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Arizona Project Launched

In April 2005, The Wilderness Land Trust was awarded a $1.2M acquisition grant from an anonymous donor to purchase wilderness inholdings in Arizona. Our work will focus on Wilderness Areas managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). While we will begin working immediately on projects that are already considered high priority by the BLM, we will also simultaneously start an inventory and prioritization of all wilderness inholdings in Arizona to be completed in the next six months. This inventory and prioritization will help to focus our work in upcoming years, and will be a resource for others in the state. We very excited to help preserve Arizona’s spectacular and varied wildernesses, where it is estimated there remains 20,000 acres of inholdings in designated wilderness.

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California Work Continues To Surge Ahead

The vast majority of the Trust’s work since early 2004 has been in the state of California, thanks to several generous multi-million dollar acquisition grants from the Resources Legacy Fund Foundation Preserving Wild California Program. Between January 2004 and May 2005, the Trust has acquired 3,319 acres in 21 parcels in proposed Wilderness Areas in the state. A total of 1,684 of these acres have already been donated to the federal government and are available for inclusion in future Wilderness Areas. The Trust has also completed inventories of inholdings in proposed Wilderness Areas and designated Forest Service areas. Clearly our work is much needed in the state as currently proposed areas have more than 26,000 acres of high priority inholdings. Designated Forest Service wilderness areas have 8,677 acres of high priority inholdings (total inholdings are 22,881 acres).

Based on our success in California over the last few years, the Resources Legacy Fund Foundation awarded the Trust a renewal grant of $2.37M that will be used to protect more inholdings in both proposed and designated Wilderness Areas in California. The grant also has funds dedicated to increasing our organizational capacity in the state.

The Trust’s work in California has made a visible difference and has helped to simplify land ownership patterns that both complicate land management issues and create obstacles for wilderness designation. For example, in the Elkhorn Ridge proposed wilderness we have acquired 1,564 acres in 14 parcels. As you can see in this map our work has served to consolidate public land and to make this a more viable Wilderness Area. Among other wilderness attributes, the Elkhorn Ridge area is a critical watershed for the South Fork of the Eel River, which is a Wild and Scenic River and provides spawning habitat for steelhead and coho salmon.

The properties we have acquired in proposed Wilderness Areas in California include the following:

• Beauty Mountain Wilderness Study Area (WSA). Inholdings preserved: 1,360 acres; 3 parcels. The Beauty Mountain WSA is known to be habitat for several endangered species including the California gnatcatcher and the Quino checkerspot butterfly, and is a wildlife corridor. It includes the largest blocks of undeveloped land in the area, though the nearby City of Temecula is exploding with growth. These inholdings—which would have been used for ranchettes—were key to protecting open space and habitat.

• Elkhorn Ridge proposed wilderness. Inholdings preserved: 1,564 acres; 14 parcels. 1,484 of these acres have already been donated to the federal government. The Elkhorn Ridge proposed wilderness includes old growth forests and old-growth dependent species and numerous recreation opportunities.

• Yolla Bolly Wilderness Area proposed addition. Inholdings preserved: 200 acres; 2 parcels. These properties have already been donated to the government. The Yolla Bolly is the oldest protected area in the state and boasts grasslands; extensive forests composed of red fir, white fir, Douglas fir, ponderosa pine; and numerous bird species including eagles, hawks and northern spotted owls.

• Timbered Crater WSA. Inholdings preserved: 195 acres; 2 parcels. These properties were held for the purpose of timber harvesting and ranching. These two inholdings are approximately one mile within the heart of the WSA and are the only inholdings within the unit. The Timbered Crater WSA is bounded by the Shasta Trinity National Forest, the Ahjumawi Lava Springs State Park and private agricultural lands.

