Dutchess Land Conservancy

Land conservation: in 2022, the organization worked with numerous landowners on conservation projects covering more than 3,900 acres, and several conservation planning projects, developing, and Land conservation, responding to inquiries about conservation easements, doing research and analysis of important resource Land, and visiting properties. In 2022, four conservation easements and one large conservation project were completed protecting 1,540 acres which brought the organization's total Land protected to approximately 46,030 acres. Purchase of development rights - the organization continued its work with several farmers on pdr projects in many Dutchess county towns. Municipal conservation areas - through the organization's municipal conservation area assistance program, a program to help towns (Land conservation) acquire important resource Land for passive public use, the organization, working with the town of dover, completed the purchase and protection of the seven wells property to add to the dover stone church preserve. In 2022 the organization accepted the fee gift of 1,258 acres of Land to be owned and managed by the organization as a wildlife conservation area and passive public preserve.

Education and outreach: educating people about conservation and research are an integral part of the organization's mission. The organization's staff regularly talk with municipalities, school groups, community members, and private landowners about the importance of Land preservation, sound planning, quality growth that protects important resources, Land stewardship and management, and ways to keep farmers on the Land. In 2022, the organization hosted and participated in 40 education events, reaching almost 2300 people. The organization collaborated with 18 organizations and interacted with 300 students and children. In addition, the organizations' outreach and volunteer programs engaged over 190 volunteers to improve public spaces in their communities and in community service initiatives. Staff and board (education) members also participated in and attended numerous virtual events education throughout the year. Staff attended the national Land trust rally (conference), attended the new york Land trust conservation conference, numerous seminars, classes and webinars to increase knowledge, participated on numerous committees (state, regional, and local) and attended various gatherings to promote awareness of the environment, Land conservation, and the organization's work. The organization's president continues to serve on the Land trust alliance ny advisory council and was elected to serve on the national Land trust accreditation commission.

Stewardship: the organization has now protected 46,030 acres stewarding 435 easements. The organization aerially monitors all properties annually and ground monitors its easements on a three to four year rotational basis. In 2022, the organization aerially monitored all conservation easements and completed 141 on a 3-to-4-year rotational ground monitoring schedule through staff. The organization worked on numerous stewardship matters from prior approval requests and Land management questions to resolving easement issues. In 2022, the organization again registered for terrafirma, the conservation easement defense insurance program to enhance its ability to successfully enforce its easements. Each year, the organization also provides research and Land management assistance and works to update old (stewardship) baseline documentation files. Staff strive to keep up to date on internet services such as stewardship microsoft's mapslive.com, google earth, and bing, which provide very useful additional sources of aerial photography and implemented the use of satellite imagery as a monitoring tool. The organization's stewardship responsibilities continue to increase each year as more and more easements are accepted. The organization continues to improve the tracking of easement protected property sales, communication with landowners, and maintaining a "watch list" of easement protected Land on the market to check for new ownership. Throughout the year, the staff files critical easement related documents in the organization's archival storage unit in an off-site facility to ensure the long-term safety of the organization's most valuable documents. The organization also continued its collaboration with columbia Land Conservancy (clc) on its farmer landowner match program, that facilitates lease agreements between landowners seeking to have their Land farmed, and farmers seeking Land, as a way to keep Land open.