Michael Kraft
The North Coast Regional Land Trust (NCRLT / https://ncrlt.org/) operates primarily in Humboldt and Trinity counties. A land trust is a community-based, nonprofit organization that actively works to permanently conserve land, either via conservation easements or by owning land outright.
It’s worth mentioning that the NCRLT is celebrating 25 years doing this work, and they produced a video to commemorate the occasion, which is available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYsUyjTS9HI .
This region contains several land trusts, and it sounds like they work pretty well together, referring opportunities to each other depending on the niches of the trusts. NCRLT originally launched because a larger swath of land in the noncoastal, rural areas of Humboldt and Trinity counties, specifically wild and working lands, did not have a trust working on those lands.
The NCRLT has, to date, conserved over 66,000 acres, mostly via conservation easements. This occurs when the trust acquires specific rights on a property. Either the NCRLT, or the State of California, retain those rights which become part of the deed of the property, protecting those lands forever. While fortunate to own beautiful property, many landowners turn out to be cash-poor, and this provides a way to earn some money without choosing development. Others wish to maintain the character of the property, or to keep it without subdividing it. Of course, there can be a mix of reasons.
The trust also owns four properties, totaling about 250 acres. Freshwater Farms Reserve serves as the organization’s flagship and demonstration property. One property came to the NCRLT as a recent bequest; it will likely have an easement added to the deed and then be sold. Property on Martin Slough and the McNamara Dairy in Orick are the other two, with the Orick property serving as part of the larger Redwood Creek estuary enhancement project.
Freshwater hosts programs and events that connect with the community. You can hike, for example. I buy native plants there. Perhaps most impactful is the Cows & Cattails program for elementary school students. These are field trips, around three hours long, all inquiry based. Even in Humboldt, many kids don’t know their food comes from a farm. In a typical year 450 – 800 students visit and get to tour a working farm and learn about food before it hits the store.
I talked with Nadia Van Lynn, the trust’s Outreach and Development Director. She mentioned how much shared values and bringing people together is “baked into the work.” NCLRT’s annual celebration is called Boots & Birkenstocks. It’s a fitting title, as ranchers, agency folks and conservationists have to get to yes in the end. “Literally every acre we’ve preserved is a result of people coming together. You have to understand there will be conflict and work through it,” she says.
Most funding is from state agencies or flows through them from the feds. There is a trickle-down of federal funding cuts that are now being felt. State funds also look to be short. Proposition 4, passed by California voters last year, provides for several billion dollars for forest resiliency, clean water, and biodiversity initiatives, but it appears that little funding is coming this year. Nadia seems to take this in stride. “Priorities shift, and we just have to find the priorities that do fit. It’ll work out.”
Still, in this climate, individual donations make a huge difference. To donate, the website is easy, but Nadia is also happy to hear from you: info@ncrlt.org. It’s the same for volunteering; just email Nadia and she’ll get you on the volunteer list. Volunteer days at Freshwater are 3rd Sundays, April-October. Volunteers also serve in event staffing, stuffing mailers, and for the field trip program.
As a bit of a side note, I dislike performative do-gooding. I dislike it except when it’s me doing it, in which case I call it modeling behavior. If you find this to be a distinction without a difference, well bless your heart. In the spirit of modeling, I’ll share that, although they didn’t know it before we talked for this article, the North Coast Regional Land Trust is in my will. If Tish and I check out at the same time, NCLRT will get the same share as my mom and my brother-in-law.
Conservation easements protect private lands in ways that create or maintain a public good. Those lands remain private, so they aren’t the place I can hike with my hounds. However, the ecosystem services of working lands supply tremendous public benefits. Selective timber harvesting, active management, is healthier and adds to fire resistance. Responsibly managed working lands keep water clean. And they provide connectivity of protected lands, maintaining wildlife corridors and allowing for continued genetic diversity of animals traversing those corridors. Not least, that task of bringing diverse human parties together has always been important, and it’s super-important now.
It’s for these reasons that I personally support the North Coast Regional Land Trust, and it may be a good organization for you to help too.
Michael Kraft writes the Good Work series, volunteering on behalf of the Northern California Association of Nonprofits (NorCAN). NorCAN supports connections between people and organizations that work every day to keep our communities healthy and strong by offering professional development, board support, networking connections and more. Learn more at https://norcal-nonprofits.org/. To nominate a deserving nonprofit organization to be profiled, email michael@kraftconsultants.com.
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