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Events 2005

On April 7, 2005, the Trust held a reception honoring our founder and former President, Jon Mulford and Sharon Mulford for their tremendous contributions to wilderness. The event—held at the Aspen Meadows Reception Center, in Aspen, Colorado—was attended by approximately 40 friends and supporters of the Trust. The Mulfords were presented with a photograph of the Maroon Bells-Snowmass Wilderness by John Fielder—a former Board member of the Trust. Fielder was not able to attend the event, but wrote:

… Jon and his wife Sharon built an organization that has protected significant portions of America’s most cherished wildlands. The inholdings Jon engineered into public ownership are not significant so much for their size, but for their potential like metastasizing cancers, to destroy the integrity of all that surrounds them. Therefore, Jon Mulford helped save not thousands of acres of wilderness, but millions.

The board, staff and supporters of The Wilderness Land Trust thank Jon and Sharon for creating the Trust and preserving precious wilderness areas for future generations.

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Federal Transfer Completed in Northern California

In December 2004, The Wilderness Land Trust completed the transfer to federal ownership of 1,360 acres of inholdings within the Trinity Alps and Marble Mountain Wildernesses. The Trust acquired these properties in 2000 from the logging company that owned them to prevent their development. These lands most likely would have been timbered for their old growth trees and developed as recreational home sites. A portion of the Pacific Crest Trail is located on one of these properties. The property also contains three mountain lakes—Telephone, Middle Boulder and West Boulder—which will add greatly to the public enjoyment of the Wilderness Area.

These properties consist of three parcels—two separate 640 acre parcels and a third 80 acre parcel. The project could not have been completed without the cooperation and hard work of the United States Forest Service Region 5 Lands and Minerals Staff, including Harry Frey, Lands Specialist with the Klamath National Forest. The Trust also received a loan from the Resources Legacy Fund Foundation enabling it to purchase the property and hold it while transferring it to the Forest Service.

With the completion of this four year project, we have now acquired and transferred 1,600 acres in the Trinity Alps and 640 acres in the Marble Mountain Wilderness Areas. Yet, 2,577 acres of private lands remain within the Trinity Alps and 93 acres within the Marble Mountain Wilderness Area.

A short piece on this project appeared in the January 25th Los Angeles Times and longer pieces in the January 24th and 26th Record Search Light in Redding, California. The Trust’s President Reid Haughey was also interviewed on Jefferson Public Radio in Oregon on January 24th, 2005.

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Board Activities: 2004

At the Trust’s November 2004 Director’s meeting in Berkeley, California, we were pleased to appoint Mark Trautwein to the Board. Mark was on the staff of the US House Interior Committee from 1979 until 1995 under Chairmen Mo Udall and George Miller, where he was responsible for the committee’s jurisdiction over parks, public lands and wilderness. During that time, the Committee led Congress in doubling the size of the National Parks System, tripling the wilderness system and enacting landmark conservation laws such as the Alaska Lands Act. Previously, he was a staff writer for Congress’ Environmental Study Conference. He holds a degree in journalism from the University of California, Berkeley, and worked as a newspaper reporter in the San Francisco Bay Area for five years. Mark retired from Congressional work in 1995 and returned to San Francisco, where he is now an independent consultant as well as an editor at KQED public radio.

Eleanor Towns and Jim Blomquist at November 2004 meeting

The WLT Board of Directors held its June 2004 meeting in Choteau, Montana, at the Seven Lazy P Guest Ranch. The ranch, which is nestled at the edge of the Bob Marshall Wilderness—designated as part of the 1994 Wilderness Act—was a perfect setting for the meeting.

Our Board was honored to have Eleanor Towns return as an active member at the meeting. They also elected Jim Blomquist as a new Board member. Eleanor is a retired Forest Service executive and actively consults nationwide on thorny public management issues from Denver. Jim consults with nonprofits from his base in southern California, after a distinguished career with the Sierra Club. We are humbled by their voluntary contribution and dedication to our efforts.

As a new Board member, Jim joins Bill Pope and Doug Scott, both formally elected at the June 2003 meeting. Bill Pope comes to WLT from Microsoft where he was a general counsel. He has been a long time wilderness advocate and user, and he is a member of the Earthjustice board of directors. He currently runs our Washington state office as a volunteer on a part-time basis. Doug Scott is the Policy Director for the Campaign for America’s Wilderness and a respected wilderness advocate.

