Your Monthly Review from Connecticut Land Conservation Council

Monthly Review | February 28, 2023

Greetings!

Early this month, Denise Savageau (CT Association of Conservation Districts), Sean Ghio (Partnership for Strong Communities), and I participated on the policy panel at CLCC’s Summit on Housing and Conservation, hosted in partnership with the Land Trust Alliance and Trust for Public Land. (More on the Summit below)

Panel facilitator Maryam Elahi (Community Foundation of Eastern Connecticut) challenged us to talk about current and future policies that promote both land conservation and affordable housing and include a shared vision of land use in Connecticut.

For me, the place to start was the Community Investment Act (CIA).

Established by statute in 2005, the CIA has become Connecticut’s primary source of dedicated funding to support a spectrum of local projects that span across four land use sectors – open space, agriculture/dairy, affordable housing, and historic preservation – all necessary components of strong and sustainable communities across the state.

What makes the CIA so unique and effective is that it is inherently collaborative -- bringing together a diverse cross-section of advocates to ensure the fund stays protected.

It’s a powerful coalition -- and a perfect first stop in our efforts to build upon the conversation and spur action on the intersection of land conservation, housing, and other essential community land use programs.

Your land trust is an essential partner in that exciting effort.

Sincerely,

Amy Blaymore Paterson

Executive Director

abpaterson@ctconservation.org

P.S. Last night, as part of my testimony to the Appropriations Committee, I expressed gratitude on behalf of CLCC and the land conservation community that the CIA was kept intact in the Governor’s proposed Biennial Budget. We’ll keep you posted if there are any changes to the CIA's status as budget deliberations move on. View all testimony >>

Summit on Housing and Conservation

Re-Cap

Reflecting on the 2023 Summit on Housing and Conservation

By: Aaron Lefland, Deputy Director

“Collaboration between oil and water topics, spiced up, can make a good dressing for green pastures!”

– Pat Hackett, Salisbury Affordable Housing Commission

This is one of my favorite bits of feedback from the 2023 Summit on Housing and Conservation. Hosted on February 1, 2023, over 100 Summit attendees joined leaders and experts from across the state and beyond, to explore opportunities that lie at the intersection of affordable housing and land conservation. While these two land uses are often pitted against one another as an “either/or” proposition, we learned that both are possible – and necessary- to create healthy Connecticut communities...

In the weeks following the Summit, I’ve had the opportunity to continue some of the many conversations that started that day, and to reflect on the many opportunities and challenges that exist when conservation and affordable housing meet...For me, a key takeaway was the important role that land trusts can, and perhaps should, play in creating more affordable housing...

Don't Forget to Keep An Eye On...

2023 CT Land Conservation Conference

Registration is open and the response thus far has been fabulous!

Join us at Wesleyan University on March 25 for Connecticut's largest full-day land conservation gathering and CLCC's first in-person conference in three years.

Details here >>

Grant Opportunities

In addition to our own funding programs, CLCC maintains a growing list of external grant opportunities for conservation, stewardship, programming, and more. See what funding is available right now >>

Job Board

New jobs just added! Looking for a career in conservation, or hoping to get greater exposure for your job posting? Check out CLCC's free job board >>

Resource Library

As CLCC receives and produces helpful resources, they are uploaded to our growing Resource Library. Other helpful documents can be found in our Template Library and on our Model Documents page.

Connecticut Land Conservation Council

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Middletown, CT 06457

860-852-5512

ctconservation.org

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The Connecticut Land Conservation Council advocates for land conservation, stewardship and funding, and works to ensure the long term strength and viability of the land conservation community.

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