This planning process began with a Board of Trustees visioning session in September 2005, and it will continue with additional meetings and focus group discussions throughout 2006. If you'd like to be part of a focus group discussion, please contact us at 734.302.LAND(5263).

Learn more:
Making a Difference That Will Last, Summer 2006 (in PDF, 1 page)
Visioning Session, September 2005
Draft map of strategic land protection priorities, Fall 2005
"How Do We Spell Success?" (in Microsoft Word)
"Reconfirmed Priorities" (in Microsoft Word)
"Context" (in Microsoft Word)
"Organizational Growth and Stability" (in Microsoft Word)
Annual Report 2006 (1972k PDF)
Annual Report 2005 (1030k PDF)

What do you think? If you have comments, suggestions, or questions on this direction-setting process, or if you'd like to be part of a focus group discussion, please don't hesitate to contact us at 734.302.LAND(5263) or info@washtenawlandtrust.org. We look forward to talking with you!

Visioning Session, September 2005
The visioning session reconfirmed the Land Trust's land protection priorities:

• Farmland protection - Washtenaw Land Trust has a unique niche in farmland protection, being one of the few conservation organizations working locally to protect agricultural land, and not just natural areas and open space. The Land Trust's priority areas for protecting farmland are in the south and west portions of Washtenaw County and into Jackson County.
• Natural areas and open space preservation - Washtenaw Land Trust reconfirmed its commitment to preserving the important natural areas and open spaces of our community, particularly along our river corridors (the Huron River, the River Raisin, the Saline River) and in the natural-area corridor around the Waterloo, Pinckney, and Sharonville Recreation Areas.

Of course, these priorities do not exist in a vacuum, and the Land Trust confirmed its desire to search for ways to support the local farming economy and enhance important lands, wherever they are located. For a draft map showing these priorities, please see below.

Excerpts from the visioning discussion:
What is your 100-year vision of the community, if Washtenaw Land Trust is successful in its mission?

What we're talking about is a legacy issue: what are the values that we will pass on for our kids and our grandkids? The Land Trust must determine how we add value to the whole equation.

I take a bottom-up approach, of the importance of local farm economies, open space, etc. I envision a series of interconnected nature and habitat areas, and interconnected non-motorized trails.

There's a need for regional approach to land use planning - with teeth!

I envision continued magnificence of the Pinckney - Waterloo - Sharonville corridor and river corridors.

To have contiguous farms, we have to do a better job of making the economics understood. I envision locally grown foods - and WLT being a part of that. We must continue to cooperate with other groups; it can't be piece-meal.

I envision a regional open space system - a public / private partnership. I see an ecosystem focus: protecting our watershed, our airshed, not just for aesthetic purposes, but because it's also necessary for human health. We must help develop local food systems, and connect in people's minds the land with our food and our water. I envision all school systems including curriculum on sustainability - environmental, land use, social, economic. I see a less materialistic lifestyle, and a higher quality of life.

I imagine the Land Trust being a bigger organization, and/or with very strong partnerships. We can't save Washtenaw by itself. We should be able to look at not only Washtenaw County, but also all of southeast Michigan, and statewide, and see open space.

I still see sheep in Manchester (home of the largest colonies of sheep east of the Mississippi); I see tractors in the roads, and NOT see centennial farms totally surrounded by lots of houses. I see the Land Trust as a broker, widely known and respected for its effectiveness.

There must be a balance between open space and urban space, economically. There must be a balance between jobs/economic growth and open space.

I see the the borders of Waterloo filled in and restored with native plant communities, and connected to Pinckney / Sharonville in a continuous band, bordered by economically healthy agriculture and communities.

I imagine biking through a contiguous open space that I can enjoy, and that my kids and grandkids can enjoy. We should build our relationship with the development community to see that the important things remain. We should work for the preservation of important land and structures, and for development in sensitive ways. I imagine being on a bike ride and being able to see open lands for 20-30 miles.

I envision protected land along Scio Church / Pleasant Lake / Saline - I think we should increase our priority in the south and west. To the north and east, you can't go 10 miles in farm country - it's all degraded buffer.

Success would be to be able to quickly go from city into country without a lot of, well, "crap" in between. The Land Trust can facilitate a cleaner transition from urban to rural - protecting both farmland and natural features.

I envision compact urban areas surrounded by farms and recreation land. I see the Land Trust continuing to work in conjunction with other groups, and I see there being a role for the development community in density and in retaining the surrounding uniqueness.

Draft map of Washtenaw Land Trust strategic
land protection priorities

So, what do you think so far? If you have comments, suggestions, or questions on this direction-setting process, please don't hesitate to contact us at 734.302.LAND(5263) or info@washtenawlandtrust.org. We look forward to talking with you!

For more information:

       Where We Work: The Greenbelt and Beyond

       The Washtenaw Land Trust Journal, our newsletter

       How you can help