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Join Our Roundtable on "Suburban Stewardship" at Aldie Mansion in April
Landowners, Officials, Landscapers, and Others Invited to Discuss Environmentally Conscious Land Management
Heritage Conservancy's mission is to "preserve our natural and historic heritage." For 50 years, we've been doing that by permanently preserving properties via conservation easements, promoting and implementing good stewardship of preserved land, educating people about the natural and historic treasures in their midst and how to keep them safe, and helping communities plan for preserving their natural and historic heritage even while they experience growth and change.
However, we recognize that most suburban land no longer exists in large plots on which we can place easements. Therefore, Heritage Conservancy is now striving to help the owners and caretakers of those smaller plots of land that make up most of our region to be good land stewards. According to Clifford C. David, Heritage Conservancy President, "Small-scale land stewardship will be a vitally important part of future efforts to conserve land and increase quality of life in suburban areas. If enough of us engage in it, small-scale stewardship can make a huge difference in a region's overall environmental health."
The Suburban Stewardship Roundtable will be a forum for sharing information and insight into current land use trends and the impacts these are having on natural resources as well as methods for mitigating those effects.
Attendees will:
- Learn how to reduce property taxes by changing land management strategies.
- Learn how to increase the conservation and financial values of their property.
- Understand how land managers can increase water quality.
- Gain insight into ways they can increase wildlife habitat on their property.
- Meet with industry professionals and land mangers and shape future land use in PA
- Gain an understanding of past land use patterns from early agriculture to the current sprawl and of how these patterns have affected our natural resources
Three expert speakers will present talks in the morning. These include Dr. Jim Finley of Penn State's School of Forestry Resources, who will discuss topics from The Woods in Your Backyard: Learning to Create and Enhance Natural Areas Around Your Home, a manual and workbook co-authored by Dr. Finley that helps landowners of small parcels (1 to 10 acres) to better manage their properties, including assessing their land and how it relates to neighboring land, setting goals for managing their property, choosing some "starter" projects that will help meet those goals, and setting timetables for measuring progress. All attendees will receive a free copy of The Woods in Your Backyard.
Two roundtable discussions for all attendees will take place in the afternoon. The full agenda for the event is below.
Registration
Registration is required to attend the program; the registration fee is $15, which covers all materials and morning refreshments. Register online or contact Carl Martin with questions or to request a hard-copy registration form: 215-345-7020 x 120 or cmartin@heritageconservancy.org. Registration deadline is April 12. (Same-day registration will be limited to available seating.)
Sponsorship and Advertising Opportunities
Businesses, agencies, and other organizations that work in fields related to the roundtable's topics may display and distribute promotional materials at the event, with prior permission from roundtable organizers.
Sponsorship opportunities are also available for a small donation to offset the costs of the roundtable. Roundtable sponsors will be recognized in all publicity for the event.
Contact Carl Martin if you are interested in sponsoring or advertising at the event.
Program Agenda
Moderator: Carl Martin, Director of Property Management, Heritage Conservancy
| MORNING SESSION | |
| 8:00 | Registration & refreshments |
| 8:15 | Introduction and Welcoming Remarks: Carl Martin, Heritage Conservancy |
| 8:30 | The Woods in Your Backyard Dr. Jim Finley School of Forest Resources, Penn State University |
| 9:30 | Forests and Water Dr. David R. DeWalle School of Forest Resources, Penn State University |
| 10:30 | Break |
| 10:45 | Backyard Biodiversity and the Impact on Bird Populations Steve Saffier Audubon At Home Coordinator, National Audubon Society |
| 11:45 | Lunch Break (lunch not provided) |
| AFTERNOON SESSION | |
| 1:15 | Return & Welcome Visit with sponsors, presenters, and other attendees |
| 1:30 | Roundtable Discussion "Beyond Buffer Planting: Can we convert some of that lawn?" Does the concept of reforestation/afforestation on a landscape level have wide appeal? Is it consistent with current landowner values? |
| 2:00 | Roundtable Discussion "Who is doing what? Is anybody making new forest?" We need to know who is already working in this direction and if they are meeting with success. What is needed to implement? |
| 2:50 | Closing Remarks and Summary |
| 3:00 | Adjourn |
The Roundtable is sponsored jointly by Heritage Conservancy, Penn State University, the Wild Resource Conservation Program of Pennsylvania's Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, and the Southeast Forest Resources Association.
For more information about land stewardship or the Suburban Stewardship Roundtable, contact Carl Martin, Heritage Conservancy's Director of Property Management, at 215-345-7020 x 120 or cmartin@heritageconservancy.org.
