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OLTA New Website Launched
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Dear OLTA Supporter,
We are
delighted to officially launch - the new OLTA website - visit us at www.olta.ca
The
"public' website is all about making it easier to find you - the
local organization - that can accept and steward land in Ontario. Thanks
to the EJLB Foundation for their support of the map and member directory.
And much
appreciated was the support from the Ministry of Natural Resources that
helped us make the appealing link between saving land and saving
endangered species.
Finally,
many thanks to the members of OLTA - our raison d'etre. The
"member" website is a work in progress. We will continue to
find, develop and post resources that help you meet standards
and implement best practices to save Ontario's landscapes.
The website is
chock-a-block full of resources! including presentations and handouts
from every Regional and Gathering workshop EVER. If we have them, they
are now on the website and available for you to download.
THANKS FOR ALL YOUR HELP. AND
PLEASE DON'T STOP. Keep sending us links, resources and stories!
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OLTA BOARD NEWS
 Spring
is here! I hope you're all out
enjoying the beautiful spring flowers - on my last hike, a few trout
lilies had bravely poked their heads above ground.
This
article is the first of what will be a monthly column, updating you on
the comings and goings of the OLTA board.
It's a way to keep you informed about what we're doing, but more
importantly to solicit your feedback.
Please feel free to drop us an email anytime - you can
reach me at amathes.olta@gmail.com or Kathy at kathy.allan@olta.ca
The OLTA board of governors held our annual retreat
in February at the YMCA's Cedar Glen Camp - a wonderful spot for anyone
looking to host meetings or retreats.
One of the exciting developments from that retreat was the
adoption of an entirely new committee structure for the board - one that
we feel will greatly improve our efficiency and effectiveness. Instead of multiple, smaller
committees, we have shifted to 3 main committees - Executive, Member
Services, and External Relations.
Each committee is made up of smaller working groups that are
tasked with implementing the work plans of the committees. For example, the working groups of the
Member Services Committee take care of our annual Gathering conference,
assist with developing policies and procedures to support the Assessing
Your Organization program, and administer the ever-popular Ontario Land
Trust Assistance Program. The
External Relations Committee looks after our government relations
programs as well as communications and fundraising. And of course, the Executive Committee
looks after strategic planning, board development and finance.
This new structure allows us to make better use of
the resources we have on the board, but also to capitalize on the wealth
of knowledge and experience that exists in our members. This is where you come in! If you are interested in any of
the areas mentioned above, please get in touch with Kathy or myself and
let us know. You don't
have to commit to sitting on a committee or working group, you may just
be interested in reviewing some documents, assisting at an event, or
simply offering advice on a topic or program.
We look forward to hearing from you!
April Weppler,
Chair, Ontario Land Trust Alliance
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OLTA partner in GREEN IT
The Green IT Collaborative is a two-year project that
will optimize the use of information technology for at least 25 Ontario
environmental organizations in order to boost productivity and
functionality, communication and collaboration, outreach and marketing,
and computer use. Green IT will help to increase IT capacity and provide
affordable access to quality IT solutions.
Green Communities Canada will
be the lead organization for the Collaborative, responsible for the
agreement with the Ontario Trillium Foundation and management of the
project. Green Communities Canada, Box 928, Peterborough, ON K9J 7A5,
Phone: 705 745 7479.
MEMBERS of
the Green IT Collaborative.
The Green IT
collaborative project is one of five projects supported by the $2 million
Future
Fund.
Let us know
if you have a particular IT solution or dilemma you would like to share
or address as part of the GREEN IT project, email kathy.allan@olta.ca.
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Chris Baines - New Director with AFoCLT
Christopher Baines (past chair of OLTA) is a new Director
with AFoCLT (American Friends of Canadian Land Trusts). AFoCLT can
now process cross-border cash donations. They anticipate being able
to process land/easement gifts by year end if not sooner, but only
for a donor where capital gains are not an issue (i.e.
donor could receive tax receipt for US tax purposes, but
would have to pay the Canadian capital gains tax).
