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Happenings in the Keweenaw Peninsula November 21, 2003 Text © 2003 Michele Anderson and Keweenaw Land Trust Press Release, with information from their Web site. Photos © 2003 Robert Stottlemeyer and Michele Anderson as indicated.

Keweenaw Land Trust to hold Open House Sat., Nov. 22

LAKE LINDEN -- The Keweenaw Land Trust invites the public to drop in to meet their new Executive Director, Evan McDonald, and to visit their new office from 1 p.m. - 4 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 22, in Suite 305 of the E-Center on the main street in Lake Linden.

The Open House celebrates a long sought goal, which has been made possible through grants from the Land Trust Alliance, Americana Foundation and generous local support.

Evan McDonald (center, standing), new executive director of the Keweenaw Land Trust (KLT) addresses members at KLT's Annual Membership Meeting June 19, 2003, in MTU's Noblet Forestry Building. (Photo by Michele Anderson)

Office warming gifts would be greatly appreciated, such as a ream of recycled-content office paper, manilla folders, postage stamps, blank note cards with envelopes or cash donations.* 

Refreshments will be served in the E-Center cafe. Please phone the office at 296-9720 for directions or more information.

Evan McDonald addressed KLT members at their Annual Membership Meeting held on June 19, 2003, at MTU's Noblet Forestry Building. McDonald, who comes to the Copper Country from Rhinelander, Wis., is a plant ecologist doing research on the effects of air pollution on plants and forests.

"Thinking globally and acting locally is how we can make a positive difference," McDonald said. "I'm happy to bring my energies to the task."

At that same meeting, KLT members enjoyed a slide presentation and lecture, "Global Climate Change as Opportunity," by Robert Stottlemeyer, chief of the Reference Ecosystems Project in the Biological Resources Division of the U.S. Geological Survey. A long-term researcher in National Parks, Stottlemeyer discussed the role that "baseline" sites play in documenting global climate change. He used his own slides to illustrate the talk, giving several examples from his research on Isle Royale.

Newt Lake, shown here in a photo by Robert Stottlemeyer, is a representative boreal lake in the northeast main island of Isle Royale. (Photo © 2003 Robert Stottlemeyer. Reprinted with permission.)

Stottlemeyer also described how "open space" initiatives, particularly on private lands, provide opportunities to protect water quality and species diversity. Stottlemeyer, who lives near Fort Collins, Colo., noted land trusts and similar programs are extremely important now because the United States has so little public land protection. He gave examples showing the need for cooperation at the local level to protect private land. Stottlemeyer expressed the hope that people start thinking of more long-term ways to maintain biological diversity.

At the Keweenaw Land Trust's June 19 Membership Meeting in MTU's Noblet Forestry Building, former KLT President Christa Walck, right, chats with Jim Boyce of Houghton, while Don Arkin, summer resident of Stanton Township; (background, center) and guest speaker Robert Stottlemeyer discuss Isle Royale. Stottlemeyer, chief of the Reference Ecosystems Project in the Biological Resources Division of the U.S. Geological Survey, gave a slide presentation and lecture on "Global Climate Change as Opportunity." (Photo by Michele Anderson)

KLT members gave recognition to Christa Walck of Houghton and Steve Albee of Hancock for their work on the Board of Directors. The present KLT Board of Directors includes: Terry Kinzel, president, Hancock; Emily Fiala, vice-president, Hancock; Mark Roberts, treasurer, Houghton; Pat Toczydlowski, secretary, Calumet; Robert Butler, Calumet; Mark Gleason, Houghton; Sandra Harting, Toivola; Joe Kaplan, Hancock; Bruce Petersen, Houghton; Valorie Troesch, Dollar Bay; and Fred Young, Laurium.

The Keweenaw Land Trust, founded in 1996 as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation, works with local landowners in Houghton, Keweenaw and Baraga counties to establish conservation easements on their properties. KLT also accepts donations of land with conservation value. In addition to protecting lands directly, KLT encourages protections through public education and outreach.

Land trusts protect land permanently by working with property owners to guide land usage and future development.

* Visit the KLT Web site for a more complete "wish list" of office items they would appreciate and for more information about the Keweenaw Land Trust.

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