White Mountains Land Trust

Minutes of Meeting Of September 12, 2006

President Anderson called the meeting to order at 7:07 pm. Board members present: Jim Anderson, Norris Dodd, Ginny Handorf, Keith Justice, Sue Sitko, John Vuolo, ex officio. Board members absent: Dottie Baker, Lynn Krigbaum, Richard Remington. Others present: Barbara Bechler, Rob Ingels, Lauri Acree.

The minutes of the meeting of July 11 were reviewed and approved.

The treasurer's report was made by Norris. Reviewing items reported at the work session of August 8, Norris reported 2 new memberships and an anonymous donation of $1000. The only major expense was $337 legal expenses for the review of the Allen property conservation easement. This represents a 50% discount by Brown and Brown. Norris will send a thank you note to them. Balance is $1798.

Election of new board members was discussed. Barbara Bechler's resume was circulated, and she made a brief statement. Barbara was nominated to the board and elected unanimously. Keith Justice announced that he would have to miss some meetings this winter and suggested that he could resign from the board to permit election of another individual. He would remain active and continue to maintain the website and the mailing list. No further action was taken.

Sue Sitko reviewed the present status of the Allen property conservation easement. We are awaiting final review by their lawyer and approval or modification. She will contact them in the next few days for an update.

Keith Justice reported that Jim Crosswhite is prepared to host us on either September 23 or October 7. Keith will pole the board to see which date is preferred by those who wish to go.

We discussed whether or not we should join the Show Low Chamber of Commerce. This question came up because of conflicting information as to whether or not we can put our brochures out for distribution at their headquarters. Jim will investigate further and join if the fee is $100 or less and benefits appear appropriate.

We discussed whether we should publish a phone number for inquiries. It was decided that Jim's number would be put on the website, but that we would not add it to the brochures.

Ginny reported at length concerning a meeting with Under Secretary of Agriculture Marc Rey and other dignitaries at Woodland Lake Park after the Listening Session held today in Snowflake. She gave us valuable insights into the working of Washington's bureaucracy.

Keith reported that the Land Trust submitted a written statement to the Listening Session (attached). Sue and Keith reported on general aspects of the verbal statements made at the Session.

Norris reported on the status of the Tejido project. The final report is available on line at their website.

Sue presented a Arizona Game and Fish request for an endorsement of a national program: Teaming With Wildlife. The motion to provide the endorsement passed.

Norris reported on progress with the Nature Center. They are in final negotiations for a lease adjacent to the Mountain Meadow Complex.

Meeting was adjourned at 8:45pm.

Attachment: Statement to Listening Session

Minutes by Keith Justice.

Statement from the White Mountains Land Trust for the Listening Session on Cooperative Conservation and Environmental Partnerships, September 12, 2006, Snowflake, Arizona.

This statement is submitted by the White Mountains Land Alliance, dba White Mountains Land Trust. We were incorporated in 2004 as a non-profit Arizona corporation. We are a certified 501(c)-(3) organization. Our mission is to conserve and steward in perpetuity natural areas, including open spaces, riparian zones, and wildlife habitat, to enhance the quality of life for all who enjoy and appreciate the beauty of the White Mountains. We work toward these goals in cooperation with local town governments, private land owners, the U.S. Forest Service, The Nature Conservancy, and regional organizations such as the Natural Resources Working Group.

Conservation Easements: One of our most valuable tools is the conservation easement. To insure the continued availability of this tool, we urge the government to make permanent the tax incentives for conservation easements which were recently legislated for 2006 and 2007 only.

Appraising Public Lands: The last few years has seen a tremendous increase in the market value of land suitable for development near our urban areas here in the mountains. Much of this increase in value is directly attributable to the fact that our communities are ?landlocked? by the surrounding USFS property. The Forest Service has gradually traded off parcels of its urban interface in exchange for ?inholdings? elsewhere, but this slow process has done little to stem the rising tide of land prices. Meanwhile, our cities realize that they need to set aside land for public parks and open space, but are faced with the policy of the federal government that they must pay the government for ?highest and best use? (that is, high density housing or commercial development), when they intend to use the land only for public parks and open space. We find it ironic that it is precisely the surrounding federal land that has limited supply and caused these outrageous land values. We urge the government to recognize the need for a sliding pricing policy for their lands, depending upon the ultimate use.

Respectfully submitted,

White Mountains Land Trust

James Anderson, President

Keith Justice, Vice President