Newest Board Members Elected
February 9th, 2007Newest Board members bring strong backgrounds to Land Trust Directors
Clallam County’s Director of the Department of Community Development and a retired financial specialist are the newest members of North Olympic Land Trust’s Board of Directors. Elected at the nonprofit organization’s annual meeting Thursday night (Feb. 8) were John H. Miller and Alan Bentsen.
John Miller’s (right) election was in line with the service of a previous Board member, David Stahlheim, who worked in a role similar to Miller’s at the County and helped found the Land Trust, said Gary Colley, another founding Board member. Miller said his interest in working with the Land Trust fits with his interest in the Community Development Department. “Clallam County is unusual. The land all tilts toward the Strait, and that makes taking care of sensitive lands especially challenging and important,” he said. 
Miller was the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe’s executive director from 1997 to 2006; also served as Health Director; and held other executive posts with that Tribe from 1993 to 1997. He served as acting director of the Stillaquamish Tribe for six months in 1997 and also worked for the Stillaguamish as Tribal Planner and director of health and social services in 1990-92. He worked for Catholic Community Services in Bellingham as a child development counselor from 1986-89. He is in his fourth year as president of the Port Angeles Food Bank’s Board of Directors and chaired the Clallam County Democratic Party from 2004-2006.
After graduating from high school in Fargo, North Dakota, Miller completed an undergraduate degree in politics at Princeton University, in New Jersey. He has done graduate work in public administration, political theory and environmental studies at Western Washington University’s Political Science Department and Huxley College.
Alan Bentsen (right) served on the Board in the 1990s until time constraints caused 
him to resign. Bentsen was a broker for Smith Barney during 20 of the more than 20 years he has lived in Port Angeles. In explaining his desire to join the Board again, he said, “I am extremely interested in the continued success of the organization and believe strongly in its goals.” He taught art history at Wayne University, Detroit, after completing master’s degrees in art history and anthropology at the University of Michigan.
He also spent several years doing freelance photography and is enjoying that field again on a smaller scale. In earlier years in California, he worked on numerous environmental projects with the Nature Conservancy, Friends of the Earth and the California Native Plant Society. Re-elected to three-year terms were Ken Sweeney, Gail Tate, Steve Johnson, Patty McManus-Huber and Orville Campbell.
Participants Provide Insights Into Their Preserved Properties
Annual meeting participants heard comments from donors and stewards of some of the properties the Land Trust has protected. Deborah Keeting Hansen said the farm where she lives will be preserved “for people we don’t even know” – the people who will be able to enjoy it always because the agreement her late mother, Virginia Keeting, made with the Land Trust. Toni Wade said the Chickamin Stick Tree Farm she and her husband, Norm Wade, protected through an agreement last year follows the tradition of her late father, Harry Brown, as a sustainable timberland. “He always told me that if you take care of the trees, the trees will take care of you.” Merrill & Ring Forest Products L.P. now owns the property and is working with Toni, a retired teacher, so area students can learn about its timber heritage and experience a working forest.
Judy Winthrop, who donated development rights on 10 acres near the Discovery Trail with Cheryl Smith, said she grew up in New York City where it was hard to find trees outside of parks. “I’m sure people there must have wondered about saving the space in Central Park when it was set aside,” she said. “I just wish we owned more land we could protect.” Also recognized for establishing a conservation agreement protecting 10 acres in the Olympic foothills was Wes Ringius.
Colley gave some history about the Siebert Creek/Green Point agreement completed in 2006, protecting nearly 50 acres. He called it the most challenging land protection project in the organization’s history and credited attorney Craig Knutson for much of the legal work it required. Friends of the Fields president Jim Aldrich gave an update on efforts to find appropriate farmland so a state grant can be used to purchase development rights. The Land Trust has provided more than $100,000 toward the $350,000 in matching funds the grant would require.
North Olympic Land Trust 2006 Annual Report
February 7th, 2007Our 2006 Annual Report offers interesting information regarding the many accomplishments that have taken 
place at North Olympic Land Trust in the past year, and gives a compelling look to the year 2007.
You’ll also be able to learn more about lands protected during 2006 as well as previous years, and see our salute to 2006 North Olympic Land Trust supporters.
Thank you to all those interested in efforts and opportunties to protect our precious land. To view all the collaborative projects taking place, click here!
Winter ‘06 Newsletter
February 7th, 2007
Our Winter 2007 newsletter is available. Curl up in a cozy corner and read all about:
- Clallam Courthouse dedication celebrates the importance of working together
- Land Trust welcomes two new board members
- More about Conversation Conversations — our new lunch hour program
- Clallam County grant continues important Land Trust funding source
- Tax law changes that offer benefits and incentives for donors
- Future residents send a donation and message to North Olympic Land Trust
- How to join the North Olympic Land Trust — become a member!
The newsletter is available for download in PDF format right now!
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Conservation Conversations! Say it fast! Come and enjoy
February 5th, 2007Conservation Conversations were a great success, drawing people to the Land Trust office’s conference room to learn and offer their ideas.
In fact, success in getting word out North Olympic Land Trust’s services has contributed to the Conservation Conversation program needing to take a breather. Staff and volunteers found themselves out of breath by the eighth of the monthly sessions (with August off for vacation time). And when Conservation Director Allison Lutz tallied up totals for land already protected in the past year or “in the pipeline” for receiving protection, it was easy to see why.
At this time last year, about 1,300 acres had been protected. At the same time this year, an additional 684 acres have been protected or are in the process of receiving protection — many by year’s end. This is a 52% increase!
Lutz and other Conservation Conversation planners want to resume a similar program as soon as possible. They are looking at offering opportunities to talk with landowners who have completed conservation agreements — on the properties the Land Trust is protecting permanently.
Keep watching this site for more information. If you’d like to get your name on the mailing list for receiving notification about Land Trust activities, please write info@northolympiclandtrust.org or call the office, 360-417-1815.
Courthouse art celebrates cooperation
February 5th, 2007Working together to protect Clallam County’s special lands for present and future generations was the theme for the celebration when North Olympic Land Trust gave its new artwork to the people of Clallam County. Read the rest of this entry »