One important policy decision at the June meeting, was the Board’s approval of an effort to actively work with decision makers in Washington to increase Land & Water Conservation Funds available for wilderness inholdings. These funds have been steadily decreasing over recent years and are critical for the work done by WLT.

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Staff News: 2004

The Trust is very proud to have added to our staff two extraordinarily talented professionals. Bettina Ring joins us from the Colorado Coalition of Land Trusts and is serving as Vice President. Bettina is located in California, home to half of the wilderness inholdings in the country. Lara Beaulieu came to us from the New York Outward Bound Center in July as a Vice President, Development and Marketing.

The staff is also excited to have moved to a new headquarters in Carbondale, Colorado. We think our “barn” is very fitting setting for the work of the Wilderness Land Trust.

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WLT events in Golden and Aspen feature
wilderness historian Doug Scott

On October 17th and 18th, the Wilderness Land Trust held gatherings in Golden and Aspen Colorado. At both events our Board Member Doug Scott spoke on the history of the wilderness movement in the United States.

Doug, who is Policy Director, for the Campaign for America’s Wilderness, has just published The Enduring Wilderness: Protecting Our Natural Heritage through the Wilderness Act, Fulcrum Publishing, August 2004. The book was lauded by Christopher Reeves as “An invaluable guidebook to saving America’s wilderness.” For more on the book go to www.leaveitwild.org. The book can be purchased from The Wilderness Land Trust for $12.95, with the profits going to support our work to preserve wilderness. Contact reid@wildernesslandtrust.org to order the book.

In addition to Doug Scott, wilderness photographer Christopher Brown spoke and displayed photographs at our event in Golden. Chris Brown’s photographs of the western American landscape provide a vivid and stunning reminder of the value of wilderness. In Aspen, we were honored to have author and Aspen Times columnist Paul Andersen speak along with Doug.

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Organizational Growth: FY 2003-4

Acquisition Funds Approved!
In fall 2003, WLT was awarded a $2 million acquisition fund by the Preserving Wild California Program of the Resources Legacy Fund Foundation for the purpose of eliminating inholdings in proposed wilderness in the California Wild Heritage Act. This fund and a $200,000 acquisition fund from the Catto Foundation, awarded in 2002, are the first of their kind for WLT and are a significant aid to the organization in achieving its mission. This fall, WLT also received an additional $3.23 million grant from the Preserving Wild California Program of the Resources Legacy Fund Foundation for land purchases in the Beauty Mountain Wilderness Study Area, located in Riverside County, California.

WLT is grateful for these acquisition funds, which are allowing the organization to aggressively address the issues of wilderness inholdings in California and other parts of the country.

Expansion Funds Generated!
During the 2003-04 year, WLT was able to generate a $682,000 fund which will be used to expand its work over the next three years. In the coming year we will work to increase our ability to purchase a greater number of inholdings and to transfer these to the federal government. Our strategy will be to build private support for these efforts, as well as to advocate for greater federal Land and Water Conservation Funds for wilderness inholdings. The expansion funds generated during the 2003-04 year will be used to build the organization’s capacity to achieve this goal. With greater private and third party funding The Wilderness Land Trust aims to open a full time office in Washington state and hire an additional staff member dedicated wholly to the work of eliminating inholdings and ensuring that an enduring resource of wilderness will be available for all Americans.

Seattle and San Fransisco Offices Opened
New offices intended to help preserve more wilderness inholdings across the west

During Fall 2003, WLT opened an office in Seattle under the capable volunteer leadership of Board member Bill Pope. Bill comes to WLT from Microsoft where he was a general counsel.

WLT also opened an office in San Francisco in Fall of 2003, under the leadership of Vice President Bettina Ring. Bettina comes to WLT from the Colorado Coalition of Land Trusts, where she was executive director.

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Colorado Trailhead Secured!
The Wilderness Land Trust receives its first Capital Acquisition Fund

The East Creek Drainage on the west side of the Snowmass Maroon Bells Wilderness Area is the prime access to one of the most popular wilderness hiking destinations. For good reason – It is spectacular!