AFoCLT have applied for special status with the
Canada Revenue Agency that will eliminate this capital gains tax
burden, but we will likely not receive that status for at least a
year or two based on typical times required for changes to Canadian
tax regulations. At that point we hope AFoCLT can be
a 'one-stop-shop' for land trust and their US donors in terms of
land, easements, cash support, stewardship endowment donations etc.
AFoLT is incorporated in Washington State . For
more information, visit www.nsnt.ca/afoclt
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May
19 - June 20, 2008, every Tuesday from 3:30 - 4:30 ET, with an extra 30
minutes of optional, online discussion time with the instructor Brenda
Lind. Send an
e-mail to register,
Participate in the first instructor-led
online course using the new Standards and Practices Curriculum.
Conservation Easement Stewardship Funding
is a four-week online course designed for land trust staff, volunteers
and board members who are planning for the long-term financial support of
their land trusts' easement stewardship programs. In addition to
reviewing actual policies drafted by the participants, the course will
focus on how land trusts design and use dedicated stewardship funds to
meet their long-term easement stewardship responsibilities.
OLTA is a member of LTA -
so please contact kathy.allan@olta.ca to learn
how to access the LTA learning centre.
Conservation Leadership's (ICL) Executive
Director Leadership course
"On April 6, I flew south to Baltimore to spend 6
days with 20 other Executive Directors working throughout Canada and the
United States, as part of the Institute for Conservation Leadership's
(ICL) Executive Director Leadership course. The week flew by, covering a
broad range of topics from financial management to avoiding the river of
burnout. After more than 15 years of putting on the program, ICL and its
facilitators, have mastered the program, creating an open environment
that provides for some great learning and sharing. I came home with a big
fat binder full of resources, but more importantly, some great ideas, a
plan on what I need to focus on and a team of support (including 6 hours
of follow up time with one of the facilitators and my pod - a group of 4
of the participants who I will connect with monthly to share stories and
seek advice) who will make sure I'm successful." Wendy Cooper,
Executive Director, Georgian Bay Land Trust.
Ian Attridge of Kawartha Heritage Conservancy and Lisa
McLaughlin of Nature Conservancy of Canada also attended the course in
April.
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CRA seeks feedback on nonprofits'
fundraising activites
Canada Revenue Agency is seeking reaction and feedback from
the nonprofit sector on summary guidelines it has published with
reference to nonprofits' fundraising activities. For the full report: www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tax/charities/consultations/fundraising-e.html;
to comment, before June 30: fax 613/948-1320, consultation-policy-politique@cra-arc.gc.ca
or Charities Directorate, CRA, Ottawa ON K1A 0L5.
Checklist for Small or Rural
Charities
This checklist will help small
or rural registered charities self-assess their fundraising conduct. The
checklist is a guideline only.
If a charity has
total revenues of less than $100,000 and can answer yes to all the
questions in either Part I or Part II below, the charity will generally
satisfy compliance requirements related to its fundraising.
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Yes
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No
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PART I
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Its fundraising
is done by volunteers;
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No more than
$10,000 is spent on the services and supplies* used for its fundraising
activities; and
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It accurately
completes its annual Form T3010A, Registered
Charity Information Return.
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or
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Yes
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No
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PART II
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Its fundraising
expenditures are not more than 35% of its total revenues;
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If it contracts
for fundraising services or supplies*, it only contracts with parties
at arms length;
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For staff or
contracted fundraisers, the charity does not use commission-based
compensation or other compensation based on the number or amount of
donations;
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It can show it
takes adequate measures to control costs and receives best value in its
fundraising
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It can show it
takes adequate measures to control costs and receives best value in its
fundraising activities; and
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It accurately
completes its annual Form T3010A, Registered
Charity Information Return.
