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31 COMMON GROUND VOL. 13 NO. 1 JANUARY -MARCH 2002 • Maryland contributed $7.6 million to a fed- eral- state - county partnership to protect 5,000 acres of farmland along the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake Bay. The Urban Land Institute and the U.S. Green Building Council will host a two -day symposium about the practice of sustainable development. For more information on "The Practice of Sustainable Development," to be held March 26 -27 in Pittsburgh, Pa., call 800 1321 -5011. u� Land Protected, from page 1 ■ In the largest conservation easement in its history, Maryland contributed $7.6 million to a federal- state - county partnership to protect 5,000 acres of farmland along the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake Bay. Chino Farm, the largest in Queen Anne's County, in- cludes 2.5 miles of Chester River shoreline. About 300 acres will be managed under the federal Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program to create buffers and improve water quality. More than 100 acres will be re- planted with trees to provide wildlife corri- dors to link adjacent forest lands. The Fund, which helped arrange the easement, has as- sisted in protecting 99,000 acres in the state. ■ DeKalb County, Ga., tapped its new $125 million fund for parks and green space in December to add 940 acres to the Davidson - Arabia Mountain Nature Preserve 20 miles east of Atlanta. The acquisition coincided with a 100 -acre gift to the county by the Richard King Mellon Foundation that in- creased the reserve to more than 1,600 acres. The land includes rocky outcrops, woodland and a stream within the South River water- shed. The additions form a land bridge that connects the preserve with Panola Mountain State Conservation Park. The Conservation Fund assisted with the gift. ■ The Denver Business Journal recently chose the preservation of the 21,000 -acre Greenland Ranch in Douglas County as a Groundbreaker of the Year Award winner. The project, which Sydney Macy of The Con- servation Fund's Colorado office worked on for years, brought $70 million in funding to- gether from Great Outdoors Colorado, Dou- glas County and a conservation buyer. The county purchased 3,600 acres of the ranch for recreation. A conservation easement was placed on the remaining 17,400 acres of the working ranch, which was purchased by the conservation buyer in July 2000. ■ Leaders of 45 state natural resource agen- cies, led by John Oliver, secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, met at a landmark meeting in Shepherdstown, W.Va., in Octo- ber to seek ways to encourage multistate partnerships and more effectively communi- cate their interests to the federal govern- ment. The leaders were joined by Gale Norton, Interior secretary, Fran Mainella, director of the National Park Service, Steve Williams, since confirmed as director of the Fish and Wildlife Service and Jim Connaughton, chairman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality. "We hope this meeting is the first of an ongoing effort to engage the states in setting the agenda for natural resources conservation in this country," Norton said. The group plans to meet April 25 -27 to discuss the work of committees on land conservation, transporta- tion and agriculture. The Conservation Fund, with assistance from the Richard King Mellon Foundation, provided financial sup- port for the initial meeting. ■ Jim and Lucia Gilliland of Memphis, Tenn., recently loaned $500,000 interest -free to The Conservation Fund to create the Con- servation Partners Fund. Like many Ameri- cans, the Gillilands have watched a sputter- ing stock market and record low interest rates and decided to seek a better return by looking beyond traditional investments. Through the new partners fund, investors agree to loan at least $250,000 interest -free to the Fund for at least two years. The money will fund land conservation projects, and loans will be repaid at the end of the term. The Gilliland money helped protect 5,000 acres along the Cumberland Trail in Tennes- see. The state, which aims to create a 280 - mile linear park, secured more than half the land, leaving more than 2,000 acres unpro- tected. With a boost from the Gilliland loan, The Conservation Fund bought the land and now has time to raise money with its part- ners to protect it for the long term. For more details about the Conservation Partners Pro- gram, contact David Phillips (703/525-6300, dphillips @conservationfund.org). ■ In the largest environmental grant in its history, the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation (mott.org) has given $3.975 million to The Conservation Fund to create a revolving loan fund (616/426 -8825, pkohring @aol.com) to protect coastal and freshwater ecosystems in the 8 -state Great Lakes basin. The revolving fund will provide land trusts and govern- ment agencies with short -term loans to pur- chase ecologically significant areas and conservation easements. The Conservation Fund will provide technical assistance to help complete the acquisitions. The new fund is expected to protect $15 million of land in 5 years. "This grant is a tremendous leap forward," said Peg Kohring, the Fund's Midwest director. "We can look at larger blocks of land and be more systematic in the preservation of ecologically important sites."