It was also private property. Unknown by virtually everyone, the trailhead was located on the Out West Placer, a privately owned remnant of Crested Butte’s once thriving mining days. The property traverses the valley floor and a fence could have shut off the East Creek drainage, fouling access to West Maroon Pass, Buckskin Pass and one of the most beloved meadows of wildflowers. A home behind that fence could have been devastating; a year-round improved road to such a home transforming.

The Wilderness Land Trust stepped in to buy the property in 2000 and has just succeeded in transferring it to the United States, forever preserving it as a very popularly and essential trailhead supporting the Snowmass and Maroon Bells Wilderness. The ability of the Trust to act quickly and to work with Forest Service staff has enabled The Wilderness Land Trust to complete this transaction, in spite of drastic reductions in federal acquisition funds.

The Catto Charitable Foundation lent The Wilderness Land Trust funds to purchase the Out West Placer and has generously forgiven the loan, preferring to leave its funds with TWLT as its first ever Capital Acquisition Fund! Thank You to Jessica Catto and the Catto Charitable Foundation for this very generous gift. In these times of federal fiscal uncertainties, this fund will help us accomplish our mission by enabling us to take quick advantage of more opportunities to secure our wilderness areas.  

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Awards: E-Town and Aspen International Mountain Institute

• Jon Mulford was awarded the E-town www.etown.org E-achievement award in November 2002 for his work creating the Wilderness Land Trust and preserving 15,000 acres of wilderness!
• In addition, WLT received an award in 2002 from the Aspen International Mountain Institute, an organization sponsored by the Aspen Institute and formed in celebration of the United Nations Year of the Mountains, for meritorious work on behalf of preserving mountain environments.

These honors are in addition to our Bureau of Land Management Partnership Award, received in 1997.

Jon Mulford Retires and Joins Board

In December 2002, WLT founder and Director Jon Mulford retired. Jon leaves behind a legacy of wilderness protection, including the preservation of 192 separate parcels totaling 15,000 acres. Prior to creating The Wilderness Land Trust, Jon helped form The Western Land Exchange, now the Western Land Group, and worked extensively on behalf of the Aspen Valley Land Trust and the Nature Conservancy. His conservation career began with the preservation of an inholding within Rocky Mountain National Park. Land preservation files around the country are peppered with his thorough notes and actions. Our wilderness landscape is forever improved by the fine work of Jon Mulford. We will continue his good work and be forever inspired by his integrity and love for the wilderness.

Jon continues to serve the Wilderness Land Trust as a valued member of the Board of Directors.

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Spring 2005 Letter from President Reid Haughey

Dear Friends,

This April I had the pleasure of watching a pair of short tailed hawks try to distract us from their nest in a beautiful Arizona canyon, standing on privately owned land deep inside a designated Wilderness Area. The dance of these hawks, the cottonwoods along the perennial stream, the surrounding saguaro cactus hillsides, the canopy of blue all combined to remind me why we do this work. The land we were on should always be home to hawks. The loudest sound should always be the chattering conversation of water over rocks.

We are deeply thankful for the support we receive from you and others who believe that private land owners deserve fair treatment and Wilderness Areas should remain free from private lands. We have some exciting news:

• The Trust just received a substantial grant to acquire and transfer private inholdings in Arizona’s designated Wilderness Areas.
• The Trust has just been honored with a Bob Marshall Champion of Wilderness Award by the United States Forest Service!

Our organization is growing and creating success in these challenging times, because designated wilderness is so precious to so many and so important to pass on to future generations; a home for hawks and the chatter of streams.

The recognition of the work of the Trust and our willingness to go about it fairly and effectively is very rewarding. Please take a moment to read through some of our recent accomplishments and past work.