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* Services and
supplies include:
- goods or services bought to
be used for fundraising (e.g., collection envelopes, advertising,
and donors lists);
- contracted services for
direct mail, telemarketing, or other solicitation work, or for
organizing a fundraising event;
- contracted services for
prospect research or other donor acquisition activities; and
- goods or services sold or
used in fundraising (products such as chocolate bars and cookies, as
well as merchandize distributed as gift incentives or donor premiums,
such as mailing labels, key chains, T-shirts, and tote bags).
- FOR MORE INFORMATION, GO TO
:
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Land Information Ontario - OntarioTrails
Strategy
Land
Information Ontario is facilitating the collection of trail information
across Ontario in support of the Ministry of Health Promotion's Ontario
Trails Strategy. This information is being consolidated into a spatial
database called the Ontario Trail Network (OTN). Over the winter months,
we have been contacting local trail groups, Conservation Authorities,
Ontario Parks, National Parks, Health Units and Municipalities across the
province to promote the Ontario Trail Network. This outreach will
determine additional data to be included in the Ontario Trail Network data
model. The current data model includes both mandatory (name, length,
trail association) and optional (surface, grade and slope) attributes
describing trails across the province.
The
Ontario Trail Network data will be accessible to members of the Ontario Geospatial
Data Exchange as well as to the public through the Ministry of Natural
Resources Base Data Unrestricted Use Licence.
In
collaboration with the Ontario Trails Council and Trans Canada Trail
Ontario, LIO will be organizing regional trail sessions across the
province. If your organization would like to register for a regional
trails session or wish to provide trails data to the OTN, please contact
Carol Anne Albertson at (705) 755-2175 or email: carolanne.albertson@ontario.ca
To
participate in the Ontario Trails Network project, you will need to sign
the Ontario Trail Network Agreement.
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Developers buying up Ontario's most
fertile land, farmers' federation warns
CBC News Article
A group of Ottawa farmers wants governments and
private donors to ensure locally grown food is available to future
generations through farmland trusts that would prevent developers
from building on Ontario's best farmland.
"The reality is if we don't do something today, we'll
soon see that in a generation there won't be enough good farmland in
Ontario to grow the grain that Canadians have come to expect from
Canadian farmers," said Dwight Foster, vice-president of the Ottawa
Federation of Agriculture, in an interview with CBC Monday.
The federation, a local branch of the Ontario
Federation of Agriculture, is to meet Tuesday to discuss the
possibility of expanding the province's sole farmland trust or
establishing new trusts to cover more prime agricultural land.
The trusts, charities that hold and protect land for a
public benefit, are intended to address a fundamental problem, said
Foster: the fact that Ontario's most fertile soil is also
the simplest to build on.
Foster grows corn, soybeans and wheat on his farm in
North Gower on the southern outskirts of Ottawa, farming 4,000 to
5,000 acres a year.
Good farmland is flat and mostly rock free, he says,
making it quick and easy for developers to dig foundations and trenches
for water lines and put up many houses in a row.
"Obviously, they prefer to dig on and construct or
build homes on that type of soil versus rock or bedrock," said
Foster.
Ontario has only
one farmland trust to date, Ontario Farmland Trust
In Ontario, most land trusts preserve areas such as
woodlands and wetlands, but there is one, the Guelph-based Ontario
Farmland Trust, that was established to protect farmland.
According to that trust, Ontario lost 18 per cent of its
best farmland, known as class 1 farmland, to urban development just
in the Greater Toronto Area between 1976 and 2006.
Developers, who tempt farmers by offering millions of
dollars for fertile land, should be forced to build on soil that
isn't suitable for growing, Foster said.
Something also needs to be done to discourage farmers from
selling their prime farmland to developers, he said. However, Foster said
he doesn't favour laws that enforce a
"greenbelt," banning farmers from selling their land
and preventing them from earning the money they need to retire.
Instead, he wants governments and private donors to
establish and support farmland trusts, which set up permanent agreements
with the landowners called easements. The easements require the
owners to use the land and treat it in a certain way. The trust
compensates the farmer for not selling the land and monitors the land
use. In some cases, land trusts also buy land and lease it out for
certain purposes.
