History

Your County Land Trust

Putnam County has a special beauty.  With one of the state's largest rivers, as well as hundreds of lakes, ponds, streams, and swamps, we are a county with bountiful natural resources.  We have high and dry sandhills and pine flatwoods interspersed with cypress domes.  Bear, deer, and turkeys wander our woods, and our fishing is legendary.

Putnam County also has incomparable agricultural lands, stands of timber that grow strong and straight, and communities of people who rely on natural resources to make their living.  All of this is threatened by the type of development patterns that have swept through South Florida and other areas, which we now find at our doorstep.

High quality development that fits into the character of our communities is always welcome. But we must plan carefully for this growth and reduce its negative impacts by preserving clean water and natural areas while we can. We must preserve working farms and ranches, as well as land and water for hiking and fishing opportunities, bike trails, and wildlife habitat.

A group of your neighbors has formed the Putnam Land Conservancy.  This non-profit charity is a local land trust whose mission is to protect the natural, historic, scenic, and recreational resources in and around Putnam County.

Land trusts are local or regional non-profit organizations that work to preserve land that is important to their community. Nearly 1,200 land trusts now operate in every state in the nation and have helped protect over 2.7 million acres.

Land trusts purchase land or acquire it through donation.  They also work to secure voluntary land preservation agreements with private landowners. Land preservation agreements keep land in private hands and preserve traditional land uses, such as family farming and ranching. Land trusts do all this without increasing local taxes.

Land trusts work in partnership with private and governmental agencies.  They raise money by applying for grants from foundations, government agencies, and corporations.  Land trusts in neighboring counties often work together and in cooperation with national conservation organizations. Surrounding counties like Clay, Alachua, St John’s, and Volusia have established land trusts that have protected thousands of acres.

This exciting new way of protecting land is a win - win proposition.  Most of Putnam County’s landowners are not developers; they simply need to be able to cash out the value of their land.  Land trust agreements can help them do that while they continue to live on and work their land.

Growth is here. Within ten years the Putnam County we currently know will almost certainly be unrecognizable. We must to act now to protect our lakes, rivers, natural areas, and wildlife habitat for future generations.  Unless we act now, many of our beautiful natural areas will disappear before our children and grandchildren have a chance to enjoy them.

Please join the farmers, ranchers, hunters, fishermen, conservationists, parents and grandparents at the Putnam Land Conservancy and help protect our quality of life.   Come to our fundraisers, consider donating your time, or ask about setting up a voluntary land preservation agreement.  Help preserve Putnam County’s natural areas for everyone.

For more information, call the PLC at (386) 336-5400.

Mission

Putnam Land Conservancy (PLC) is a regional, nonprofit Florida land trust dedicated to working cooperatively with landowners and public and private conservation partners to preserve and protect important natural areas and open spaces-- including wetlands and waters, forests and farmlands, and environmentally significant habitats--for this and future generations. PLC focuses on Putnam County, but our range of activity comprises the tri-county (Putnam-Alachua-Clay) region.

PLC secures land through gifts and bequests, direct purchase andbargain sale, and conservation easements. By these means we aim to enable landowners to safeguard in perpetuity the places that define the special character of our region.

PLC also promotes stewardship of land, through action and education, both for restoration and the maintenance of ecosystem integrity. At present, PLC is negotiating with the Florida Department of Transportation to hopefully develop a sound plan for the expansion of SR 20 between Hawthorne and Interlachen that will preserve, if not enhance, the rare pitcher plant bog, Fowler's Prairie, that stretches out on either side of the thoroughfare.

Putnam County is one of the last Edens in the state, abundant in woods, forests, fields, farms, lakes, wetlands, and wildlife. These natural resources, together with new road-building projects, put our county under great development pressure.
Development does not pay for itself. Rather, overdevelopment in other parts of Florida has led to higher taxes, gridlocked traffic, devastated agriculture, water shortages, pollution, and habitat loss for fish and wildlife.

Instead, preserving natural resources and native habitat increases the desirability and thus the tax base of a region. Wouldn’t you pay more to live next to park land than next to a factory?

Of course, as Florida naturalist Archie Carr wrote years ago, we save what we love. Many of us grew up in this county on farms, by lakes, or in woods our families worked, loved, and conserved over generations. This personal relationship with place has given many of us an enduring bond with our Putnam County and a committment to protect its integrity and beauty.

Officers and Directors

Tommy Clay Jr., President, is s a sixth generation rancher from Grandin, in west Putnam County. The Clays, who have farmed and raised cattle here for nearly 160 years, asked that their property be conserved for preservation by the State of Florida with a conservation easement. This easement has been accepted by the Florida Forever program, and negotiations will start in the fall of 2007. It is the Clay family's wish that the beautiful 3000-acre property never be developed or mined.Tommy is past president of the Florida Cattlemen's Association and the Putnam Cattlemen's Association. He was also a director for the Florida Farm Bureau and the National Cattlemen's Association. Tommy continues to farm and ranch the land with his mother, Lorene, his father, Tommy Sr., and his son, Chance, 20, a student at St. Johns Community College.

Claude Brown, Vice President, is a Coordinator of Research programs for IFAS/UF Florida LAKEWATCH in NE Florida. He completed a BS in Biology/Chemistry from the University of Miami in 1980 and a Master of Science degree specializing in Limnology from the University of Florida in 1997. His primary research work has included effects of crude oils, jet fuels, and dispersants on mangrove physiology, empirical modeling of the physical/chemical processes in aquatic systems, and long-term trend analyses of water chemistry data.

