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.