capitol land trust: a model that works
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8/8/2019 Capitol Land Trust: A Model That Works
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The Capitol Land Trust is a rare beast. It seemingly has no enemies.
Based in the state’s most political city, this diplomatic little environmental outfit has somehow managed
to get blessed by both parties and toasted by clashing factions that rarely concur on much else.
Gov. Chris Gregoire and other top state Democrats praise the Trust. So do prominent Republicans. Manybureaucrats, preservationists, timber companies and homebuilders laud it too.
In fact, you can find just about anyone celebrating the Capitol Land Trust at its annual summer gala atthe home of former Republican Secretary of State Ralph Munro who embraces his role as the Trust’sdefacto ambassador.
The Capitol Land Trust’s ability to get along withseemingly everyone helps explain why this little
group may get as big of a bang out of an
environmental buck as any group around.
Through creative use of grants, donations andnegotiations, the Trust has managed to buy
properties and easements that have resulted in the
permanent conservation of 3,000 acres in the area.And the Trust’s reputation, influence and supportcontinue to snowball.
So, who are these guys?
Pull back the curtain and you’ll see the non-profit
Trust survives on a staff of just four people – twiceas many as it had two years ago - in a humblecorner office in downtown Olympia.
Yet the Trust is actually quite formidable. Its staff issmall, but boasts two masters of environmental
science, a Ph.D in forest economics and a lawdegree. The Trust also sports a savvy board of
directors and a cadre of volunteers that include
esteemed biologists and property lawyers.
Atop it all, is the Trust’s unassuming and articulate
director, Eric Erler.
“I think what makes the Capitol Land Trust so
effective is the people,” said Brian Abbott, salmonsection manager of the Washington State Recreation
and Conservation office. “It’s the board, and it’s
Eric. He gets along with people.”
Continued
Capitol Land Trust: A Model That WorksBy Jim Ly
Oakland Bay on Puget Sound
Terry Lib
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Abbott’s agency staffs the state panel which oversees salmon recovery grants and approved six key
Capitol Land Trust shoreline projects last year worth a combined $1.79 million.
Abbott says Capitol Land Trust has earned the state’s trust by making smart proposals, handling delicatenegotiations with landowners and following through on projects.
He also praised the Trust's ability to generate bipartisan support, most visibly in the form of the widelyrespected Ralph Munro. “A lot of people listen to what Ralph says. Ralph is part of the local landscape. It
certainly helps.”
The Capitol Land Trust also benefits from the fact that its practical approach to complex environmental
challenges is increasingly in vogue.
Tighter regulations infuriate property owners. Expensive habitat restoration projects outrage fiscalconservatives. Preservation projects – especially when negotiated amicably with consenting landowners –don’t tend to upset anyone.
Plus, the purchase or donation of critical properties is usually far more effective and far cheaper thantrying to restore damaged habitat. Just as it’s impossible to rebuild an old growth forest, the smartest
engineers can’t re-create intricate estuaries like Budd Inlet’s Gull Harbor, where the Trust cobbledtogether easement deals that conserve two miles of wild shoreline.
Sometimes the trust must pay full market value to conserve properties. But in many cases, landownersare willing to sell at a bargain in exchange for the charitable tax break that comes with selling to theTrust at a discount. Still other landowners donate their properties outright.
“We can’t always pay ful
value,” says Erler. “We
have to get creative. Wehave to identify the top
priorities and only seekmoney for those," the
Trust director says beforeadding, "We can’t afford
not to succeed.”
During the past few years,
the Trust has found a wayto protect ten miles of wild
South Sound shorelineth rough pu r chase s ,donations or conservation
easements.
“What we’re doing is notsaving the world by anystretch,” Erler says. “But
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Howe Conservation Easement
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what we’re doing, I believe, is a model for
what can succeed.”
Rinee Merritt says Capitol Land Trust is not
your average local land trust.
“They have an excellent reputation withcounty and state and federal people. Theyplay well with others,” says Merritt, former
project manager for Trust for Public Lands, anational non-profit that works with local landtrusts.
Merritt says Capitol Land Trust’s "well-rounded" local support is unique, noting that
many land trusts only court liberalDemocrats.
Capitol Land Trust courts everyone. One of its biggest corporate sponsors is GreenDiamond Resource Company, a Shelton-based timber company. The Trust's close advisers include one of
Olympia’s most prolific home builders. Another enthusiastic and valuable backer is Doug Sutherland, the
Republican Washington State Lands Commissioner.
"They've worked really well with us," Sutherland says, "helping us identify lands we feel are important."
Even John Dodge, a grizzled Olympian columnist who has watched
the rise and fall of South Sound environmental groups for years,
finds the Trust’s bipartisan prowess noteworthy.
After attending a Capitol Land Trust breakfast in March, Dodgedescribed an unusual gathering at which “the pro-growth and anti-
growth factions check their guns at the door and rally around the
community benefits of protecting valuable open space in a non-regulatory way.”
“Conservation is the concern of all of us,” Trust board president
Pene Speaks told the breakfast crowd. “It’s not a partisan issue.”
Jim Lynch is the author of “The Highest Tide” and a former reporter for the Seattle Times and Portland Oregonian.
Capitol Land Trust is a nonprofit conservation organization whosemission is to further collaborative and strategic conservation of southwest Washington’s essential natural areas and working lands.
Kayaking on Eld Inlet
Great Blue Heron Nests, McLane Pt.