AVALONIA LAND CONSERVANCY INC

We are currently engaged in a multifaceted land acquisition program, which will add approximately 2,000 acres to the 3,500 plus acres of open space lands Avalonia currently owns. To accomplish our acquisition-plan objectives, we have developed a five-year capital campaign to systematically pursue a combination of state, federal, and foundation grants coupled with donations from Avalonia members and the local community.

Avalonia Land Conservancy’s vision for now and the future is to:

1. Be the primary regional and leading best-practice land trust in southeastern Connecticut, protecting and conserving natural resources including threatened and declining habitats.
2. Work collaboratively with other land trusts, preservation groups, political entities, not for profits, etc., in the southeastern Connecticut area to conserve key habitats.
3. Grow our Town and Standing Committees to become more robust, fully staffed, and functioning committees to meet stewardship, acquisition, and other organizational requirements.
4, Steward fee properties in accordance with individual management plans and develop public recreational and educational opportunities where appropriate, including compliant universal-access trails where feasible.
5. Monitor all conservation easement properties as required by law and best practices.
maintain and/or return arable lands to productive farming where appropriate through innovative partnering.
6. Strengthen financial support of conserved lands while controlling costs and maintaining transparency.

Avalonia has created a strategic conservation plan with fully-integrated mapping to allow proactive identification of priority acquisition parcels and partnering opportunities in order to achieve the goals of our 2,000 Acre campaign. Avalonia has a Acquisitions team that regularly reviews available properties for possible acquisition.

Avalonia has an organization-wide Stewardship Committee, as well as Town Committees in six towns, who demonstrate deep commitment to successfully stewarding the land appropriately. Volunteers create, mark, and maintain trails, remove invasive vegetation and plant trees and native plants, and monitor use and activity of our properties to ensure the health and well being of our natural resources.

In 2017, Avalonia completed our Land Trust Alliance accreditation. We are currently maintaining our accreditation with a Board of Directors fully versed in LTA practices and standards.

Avalonia has one full-time staff person and one part-time staff person. Avalonia is an almost entirely volunteer organization; stewardship maintenance activities such as trail clearing, boundary posting, habitat improvement and outreach are coordinated by our Stewardship Committee and executed by a corps of volunteers. Our volunteer roster includes more than 160 individuals and numerous community organizations that support our mission.

The overall management of the organization is overseen by a Board of Directors supported by staff and meticulously overseen by our Board President. Avalonia has five standing organization committees - Development, Finance, Stewardship, Acquisition, and Communications. Each committee meets monthly and plans activities in accordance with the goals of that committee.

We are currently engaged in a multifaceted land acquisition program, which will add approximately 2,000 acres to the 3,500 plus acres of open space lands Avalonia currently owns. To accomplish our acquisition-plan objectives, we have developed a five-year capital campaign from 2018 - 2023 to systematically pursue a combination of state, federal, and foundation grants coupled with donations from Avalonia members and the local community. In 2018, we closed on and fully funded the Boyd and Dutka properties in Griswold, CT, which are now integral parcels in the Tri-Town Forest Preserve. As of June 2020, we have acquired 800 acres of our 2,000 acre goal with several properties closing in 2020.

Avalonia will continue our efforts to preserve land until we achieve our 2,000 Acre goal.