Coastal Georgia Land Conservation Summit a Success!

On October 22, 2009, the Georgia Conservancy and its partners in the Coastal Georgia Land Conservation Initiative (CGLCI) held the Coastal Georgia Land Summit in Savannah, Georgia. The Land Summit was sponsored through the CGLCI grant by the Woodruff Foundation and the Georgia Forestry Commission. Project partners from the Association of County Commissioners Georgia, The Department of Natural Resources, Coastal Resources and Nongame Divisions, as well as the Georgia Forestry Commission worked to make the day a success.

Over fifty participants from the region convened at the Coastal Georgia Center for the day-long conference. Representatives from local and state government, forestry, non-profits, and the private sector were among those in attendance. The summit laid a foundation for a region-wide land conservation network. The agenda focused on identification of land for conservation, potential funding sources, and how land conservation can economically and socially enhance a community.

Jon Ambrose, Assistant Chief of the Nongame Division of Department of Natural Resources, gave an overview of the CGLCI progress to date and presented several case studies that illustrate how the CGLCI mapping and GIS-based tools could be useful to cities and counties. When completed, the maps and tools will assist communities as they identify land for conservation and plan for future development. Mapping for Camden, Glynn, and McIntosh Counties is complete. Mapping for Liberty County is underway.

Key note speaker, Commissioner Chris Clark of the Department of Natural Resources, gave an inspiring lunch time address that stressed the need to actively engage Georgia’s citizens, especially children, in the protection of state parks and other natural places. Clark stated that he feared Georgia was losing “the stewards of tomorrow” to television and video games. He challenged the crowd to instill a spirit of appreciation for our state’s natural resources by actively sharing them with children. ' Tim Lowe, Co-chair of the Governor’s Water Task Force, was present to provide an update of the Task Force’s activities. His presentation was followed by a lively audience debate.

Other speakers (in order of sessions) included: Christi Lambert, the Freshwater and Marine Conservation director for the Georgia Chapter of The Nature Conservancy; Frank McIntosh, Southeast Director of land protection for the Georgia Land Trust; Dr. John Bembry of the Georgia Land Conservation Council; Andrew Schock of The Conservation Fund; Gary White and Daniel Westcot, Community Foresters with the Georgia Forestry Commission; Joanna Bounds, Resource Protection Planner with Chatham County-Savannah Metropolitan Planning Commission; Dr. Earl Perry, Decatur County Commissioner; Thomas Farmer, The Nature Conservancy; and Stacy Patton, Minerva Properties, LLC.

To learn more about the summit or to receive a copy of the summit materials, please contact Beth Blalock at bblalock@gaconservancy.org.