From trail creation to farmland preservation, and from fighting invasive species to protecting watersheds, the Leelanau Conservancy is continuing its efforts to safeguard and secure the unique character of Leelanau County. In the 35 years since the Conservancy was founded, it has preserved some 17,000 acres of land, created 28 natural areas for public enjoyment, and brought more than 28 miles of trails to the county. And those numbers are growing.

“Later this year, we’ll open a new trail on our Cedar River Preserve, another called Pat’s Preserve on Lime Lake, and new trails at Palmer Woods,” says Leelanau Conservancy Executive Director Tom Nelson.

Those are among the eight natural lands projects the Conservancy currently has in the works. “The other five projects are still in the discussion stages and need to remain confidential until they are closed to respect landowner privacy,” Nelson says.

In addition to those projects, the Conservancy’s conservation easement program continues to expand. That program allows landowners to enter into a legal agreement with the Conservancy that “permanently limits a property’s uses in order to protect its conservation values.”

“We are fielding calls from lots of farm families about partnering to conserve their land for local food and farming and protecting clean water,” Nelson tells the Leelanau Ticker. The conservation easements run with the land, permanently protecting the ecological and/or agricultural quality of the property. Once in place, the easements by law cannot be undone.

Among those who have joined the conservation easement program are Tom and Linda Shimek, who own a 232-acre farm at M-72 and County Road 669. That property will remain farmland in perpetuity, thanks to the agreement with the Conservancy.

“The farm is on gravel,” Linda Shimek explains. “Our location is zoned gravel district. We knew [the property] wouldn’t be a gravel pit in our lifetime, but we wanted to see it stay intact [as agricultural land]. Now it will be farmed and the acreage will stay intact.”

“The Shimeks were the last major conservation easement project to close that we’ve announced publicly,” says Claire Wood, communications director for the Conservancy. “But we do have several other projects that just recently closed that we’ll announce in our annual report coming out in mid-March.”

Per Wood, the Conservancy does not announce conservation easement projects until they are fully signed and legally documented. “That process can take two years, from when landowners show interest to the project closing,” she says. “We also have a waiting list [for easements], and there are constantly new families and individuals interested in protecting their land that we add to that list.” 

Nelson acknowledges, in turning to conservation easements, that landowners like the Shimeks are passing up opportunities to sell their land for other purposes – and taking less money in the process. “It’s important to point out that the vast majority of our landowner partners willingly receive less than the full value when they conserve their land,” he says.

Instead, the property owners typically receive 50 percent of the development value of their property from Farm Bill funding and another 25 percent through Conservancy donors. The remaining 25 percent is considered a charitable donation for tax purposes.

Nelson says the easement program provides a path for landowners to protect both the character and value of their property – a path that wouldn’t otherwise exist. “In our absence, many private landowners would feel great despair and helplessness in their attempts to keep their land ‘as it is’ during generational transfer or sale on the open market,” he muses. “In the absence of permanent land protection provided by the Conservancy, along with our federal and state agency partners, the consumptive land-use practices that typify areas of high-growth potential – such as southeast Michigan or Kent County –  would invariably overtake Leelanau County.”

Speaking of partners, the Conservancy isn’t the only entity in Leelanau County working to preserve land and water. That’s also part of the mission of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, and Nelson says the two entities often work together toward their shared goals. Because the Leelanau Conservancy is a nonprofit, nongovernmental organization, Nelson says it can sometimes act more quickly than the government to help conserve land for public access. That land can then later be acquired by national or state parks. “Since our inception, we’ve helped the state and national parks add hundreds of acres for the benefit of the public,” Nelson notes.

The challenge with that approach? Unlike the National Lakeshore, the Conservancy receives no taxpayer dollars. “We rely solely on private contributions,” Nelson says. Whether maintaining trails, parking areas and trailheads or procuring property to protect, all Conservancy funding comes from private sources.

For its efforts, the Leelanau Conservancy has been recognized locally, regionally, and throughout the country, and was even among the first group of land trusts in the country to become accredited through the Land Trust Accreditation Commission. “In 2007, the Land Trust Accreditation Commission created a set of stringent ethical standards and sound practices that ensure the integrity of land conservation by accredited land conservancies,” Nelson says. “It’s a real source of pride that the Leelanau Conservancy was one of the first 17 accredited land conservation organizations in the United States. Today it is one of 459 conservancies to be accredited, among the nearly 1600 land conservancies in the country.”

Pictured: A winterscape at Swanson Preserve.