. The commitment and dedication of the CILTI board, its members, and its supporting organizations and individuals continue to impress me, offering great hope that together we will be able to acquire and protect large portions of biologically diverse habitat throughout Central Indiana. I believe that in order to help CILTI reach these goals, I have a responsibility to strive not only to preserve as many valuable natural areas as possible, but also to work with the public at large to develop an understanding of the importance of such activities.
A recent experience at one of CILTI's properties highlighted the need for this dual responsibility. While participating in a cleanup event at the Gene B. Glick Nature Preserve I was approached by a young boy who stared at the trash I was removing and inquired as to what I was doing. When I responded that I was helping a group remove garbage from the edge of the preserve, his mother looked at me in bewilderment and asked, "Why on earth would you do such a thing? Why don't you just pave over the area to keep it clean and safe?" I found my mind searching for a way to respond to the woman in a manner that would be meaningful, and as I attempted to explain that the preserve provided habitat for local animals and offered greenspace for the residents of the neighborhood, I was met with a blank stare. A moment later the city bus arrived and the pair climbed its steps and disappeared from view. As I turned back to continue with the cleanup, I thought about the encounter and began visualize all of the unique and creative ways that a land trust such as CILTI could work with communities to develop an enhanced appreciation for natural areas.
I firmly believe that in order to achieve significant levels of biological preservation, it is essential that organizations involved with land acquisition and stewardship also become actively committed to educating the public about the need to preserve biodiversity. Although most individuals possess varying levels of interest in the natural environment, supporting land preservation concurrent with community economic development can often be a difficult task. However, it can also be a rewarding one when decisions are made in such a way as to place substantial value on the importance of greenspace. The ability to work effectively with a diverse group of stakeholders to accomplish something as important as land acquisition for preservation is essential, and I am eager to draw on my past experiences in ecology, land use planning, public affairs and conflict resolution to address this challenge.
CILTI has developed many valuable relationships with landowners committed to dedicating their properties to conservation, and I intend to build upon these relationships in addition to creating new ones. I believe that a combination of increased educational activities and improved landowner relationships will lead to a growing number of individuals willing to entrust their properties to CILTI for protection. I am honored to be in the position of helping to lead CILTI in this exciting direction, and look forward to many accomplishments in the years ahead.
David Brower, founder of the Earth Island Institute and former Executive Director of the Sierra Club phrased this plea to young people to point out that our living planet needs help on a regular basis doing Conservation, Preservation, and Restoration. He was inviting all of us to put concern for the environment into our job descriptions. We can do exactly that, if we stay mindful of the value of 4 billion years of life on Earth, the life processes that brought us into being.
Conservation: intelligent use of natural resources in a way that sustains life. This requires that we think of human activities in terms of their impact on ecosystems, recognizing ourselves as one species among many, interdependent for the sustainability of life itself.
Preservation: treasuring and holding onto what we can never replace -- biodiversity and wildness. Making land use decisions that save natural areas.
Restoration: bringing life back into better balance. Cleaning up rivers, replacing trees and native plants to places theyıve been clearcut or bulldozed, clearing air of pollutants. This means overcoming mistakes of the past and striving not to repeat or exacerbate them.
Did I get your attention? Actually, you can help to buy land for about $30, which is the additional cost for an environmental license plate. This money goes to Indiana Heritage Trust (IHT) and they do wonderful things with it. Of note is also IHT's ability to partner with Central Indiana Land Trust which strongly benefiting our own efforts to buy land.
Since 1993, the environmental plates have brought in $16 million, and the legislature contributed $17 million. Then IHT leveraged another $27 million in partnership money. They really know how to stretch a dollar.
Only 3% of the license plates sold in Indiana are environmental plates, and I sure hope there are more of us land lovers in Indiana than just 3% of the population. So, if you do not already have a Bald Eagle license plate, buy one because IHT will multiply the benefit and protect land.
Right now, IHT has only $167,000 in their account so that means no new projects, no partnering, no land saved. Make a difference. Buy an eagle!
Glick Nature Preserve
There were overcast rainy conditions Oct. 13th, and people could easily have found other things to do, but a crew of eleven arrived to care for the earth. This dayıs efforts included restoration activities. The CILTI workday group assembled to gather trash and do native plant reintroduction. Joining in were members of the Sierra Club-Heartlands Group.
Historic 1936 aerial photos show the site an open field. It is now a wooded oasis in an urban area. Six native oaks (floodplain and flatwoods species) were planted to provide a seed source for some of the missing species in the preserve. Ninety-eight wetland plants were donated to help stabilize the degraded stream channel.
Thank you Berg-Warner Nursery of Lizton, Indiana for the donation of oak trees and Spence Restoration Nursery of Muncie, Indiana for donating the wetland plants.
Burnett Woods Nature Preserve
Oct.27 was a cool but sunny Fall day, pleasant conditions for a workday. In addition to trash pickup, the crew of eleven pulled honeysuckle to remove this invasive non-native plant. It has appeared at the edges of this high quality woods and requires prompt eradication in order to prevent it from getting a foothold or marching to the interior.
We are pleased to have Mike Skorupka, environmental attorney with Plews Shadley Racher & Braun agree to serve for the remainder of this year in one of two recently vacated Board positions. Similarly joining the Board is Lynn Dennis, government relations specialist for the Indiana Chapter of The Nature Conservancy.
These enthused and talented persons will be eligible for slating for full terms at elections held at the Annual Meeting next Spring.
As CILTI opens its new office, there are several pieces of equipment that would be very helpful to the organization if someone is in a position to make such a gift. Those items include: photocopier, legal size file cabinets, conference table and chairs, inkjet plotter.