Gualala Arts Lecture Series presents:
Redwood Coast Land Conservancy

with Louisa Morris
Monday, April 26, 2010, 7:00 p.m.
Admission is $5

RCLC currently manages three public trails and beaches on the South Coast, and is undertaking a program that plans to partner with private landowners to conserve endangered species and their habitat. This presentation will explain the important public access and conservation work RCLC is doing, and how private landowners can conserve the natural values of their unique properties by partnering with this local non-profit land trust.

The most traditional tool for conserving private land, a "conservation easement" (also known as a conservation restriction) is a legal agreement between a landowner and a land trust or government agency that permanently limits uses of the land, in order to protect its conservation values. It allows landowners to continue to own and use their land, and they can also sell it or pass it on to heirs. Some other vehicles for land conservation include resale, donation, bargain sale, and donation with a lifetime income.

The work undertaken and envisioned by RCLC Board, advisors and volunteers preserves in perpetuity scenic areas and helps conserve important wildlife habitats in southwestern Mendocino and northwestern Sonoma Counties. These projects illustrate the strength of partnerships between landowners, state and federal resource agencies, and non-profit land trusts.

Louisa Morris, RCLC executive director, and Harry Pollack, attorney, will share information and photos illustrating these land conservation tools, as well as the six RCLC projects already underway - the Gualala Bluff trail in downtown Gualala, St. Orres Creek and Bourns Landing / Cooks Beach just north of Gualala, Bonham Trail to Cooks Beach, Hearn Gulch near Iverson Point, Hathaway Creek in Point Arena, and the Gualala Watershed up river from the county park. Both will be available to answer questions.

A graduate of both Stanford and UC Berkeley, Louisa Morris has lived and worked on the Mendocino Coast since 1992. She has served as Mendocino County's Coastal Access Coordinator and as the Land Stewardship and Coastal Access Program Manager at the Mendocino Land Trust.

There are no advance ticket sales, but a $5 admission will be collected at the door to defray operating expenses. More information on RCLC can be found at the organization's website, www.rc-lc.org.

The Gualala Arts Center, located at 46501 Old State Highway in Gualala, CA,
is open weekdays 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and weekends from noon to 4:00 p.m.
Please call (707) 884-1138 for more information, or email info@gualalaarts.org.

Serving the coastal communities of northern Sonoma & southern Mendocino Counties.