Timothy Keyser, Secretary, moved to Putnam County in 1974 soon after graduating from the University of Miami School of Law. Now a partner at Keyser & Woodward, P.A., a general practice firm in Interlachen that has represented many neighborhood protection and conservation groups, he is a past president of the Florida Wildlife Federation and the Historical Society of Interlachen and has served on the boards of several other state and local environmental and civic organizations.

Nick Carter, Acting Treasurer, is the owner of Longleaf Land Management, a land management company that focuses on ecologically minded and alternative land management practices, such as prescribed fire and prescribed grazing. He also operates a sustainable homestead with his wife Brittney at Boll Green Acres Wildlife Sanctuary in Interlachen where they practice traditional building methods and organic gardening.

Lorrain (Laurie) Douglass, Director, is executive secretary to the director of the McMcKnight Brain Institute at the University of Florida. Environmentally active as a member of Sierra Club, East Putnam Environmental Council, and the West Putnam Lake Region Association, she works to preserve wildlife corridors, wetlands, water bodies, and large tracts of Florida land.Daniel Hayes, director, is the Youth Education Coordinator at St. John's Water Management District and developer of their Legacy stewardship education program that links K-12 students to community-service projects on local public lands. A graduate of the University of West Florida, Dan is also experienced as a forest ranger with Florida Division of Forestry, a surveyor in Alaska for the U.S. Forest Service, a museum administrator in St. Augustine, and a long-time classroom teacher. Dan designed and built his own home in southeast Putnam County 17 years ago.  

Mike Stallings, Director, is a disabled veteran and archeologist who has spent more than 30 years documenting Florida's history and environmental heritage.

Robert Virnstein, Director, holds a PhD in Marine Science and as worked at the St. Johns River Water Management District for the last 18 years as an environmental scientist. During his 30-year career of research on the Indian River Lagoon, Bob worked primarily on the protection and restoration of seagrass and salt marsh. He coined the term "blueway" in codeveloping a CARL proposal for acquisition of wetlands and adjacent natural uplands along the lagoon.

David Girardin, Director, is a retired biologist who worked at the St. Johns River Water Management District for 28 years. David directed the invasive exotic plant management program of the District and helped develop the original wetland plant species list for the State of Florida. He is presently working with the Putnam County Waterways Committee to develop paddling trails in County waterways, develop a channel marking system for Dunns Creek, and develop a derelict vessel removal program. He is also a member of the Palatka Yacht Club, Florida Native Plant Society, Florida Aquatic Plant Management Society, and Florida Exotic Pest Plant Council.

Advisors

Karen Ahlers is president of the Putnam County Environmental Council and Ocklawaha River Restoration coordinator for Florida Defenders of the Environment. She organizes the annual Rally for the Rivers sponsored by PCEC. The weekend-long event marries eco-tourism, art, music, culture, and environmental education in an effort to promote restoration and conservation of Putnam's natural resources. In 2005, Karen was awarded Conservationist of the Year and PCEC recognized as Conservation Organization of the Year by the Florida Wildlife Federation.

Kathleen (Kathy) Cantwell, MD, retired from private practice in Gainesville in1996. She has chaired a host of executive committees for state and local environmental action organizations, including the Florida chapter of the Sierra Club. At present, Kathy is a member of Women for Wise Growth (PAC), board member of the Suwannee-St John Sierra Club, and advisory board member of the Putnam Land Conservancy and the Alachua County Land Conservation program. In 2000 and 2005, she received the Florida Sierra Club Panther award and in 2002 was named Alachua Conservation Trust conservationist of the year.

Scott Crosby is senior forester for the Florida Division of Forestry for the Etoniah Creek and Carl Duval Moore State Forests, has been the land manager for these two state forests since 1997, and has worked for the Division of Forestry since 1990. Scott has a BS degree in forest resources and conservation from the University of Florida's School of Forest Resource and Conservation and is also a member of the Society of American Foresters.

Steve Holland, PhD, is an associate professor in the Department of Tourism, Recreation, and Sport Management at the University of Florida.

Robert "Hutch" Hutchinson is the project manager at Alachua Conservation Trust, and is a former Alachua County commissioner.

Patrick Kennedy, is a former director of planning and development for Putnam County.

Lisa Modola is a teacher. She is a Putnam County resident and Florida Lakewatch volunteer. She completed a BS in biological illustration and a masters degree in education at the University of Florida. She has worked at nature centers in Gainesville and Miami-Dade County and has worked on research studies of Sandhill Cranes and mud dauber wasps. She is concerned about educational initiatives touching environmental and conservation issues.

Charlie Pedersen is the Waccasassa Forestry Center biologist for the Florida Division of Forestry, working out of the Gainesville office. He is involved in the Paynes Prairie Chapter of the Florida Native Plant Society. He has degrees from the University of Florida and Iowa State University.

Fiona Sunquist writes about science and biology and is the author of more than 100 major articles and five books, including Tiger Moon: Tracking the Great Cats in Nepal (2002) and Florida, an Ecotravellers' Wildlife Guide (2002).

Mel Sunquist, PhD, is a professor in the Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation at the University of Florida, and program director of the Katherine Ordway Preserve in Melrose, Florida.

Willy the Losen is using his education in environmental engineering to find new and innovative ways to conserve land.

Staff goes here

Committees go here