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Kachemak Heritage Land Trust (KHLT)
is a non-profit organization established in 1989 to preserve, for
public benefit, land with significant natural, recreational, or
cultural values by working with willing landowners on Alaska's
Kenai Peninsula.
Across America, 37 million acres have been conserved by local, state, and
national land trusts. This is an area 16 1/2 times the size of
Yellowstone National Park. There are now over 1,700 land trusts -- local and regional organizations that are saving dwindling open space through cooperative voluntary action.
Property owners have worked with land trusts to protect ranches, ocean shores, wetlands, scenic views, farms, wildlife habitat, river
corridors, and trails - land of every size and type that has special conservation, historical, or open space value.
Landowners choose from a variety of protection tools. The property may stay in private ownership and use, or may be transferred to the land trust. In every case, the way in which the property is protected depends on the wishes of the landowner and the natural values of the property.
Kachemak Heritage Land Trust was established as
Alaska's first land trust. Since its inception, Kachemak
Heritage Land Trust has
helped to preserve many acres of wildlife habitat, historic and
cultural sites, recreational corridors, and urban open space on the
Peninsula through easements and donations of land.
Yule Kilcher's conservation easement ensures that his 613-acre homestead will
not be subdivided. His children are developing small home sites and will continue the
agricultural and ranching activities that Yule began in the 1950s.
Toby Tyler's
conservation easement ensures that his 20-acre property will forever
be preserved for its conservation values including valuable wildlife
habitat,
and serves as an important link in the corridor between the
moose summer range
and the Beluga wetlands wintering grounds.
Winter Wish List
2006-2009 Newsletters
KHLT's Diamond Creek
Project success
Conservation
Resource Mapping
Click above for
KHLT's two-year resource mapping project identifying the most
significant private land on the Kenai Peninsula. Printed copies available by
calling (907) 235-5263. NOTE: When viewing
the maps, please note that the properties with the higher numerical
scores (in red) are the properties with
the highest ranking.
Join KHLT
as a Member and purchase KHLT
merchandise
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Conservation Internship Applications Open
KHLT Community Garden Potato Project
“The best things that can come out of the
garden
are gifts for other people.“ - Jamie Jobb
This summer KHLT grew potatoes for the
Homer Food Pantry in a portion of the community garden, with help
from some of our friends.
Compost to enrich the soil was provided by Jim
Van Oss, and Homer Saw & Cycle assisted with tilling the area.
Spenard Builders Supply gave us a discount on filter fabric to keep
weeds in check, and Neil Wagner donated an assortment of seed
potatoes from local sources. Some of Lyn Maslow’s grade-school
students from West Homer Elementary School did the planting.
Volunteers tended the plants over the
summer, and the elementary school students harvested the potatoes
in early October, donating around 300 lbs to the Homer Food Pantry!
In year one of
this fulfilling event, KHLT’s Potato Project is connecting
youth to the concept of locally grown food while also giving back to
the community.
Kenai Peninsula Landscape
Connectivity
Project
KHLT's Connect the Dots
initiative is designed to
maintain landscape connectivity on Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula by
permanently preserving land adjacent to existing conservation land.
As we consider the properties identified in our resource inventory
as most significant, many of them are adjacent to protected land and
provide important movement corridors for wildlife. These are
the properties that we are targeting first for protection, as
conservation science reveals that landscapes must remain connected
to sustain habitat integrity. If habitat is fragmented into
“islands”, the ecological functions of an area may be compromised.
Thank you to
all of the many individual donors who contributed to our 2008 annual
appeal, helping us to meet our grant match for this important
project!
Marie McCarty, Executive Director
"Thank you!" to the major
funders of our Kenai Peninsula Landscape Connectivity Project:
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Coastal Program
matching grant
The Mountaineers Foundation
The Skaggs Foundation
American Seafoods
Temper of the Times
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