Latest news with #LandTrust
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
What's that on U.S. 1 south of Oslo Road in Indian River County?
INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — On the east side of U.S. 1, a half-mile north of the St. Lucie County border, the Indian River Land Trust is endeavoring to preserve the county's natural beauty. Coastal Oaks Preserve, at 1650 U.S. 1, features freshwater wetlands, pine flatwoods, tropical oak-palm hammocks, salt marshes, mangrove forests and seagrass beds, according to the land trust website. Neither Land Trust Executive Director Ken Grudens nor county Planning Chief Brandon Creagan could be reached for comment on the project. The land trust purchased the site, a piece of the former Hallstrom Estate, in 2011. It comprises 226 acres. Protect your home: It's not conditions for another 'Florida Firestorm,' but wildfire threat lingers More: Despite making $460,000, local medical examiner still not state's highest paid A living classroom is being built on the site. It will help environmental organizations and institutions engage with the public through education programs and research projects. Florida Atlantic University's Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute uses the site to mentor high school juniors and seniors through hands-on research projects. The preserve is located just over a mile south of Oslo Road, on the east side of U.S. 1. Nick Slater is TCPalm's Indian River County Watchdog reporter. You can reach him at and 224-830-2875. This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: What's that on U.S. 1, south of Oslo Road in Indian River County
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Finger Lakes Land Trust secures property along Chemung River. How land will be utilized
The Finger Lakes Land Trust has acquired more property along the Chemung River to provide for protection of wildlife and outdoor recreation opportunities. The latest acquisition includes 24 acres with 1,680 feet of frontage along the Chemung River off county Route 60 in the town of Chemung. The wooded property contains roosting habitat for bald eagles and migratory birds. Small ponds and stands of mixed hardwood trees define the parcel, which also contains scenic views of the surrounding hills, the Land Trust said. The agency plans to ultimately transfer the parcel to the state Department of Environmental Conservation for future use as a public conservation area and fishing access site. "The Chemung River is a remarkable natural resource that provides outstanding opportunities for outdoor recreation," Land Trust President Andrew Zepp said in a news release. "By working together with local partners, we can secure vital habitats for fish and wildlife while expanding public access to the river." To date, the organization has protected more than 14 miles of streambank and over 3,000 acres in the Chemung River watershed. Protected lands include the Steege Hill, Houghton, and Plymouth Woods nature preserves, and three parcels acquired in partnership with New York state to create the Big Flats Wildlife Management Area. MORE Watchdog releases DEC's Peanut the squirrel incident reports. What documents show By working cooperatively with landowners and local communities, the Finger Lakes Land Trust has protected more than 34,000 acres of the region's undeveloped lakeshore, rugged gorges, rolling forest, and scenic farmland. The agency owns and manages a network of over 45 nature preserves that are open to the public, and holds perpetual conservation easements on 200 properties that remain in private ownership. For more information, go to Follow Jeff Murray on X (Twitter) @SGJeffMurray. To get unlimited access to the latest news, please subscribe or activate your digital account today. This article originally appeared on Elmira Star-Gazette: Chemung River habitat to be preserved by Finger Lakes Land Trust
Yahoo
20-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Madison County high school students learning skills in environmental science
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WHNT) — With Earth Day just a few days away, News 19 spoke with various groups to discuss how they are working to help the environment. Students from two high schools in Madison County are getting hands-on experience, learning how to use data to protect the environment. The Land Trust of North Alabama made this environmental education program possible. Its mission is to preserve the area's scenic, historic and ecological resources through a process called CARE, which stands for conservation, advocacy, recreation and education. 📲 to stay updated on the go. 📧 to have news sent to your inbox. 'Our education wing is kind of the best way that we do community outreach,' Naturalist Educator Laura Lambert said. Lambert works for the Land Trust and spearheads the environmental education programs that are offered at the schools. Over the summer of 2024, the Land Trust spoke with a local company, PPG, to discuss the need for high school-focused environmental education. From that conversation, the high school environmental education program was born, and it officially began in the Spring of 2025. The program was funded by a $30,000 grant given to the Land Trust by PPG. 'A lot of environmental education programs focus on younger students, and high school students are interested in conservation and environmental advocacy, but they often don't have a way to do that,' Lambert said. 'We're really excited about being able to partner with them and help with programs like these that get people excited about the environment and conservation,' a spokesperson for PPG said. Lambert said the Land Trust saw this as an opportunity to help students become interested in environmental advocacy and prepare them for different types of careers, whether it's in environmentalism or in a different STEM field. The two participating schools are Lee High School, which is part of Huntsville City Schools, and Bob Jones High School, part of Madison City Schools. The environmental education program at Lee is focused on campus biodiversity, with about 25 students participating through the school's 'Green Ambassadors' club. The students there are utilizing chemical and bacteriological testing. For bacteriological testing, the students use strips of paper called R-CARDS, which allow them to see how much bacteria is in the body of water they test. 'They're just little pieces of paper that we can drop water samples on, and we incubate them here back in the office, and we can see how much E. coli is in the water and how many other types of bacteria in the water,' Lambert said. The Land Trust is planning on expanding the types of research the students are doing by adding microplastic monitoring for the 2025-2026 school year. 'That's a little bit more complicated. We use these things called Buchner funnels, and have to filter water out and then look at it under a microscope,' Lambert said. 'But that's just another way that this program has evolved in just one semester.' Lambert also mentioned that throughout the semester, the students at Lee found that the campus has very low biodiversity and found a spot they want to diversify. They designed a native planting area for their campus, and on Earth Day, they will be planting various plants. The environmental education program at Bob Jones is a bit different. There, the program is focused on water quality testing and water stewardship with data. About 50 students in two AP environmental sciences classes participate in the program. The students collect most of their data through observational research and with the help of an app called iNaturalist. This app allows them to keep a record of what they see and to help categorize each item. 'It's sort of a crowd-sourcing identification app that we can use,' Lambert said. 'What's great is that we can use data from iNaturalist to monitor our preserves and know what people are seeing in our preserves, so we can be better at conserving the life that are there.' All together, Lambert said the Land Trust makes each visit different from the last by introducing different topics each time, by exposing students to multiple ways they can approach environmental stewardship. 'It may not make sense to go and try to clean up this pond if there's nothing wrong with it, but it might make sense to put our efforts somewhere else, because we know in the field of nonprofits and environmental education, money is limited, so we have to make decisions about how to best spend that time and effort,' Lamert said. In addition to allowing these students to gain experience in environmental science, the Land Trust partners with different colleges across Madison County, such as Calhoun Community College and Alabama A&M, to give a more in-depth look into the field. The Land Trust has people from Calhoun visit each school to talk about post-secondary options for environmental leadership and conservation. Lambert said the college is also working on starting a certificate program for environmental stewardship that would help participating students. In contrast, the Land Trust's partnership with Alabama A&M allows its students to participate in the university's bird-banding research project at Chapman Mountain Nature Preserve. Lambert believes that the data collected through these projects will show people just how valuable their conservation efforts are. 'We don't make decisions about environmental protections willy-nilly,' Lambert said. 'We're making decisions based on data that's being crowd-sourced through a citizen science app, like iNaturalist, or we're making decisions based on actual field work that's being done on our preserves.' Lambert is hopeful the environmental program can expand to as many schools as possible in the future. 'We want as many schools as are willing to work with us for the 25-26 year,' Lambert said. 'Right now we have Bob Jones and Lee, but if we could expand that to, you know, four to six schools that we're working with next year, we would really enjoy that.' To learn more about what the Land Trust is up to, you can check out its website here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
