Letters to the Editor - The Lakeville Journal - 2-18-21

Response on trusting land trusts

Yes, we can and should trust land trusts, and we should support them in their difficult and important work!  Our land trusts have a proven track record of professionalism and exemplary stewardship of conservation lands and easements in this region that spans many decades.   In fact, land trusts meet higher professional standards today than ever before, and they continue to raise the bar for themselves and for land protection.  This is equally true at the local, regional and national levels.

No less than 83 Connecticut land trusts have endorsed the model Land Trust Standards and Practices established by the Land Trust Alliance.  Moreover, since 2008 when it first became an option to do so, 29 of these same land trusts have pursued, achieved and maintained accreditation from the Land Trust Accreditation Commission.  Accreditation is a mark of distinction for exemplary conservation nonprofits. It includes a comprehensive external audit of all aspects of nonprofit governance and practice.  

Connecticut ranks third nationwide — behind only California and New York ­— in its number of accredited land trusts. That includes every local land trust in the Lakeville Journal’s service area (Cornwall Conservation Trust, Kent Land Trust, Norfolk Land Trust, Salisbury Association and Sharon Land Trust), along with the Housatonic Valley Association, Trust for Public Land, Northwest Connecticut Land Conservancy, Connecticut Farmland Trust, The Nature Conservancy, Northeast Wilderness Trust, the Appalachian Trail Conservancy and – just over the line in New York - the Dutchess Land Conservancy.  There are additional accredited land trusts in other Northwest Connecticut communities, and more besides that are actively seeking accreditation.

Although they have strong volunteer boards, many of our local land trusts also have professional staff, or contract with partners for specialized services.  They are actively affiliated with, and engaged in, regional, statewide and national training and professional development networks. In our region, that includes the Litchfield Hills Greenprint Collaborative (directed by Connie Manes and administered by the Housatonic Valley Association), the Connecticut Land Conservation Council, and the Land Trust Alliance.   

Land trusts take their responsibilities seriously.  They are accountable on multiple levels and they do not act rashly.  When circumstances require it, they can and do seek relief from the courts to uphold their conservation interests in protected land.  Many of them also subscribe to a self-insurance program called Terra Firma, which can provide significant resources when court action becomes necessary to defend conservation lands and uphold conservation easements.  They also grapple with complicated scientific and legal questions that continue to arise on protected lands, because science is not static and perpetuity is a very long time.  

Instead of second guessing responsible conservation organizations — and our land trust community in Northwest Connecticut comprises nothing but responsible, accredited organizations — far better to ask what we can do to support land trusts and their work in our communities.  Recognize that they do difficult and important work and that we and nature are the beneficiaries.         

Tim Abbott

North Canaan

 

Now is the time to enact legislation

Now is the time to enact appropriate legislation by simple majority in both houses of Congress:

Draft - 02/13/2021

THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Bill No. __ in the House of Representatives

Bill No. __ in the Senate

WHEREAS, Section 2 of Article II of the Constitution states “The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States ....”

WHEREAS, the Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States is an officer of the United States.

WHEREAS, Section 3 of Amendment XIV to the Constitution states in  relevant part: “No person shall ... hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, ... as an officer of the United States ... to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.” 

WHEREAS, Section 5 of Amendment XIV to the Constitution states “The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.”

WHEREAS, the evidence provided by the House Managers in the second impeachment trial of Donald John Trump clearly established that Donald John Trump had engaged in insurrection and rebellion against the Constitution of the United States and given aid and comfort to the enemies thereof.

NOW THEREFORE,

By operation of Section 3 of Amendment XIV to the Constitution in accordance with its terms, Donald John Trump is disqualified from holding any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State.

G. A. Mudge

Sharon

 

Tourism to D.C., changes post-January

“Here, sir, the people govern.” 

— Alexander Hamilton

Washington, D.C., is not among the top 10 cities visited in the United States annually: 24.6 million come, 55% are on vacation. But as regards monuments, the Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Monument and the Mall have followed only the Statue of Liberty in annual visitors. D.C. has been the destination for annual school trips — from across the nation a spring sojourn of kids to the nation’s Capitol.  

It occurs to me that now, post-January 6th, key D.C. spots singled out for visitors by tour guides and sought by tourists with cameras will undergo a transformation. Washington, D.C., no longer to be famed as the heart of our democratic government housed in limestone monuments to liberty and freedom, but shrunk to infamy as the crime scene of centuries: violence, ravage, and the stalking of elected officials for physical harm. 

D.C. points of interest may well have shifted from the Washington Monument being the tallest obelisk in the world, the female atop the Capitol dome being the Statue of Freedom or that Statuary Hall (100 statues, 9 women) was the Old House Chambers. Tour guides for hire, souvenirs, hotel displays may now focus on D.C. as THE crime scene stretching from the White House Ellipse right up Pennsylvania Avenue to the Capitol and astonishingly throughout its halls. Openness symbolic of a peoples’ government and easy access has been replaced with high fencing and high soldiering. 

