Land trust movements

The Tuesday Lunch Series welcomes Doug Spieles, associate professor of environmental studies, presenting "The Land Trust Movement in America and Licking County.” Most of us are familiar with the fabulous collection of protected public lands in the United States; hopefully you've had a chance to visit a national park, bird sanctuary, wilderness area or wildlife reserve. Less well known is the explosive movement to protect private lands in this country. Privately held land under conservation or agricultural protection now encompasses about 50 million acres in the U.S.--nearly the same area as our national parks. Protection of these private lands is overseen by 1,700 local, state, and national Land Trusts. In this presentation I'll explore the role of Land Trusts in terms of land use planning, community building and ecological conservation. In particular, I'll explain the work of our very own Licking Land Trust. Open to emeriti faculty, faculty and staff.