Gratefully,

Reid Haughey, President

October 2004 Letter from President Reid Haughey

Fall 2004

Dear Friends;

Welcome to our website. It is an exceptionally exciting time for The Wilderness Land Trust. Since 1992 we have worked to eliminate the threat of private lands (inholdings) in established Wilderness Areas, by purchasing them from willing sellers and transferring them to public ownership, so that all generations of Americans will enjoy an enduring resource of wilderness. In doing so, we are ensuring that wilderness remains wild and are helping land owners receive the fair price for their land that they deserve. We are now growing and building the capacity to achieve two very worthy goals established by our Board of Directors.

1. To eliminate the issue of wilderness inholdings in existing Wilderness Areas over the next 10 years.

2. To expand our mission to include the purchase of inholdings in proposed Wilderness Areas under active considerations, in order to eliminate, when possible, the threat of private land before it becomes an issue.

Over the past year, we have made excellent progress. As outlined in our 2003-04 Annual Report (July 1, 2003 – June 30, 2004) we:

• Transferred 800 acres in California and Colorado to federal ownership.
• Purchased properties in California and Washington totaling 1058 acres.
• Added three members to the Board of Directors—Jim Blomquist, Bill Pope and Doug Scott.
• Obtained more than $2,200,000 in grants for the acquisition of properties to augment more than a quarter of a million in federal Land and Water Conservation Funds.”
• Generated an expansion fund to support the acceleration of our work.
• Hired two talented new staff members, Vice Presidents Bettina Ring and Lara Beaulieu.
• Opened offices in San Francisco, California and Seattle, Washington, to better accomplish our mission.

And this fiscal year, already promises to be equally successful. We:

• Acquired thirteen parcels totaling 2,262 acres in proposed Wilderness Areas in California. Three hundred and sixty of these acres have already by donated to the federal government.
• Completed a revised inventory and prioritization of all inholdings in designated Wildernesses in California and have nearly completed a revision of inholding in designated Wildernesses in Colorado.
• Are working on other projects covering 2,979 acres in Colorado, New Mexico, Oregon, Washington and California, and have initiated work in Arizona and Utah at the request of the Bureau of Land Management.

Please look around our website. You may find our Annual Report, Land Preservation and Board Activity sections to be of particular interest. As always, please contact me if we can answer any questions.

None of this vital work could happen without the support of fine friends like you. Thank you for the opportunity to help complete and secure our treasured wilderness system.

Gratefully;

Reid Haughey, President

P.S: We are collecting photos and writings about wilderness. E-mail yours to me and, if we use it on the website, you will receive an honorary membership and an attribution on our site!

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October 2003 Letter from President Reid Haughey

Dear Friends;

After a year of careful retooling to make our organization less dependent on beltway politics, we have reconnected with the consistently strong public support for wilderness - tapping the formidable energy of wilderness supporters to fuel work that furthers our mission to rid the wilderness of the threat posed by privately owned lands, in areas that we have set aside to be where people are humble visitors. That support is not subject to political whim. With that support, The Wilderness Land Trust is able to address conservation in these critical times.

• Thanks to the Catto Charitable Foundation we have our first ever Land Acquisition Fund!
  
• Thanks to a donor who chooses to keep their privacy, we are acquiring lands in New Mexico and Colorado!
  
• Thanks to the generous support of the Resources Legacy Fund, we are able focused on a program of acquisitions in California to facilitate the designation of additional wilderness by eliminating inholding issues!
  
• Our ongoing work in Washington on inholding issues within the Wild Sky Wilderness is moving forward!
  
• Thanks to the diligent work on the part of our friends in the Forest Service, we have transferred seven parcels in 2003 – so far! Additional lands in wilderness areas in Colorado and California are now forever protected! There may be more to come this year, we are close to completing a very big project in California.

I want you to know that support for wilderness has not faltered. It is a critical time to continue to work to preserve wilderness by acquiring private inholdings in a fair and voluntary manner. Your Wilderness Land Trust has organized to make its work possible, not in spite of the tenor of beltway politics, but because of the indefatigable support you and over 90% of all Americans have for the idea of wilderness. We succeed because you love wilderness and support the protection of it for future generations!

Thank you for the opportunity to work on your behalf to help preserve the irreplaceable resource of wilderness.

Gratefully;

Reid Haughey, President

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