Circling Back: Starting to Look More Official

One of 76 placards erected on our East
Marsh over the last two weeks  

(Written 5/14/18): While it certainly is still not official, the roughly 8" x 12" signs recently installed along the boarder of our ~200-acre proposed easement area by USDA's contracted survey crew (Hull & Associates), is a very positive step in a very positive direction for our site and our broader mission. The surveyors have been on-site for about the last two weeks, and they wrapped up their work this morning.

I haven't written on this subject since last September, but trust that progress continues to be made as we work with the NRCS to close on our first conservation easement. Now that the preliminary survey work is complete, we anticipate extinguishing any relevant title exceptions to be our last major obstacle ahead of closing.

Again, this will not change the ownership of the land. Standing Rush will still own and manage the property. A conservation easement is merely a legal agreement that forfeits traditional development rights (e.g., building, converting land uses) and insures that what is wetland habitat today will be wetland habitat in perpetuity.

We benefit through the "sale" of the easement, expressed as an agreed upon dollar amount per acre paid by the USDA. The general public benefits because it secures the long-term benefits and functions of this critical ecosystem without having to actually purchase and maintain the land.