Revised tour of Pennsylvania Avenue a sampling of talking points and photos :

• This is the Ellipse, a White House park, where the then President juiced a riotous mob to fight against a confirmation of the 2020 election 

• This is where low metal barriers and Capitol Police were placed to deter entrance to the Capitol (barriers converted to weapons) 

• This is the west entrance of the Capitol, first smashed for riotous entry

• This is the door in which a Capitol policeman was entrapped and squelched by the mob

• This the spot where a Capitol policeman was beaten to death with the a flag pole still flying its American flag

• This is the Senate Chamber where the mob spoke their bile from the podium ramsacking member desks — also where Senators hid in the Gallery up above

• This is the first room that concealed VP Pence from the mob calling for him to be hanged

• This is where the gallows were constructed with a noose for Pence

• This is where the stun gun man of fine words occupied Speaker Pelosi’s office, seated in the Speaker’s chair

• This is where once a nation of law and order convened elected officials to safeguard the nation, its values, and its people

It wasn’t an election that was stolen in 2020/2021, it was a history and confidence, unity and justice. Spring class trips may be diverted.

“We defend and we build a way of life, not for America alone, but for all mankind.”

— Franklin Delano Roosevelt

Kathy Herald-Marlowe

Sharon

 

Details on easement from The Nature Conservancy

 The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is aware that property owned by Jeffrey Keenan and subject to a conservation easement (a perpetual restriction on land protecting its important conservation interests) held by The Nature Conservancy is the subject of discussion and debate, but to date TNC has not received any specific request or proposal regarding the property. We are in communication with all interested parties, including Mr. Keenan and Kate and Chris Kimball, the children of the original donor, Mary Alice White. We must clarify facts before taking any position. 

We have spoken with Mr. Keenan and his representative broadly regarding a variety of projects he may be considering. If The Nature Conservancy receives a specific proposal from Mr. Keenan we will review its consistency with the purpose, intent, and terms of the conservation easement. This is how The Nature Conservancy considers any proposal received by a landowner over whose property we hold a conservation easement. 

We believe it is important to work with landowners on whose property The Nature Conservancy holds a conservation easement to ensure that the conservation values (the things the conservation easement is intended to protect) are respected and upheld. As the landowner Mr. Keenan has the legal right to present a specific and detailed proposal for any project he may propose. Without a proposal from Mr. Keenan or his representatives, however, it is too early for The Nature Conservancy to evaluate any potential project or decide what information may be required. 

We deeply value all our many relationships with land preservation organizations, volunteers, and professionals in northwest Connecticut, all of whom are committed to acting in the best interests of our environment. The Nature Conservancy owns, manages, and supports protected lands throughout Connecticut. Furthermore, Northwest Connecticut is an important area for conservation and we look forward to continuing to protect and restore critical lands within the region, in collaboration with partners. 

The first conservation easement in the country was developed by The Nature Conservancy in Connecticut and it’s our belief that this critical land protection tool has only grown more important to conservation and for mitigating the effects of climate change. The Nature Conservancy is accredited through the Land Trust Accreditation Commission — a distinction that comes with specific criteria governing certain activities to ensure the permanence of conservation lands, ethical conduct, quality standards, and public trust. 

We look forward to continuing our dialogue with Mr. Keenan, the children of Mary Alice White, and the community of Salisbury. At the appropriate time when we do have an update to share, we will do so. Please note that the evaluation process for any request is rigorous and often takes some time. In many cases, including this one, The Nature Conservancy may engage outside counsel to provide advice.

Andrew Benson

The Nature Conservancy

New Haven

 

Salisbury residents deserve transparency

One of the defining traditions of Connecticut politics is the high degree of local autonomy afforded to our towns. The county governments, having widely been viewed as ‘weak’ and ‘inefficient,’ were formally abolished in 1960 by Public Act 152, with their roles and authority subsequently subsumed by the state and town governments.

Starting in the 1980s, regional governments have returned to Connecticut with the establishment of ‘Regional Councils of Governments’ (“COGs”.) Today, Connecticut has nine COGs, whose purpose is to “provide a geographic framework within which municipalities can jointly address common interests, and coordinate such interests with state plans and programs.” This past year, the Connecticut Association of Councils of Governments, applied for federal recognition of the COGs as “county equivalents,” making the COGs eligible to apply for certain federal grants. 

Our COG, the Northwest Hills Council of Governments, with approximately 115,000 residents under its jurisdiction, is the second smallest in Connecticut. For the 12 months prior to June 30, 2020, the Northwest Hills COG took in $1.65 million in revenue, of which almost half went to salary and consulting fees ($208k and $588k, respectively.)

Residents of Salisbury who believe that investments in housing and communications infrastructure are critical to the vitality of our community should welcome the efforts of the Northwest Hills COG to procure funding for these projects from the state and federal government. At the same time, if we value our ability to manage our own vital resources — our funds, land, streetscape, and watersheds — independently of state and regional authorities, we must also be wary of allowing the Council to set the agenda of which projects to build, decide when and how to build them and choose who gets the contracts. 

For this reason, it has been concerning to see that one of the leaders of the Salisbury Affordable Housing Commission (“SAHC”), who are advocating for and planning a proposed 12-unit development at Holley Block, is an employee of the Northwest Hills COG. Granted, during the informational hearing given by the Commission on Feb. 4, the Commission’s representatives maintained that they were working on a volunteer basis. Further, they responded “No” when asked whether the Northwest Hills COG had, or would have, any role in the project. (Separately, the Commission stated that the funding for the project is being coordinated, at least in part, through the Northwest Hills COG.) 

Whatever role the COG has in this project, Salisbury residents need transparency into the processes the SAHC has and will follow when making decisions regarding the use of our resources if we are to have confidence they are used in the best interests of our community.

Eric Mason

Lakeville

 

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