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LAND TRUST GOOD NEWS
Thames Talbot Land Trust Receives Bequest
The estate of former Chathamite Beryl Ivey has announced a
bequest of $500,000 to the Thames
Talbot Land Trust. The latest gift is in addition to $1
million that Beryl and Richard Ivey gave to the trust in 2005. The
money will be used over several years to assist in the acquisition of
land in southwest Ontario where Beryl Ivey grew up.
How to save a rain forest Starting with a pickle jar of
cash from school children
Saltspring Island raised $1-million to save a 19-hectare
plot from development
Excerpted from
HADANI DITMARS Special to The Globe and Mail, April 5, 2008
Saltspring Island's Creekside Rainforest is cool, moist,
lush and much greener than the surrounding area. The sound of island
songbirds and the gurgling of a creek that supports two kinds of wild
salmon greet the visitor. For species at risk - like the red-legged frog
- this is a rare haven - one of the very few rain forests on the Gulf
Islands.
On March 31, a deal was officially sealed between a local
numbered company that had planned to develop and log the 19-hectare rain
forest and its new owners, a group of concerned citizens of Saltspring
working in partnership with the Land Conservancy of B.C.
The community coalition and the Land Conservancy of B.C.
did not hold protests or appeal to government to preserve the rain
forest. They engaged in a form of collective capitalism in which everyone
from local schoolchildren to senior citizens pooled their resources to
buy the land from the developer.
"Because I knew immediately that the development and
logging could be done legally - it seemed like a waste of energy to
engage in protest," said Maureen Moore, an island grandmother and
writer who spearheaded the community effort to save the rain forest.
Time was also a factor, because the development plans were
in process.
"Buying the land seemed like the most pragmatic
option, so we went forward with a community appeal," said Ms. Moore,
who had never before lead an environmental campaign and had moved to
Saltspring a few years earlier to enjoy a quiet, writing life.
In a matter of months, and with the assistance of the Land
Conservancy, Ms. Moore organized a campaign that raised the $1-million
asking price for the rain forest largely from individual donations from
the island's approximately 10,000 residents.
"People said it was impossible when I started,"
Ms. Moore said. She persisted, however, organizing fundraising activities
including a play, art exhibit, and literary reading. "Purchasing
environmentally sensitive land is a positive way of dealing with
ecological issues," Bill Turner says, "and it's often
more effective than protesting."
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FUNDING
Evergreen Common Grounds is now accepting applications for
two grant programs supporting community environmental restoration
projects!
The Home Depot-Evergreen Rebuilding Nature Grant 2008
provides grants of $1,000, $3,000 or $8,000 - plus $2,000 in Home Depot
gift cards - to cover the costs of tools and building, native plants and
trees, and other expenses associated with urban environmental stewardship
projects in Canada. Download the grant Guidelines and Application Form
at: http://www.evergreen.ca/en/cg/cg-funding.html
The application deadline is Friday, June 6th 2008.
The
Unilever-Evergreen Aquatic Stewardship and Conservation Grant Program
2008 provides grants of between $3,500 and $10,000 to support
small-scale, community-driven, education and restoration projects that
increase public awareness of sustainable water use and the importance of
aquatic features, while providing meaningful opportunities for community
action. Download the grant Guidelines and Application Form at: http://www.evergreen.ca/en/cg/cg-funding.html
The application deadline is Friday, June 13th 2008.
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JOBS
Algoma Highlands Conservancy - ASAP
The Executive
Director is responsible for the management of AHC programs and services,
with particular attention on fund raising to promote land conservation,
as well as the implementation and realization of the three remaining core
values of the AHC according to the priorities laid down byy the Board.
The Executive Director provides support for the volunteer
Board of Directors, and is accountableto the Board. Salary Range: Maximum of $55,000 plus benefits, based
on experience. For further details, contact Nicolle at info@algomahighlandsconservancy.org
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EVENTS
Sunday, May 11 at 1:00 p.m.
