The SF Conservation Trust is here is to ensure that a healthy, protected network of natural lands will forever grace the communities in which we live. Our work is keeping northern NM’s natural lands natural…which means, when it comes to our accomplishments, it’s what you don’t see that counts.
At the SF Conservation Trust, we look 100 years ahead. With growth accelerating at a record pace, we’re thinking about the long-term implications of wall-to-wall development: loss of open spaces and natural lands for wildlife; no wild places for children to explore and learn about the natural world; no scenic beauty serving as backdrop for SF’s vibrant, diverse cultures.
To help SF avoid such a dismal future, we provide the community with an array of conservation tools. We work with private landowners who wish to permanently protect their lands from development, using voluntary agreements called conservation easements. We work with local watershed groups to protect rivers and streams and safeguard water quality. We create trails for people to enjoy. We protect the traditional landscapes of NM’s diverse cultures and help local farmers and ranchers stay on their land. And, thanks to a new law introduced by State Representative Peter Wirth, we now help moderate and low income New Mexican landowners receive financial assistance for permanently protecting their property—a win-win for people and nature. This new tool opens the door for many New Mexicans to “do well by doing good” for the land and their communities.
I used to tell people that I work for SF’s local land trust—and would get a puzzled look in response. Despite the fact that the SF Conservation Trust is celebrating its fifteenth year, has protected over 30,000 acres of local natural lands, and benefits every person in the community, we’re not all that well known. The problem, I think, is that our accomplishments are more or less invisible—because when we do our job right, nothing changes.
So, tiring of the blank looks, I eventually learned to introduce my work by saying that my organization protects the land that supports quality of life in our community. Put that way, people get it. Depending on their personal interests, they’re quick to make the mental connection between land protection and the beauty of SF; or between land protection and the wildlife they love to watch; or between land protection and the farms and ranches that provide the healthy, local foods they buy. Some folks also connect our work to our local economy, recognizing that natural lands inspire the artists who supply our galleries, provide great outdoor recreation, and attract visitors from around the world.
When it comes to land protection, we do what government can’t, holding the vision for our community’s future despite the ebb and flow of government interests and resources. Case in point: together with our partners at Earth Works Institute, we recently collected and provided SF County decision-makers with data identifying sensitive lands and waters within the Galisteo Basin. This gift will, we hope, inform and shape growth management policy and lead to measures to prevent oil and gas exploration from damaging fragile areas in this spectacular landscape. |