The Stewards of Joany's Woods will conduct guided tours of
the newest Thames Talbot Land Trust property. This 367 acre tract along
the Ausable River is within an ANSI and Carolinian Canada site. Meet at
Sylvan's Foremost Bookstore - Sylvan and Elginfield Roads
Friday, June 13, 2008 at 7:00 p.m.
DEEP ECONOMY The Wealth of
Communities and the Durable Future
sie Labatt Hall - King's College, London
Bill McKibben:
Author. Educator. Environmentalist.
Bill McKibben is
an American environmentalist and writer who frequently writes about
global warming, alternative energy, and the risks associated with human
genetic engineering. Beginning in the summer of 2006, he led the
organization of the largest demonstrations against global warming in
American history.
2008 TD Great Canadian
Shoreline Cleanup!
September 20th - 28th, 2008
(Registration closes August 31st)
Organize or join a shoreline cleanup in your community, y
Be a site coordinator and receive your Supply Kit which we will send you
completely free of charge! For more information on how to register, visit
www.vanaqua.org/cleanup
You can also email our office at: shorelinecleanup@vanaqua.org or call (toll-free): 1-877-427-2422
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Environmental Commissioner of Ontario advice
on amending the Environmental Registry
There is a key proposal now posted on the
Environmental Registry. The proposal to amend O. Reg. 73/94, the
General Regulation made under the EBR, was posted on the Registry on
April 18th, 2008. The comment period is supposed to
close on May 18th.
Under s. 57 of the EBR, the Environmental Commissioner of Ontario (ECO)
has the power to provide assistance and advice to the public related to
proposals on the Registry.
While the proposal addresses some of the concerns that the
ECO has raised with the Ontario Legislature and does make some important
updates, there are some notable omissions from the proposed list of
changes. For example, the draft regulation does not propose
to make the following ministries subject to the EBR:
- Ministry of Public Infrastructure Renewal (MPIR)
- Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs
- Ministry of Education
- Ministry of Health Promotion
If these ministries remain unprescribed, some of the transparency and
accountability advantages of the EBR will continue to not apply to
them. For example, important decisions that are being made by MPIR
are not being posted as regular notices on the Environmental
Registry. This means that comments made by the public on these proposals
do not have to be considered by the ministry prior to the minister making
a final decision to approve them as required s. 35 of the EBR, and the
ECO is constrained in the nature of our reviews of these decisions.
In addition, these ministries also are not required to develop a
Statement of Environmental Values under s. 7 of the EBR. A number
of other procedural and legal requirements also do not apply such as
compliance with the notice and comment procedures set out in section 15,
16 and 22 of the EBR.
The proposed regulation also fails to address ECO requests to make
certain Acts (e.g. the Ontario Heritage Act) and agencies (e.g. the
Ontario Heritage Trust) subject to the EBR.
The link to the Registry notice about the regulatory proposal is provided
below:
http://www.ebr.gov.on.ca/ERS-WEB-External/displaynoticecontent.do?noticeId=MTAyMzAx&statusId=MTUyOTM5&language=en
We urge you to review this Registry notice and to consider offering
comments on-line or via letters sent to the MOE.
Please note
that it is open to any person or group to request that the comment period
on this proposal (or any other proposal) be extended. This can be
done by writing the ministry contact person and explaining why additional
time is required. If you do this, I would recommend that you also
send a copy of your request to the Minister of the Environment and the
ECO.
Should you need additional background information on how to comment,
please contact the following ECO staff:
David McRobert, 416-325-3376
Ellen Schwartzel, 416-325-0559
Peter Lapp, 46-325-3369
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OLTA will be
asking you to renew your membership in OLTA next month. Is there some
service, information, research or support you would like to see OLTA
deliver? Let us know! Anytime, but especially important at this time of
year, please let us know what OLTA can do for you!
Kathy Allan
Ontario Land Trust Alliance
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P.O. Box 97026
Toronto, Ontario M6R 3B3
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