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The Habitat Trust is
a qualified charity and federal 501c3 recognized land trust . Tax
ID # 04-3637770 . We are a proud member of the Land Trust
Alliance and have adopted their Standards and Practices for land
trusts throughout the United States. Founded in 1982, the Land
Trust Alliance (LTA) promotes voluntary land conservation and
strengthens the land trust movement by providing leadership,
information, skills and resources land trusts need to conserve
land for the benefits of communities and natural systems. To
learn more about LTA visit their website,
www.LTA.org
The Habitat Trust was founded in
October 2000 as a means to accept land in fee title with an
endowment as a result of a legal settlement agreement between
Spirit of the Sage Council
and SunCal’s “University/Rancho Etiwanda” development
project. SunCal agreed to provide an additional 135-acres, but
there were no local private land trusts in that region of San
Bernardino, CA to take on the responsibility of caring for the
land. Thus, the Habitat Trust was created - Giving Nature
Sanctuary. Our focus is on conserving rare species and
globally imperiled habitats that are also identified as
“Biodiversity Hotspots.” To learn more about our Nature
Sanctuaries please visit our
Sanctuaries web
page for all the details. As of January 1, 2005, The Habitat Trust
currently owns over 300-acres in fee title with conservation
easements. We are currently in process of receiving more adjacent
habitat lands that will total nearly 600-acres.
The Habitat Trust has chosen to create “Nature Sanctuaries” rather than “Reserves” or “Preserves.”
We believe that the word “sanctuary” more accurately describes the premise of our organization.
Just as a person enters a church or temple, we feel that the same respect should be given when entering a Nature Sanctuary.
The lands that The Habitat Trust acquire and manage are not “reserved” or “preserved” for people, but are primarily protected for Nature and the biotic or aquatic processes for plants and animals.
No motorized recreational vehicles, horses or domesticated animals are permitted on THT Nature Sanctuaries.
However, scientists, students and the general public may visit upon request and/or providing the Board of Directors with a proposal of their study and receiving approval.
If you are interested in donating land to The Habitat Trust we ask that you read our Procedures and Criteria to gain additional information on how we operate and administer such transactions.
The Habitat Trust will consider all land donation proposals, however, while considering whether we can accept the land and all the responsibilities that go along with conserving it in perpetuity, we prefer that the donor also offer an endowment to offset our costs of long-term management and organizational administration.
Habitats that the Trust considers for priority conservation include:
- Coastal Sage Scrub communities, especially Riversidean Alluvial Fan Sage Scrub (RAFSS) or those affected by NCCPs and HCPs in Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Orange, Riverside and San Diego counties in California.
- Canyon Alluvial Washes, Creeks (Riparian) and Mesa’s of the San Gabriel and San Bernardino mountain ranges.
- Wetlands anywhere, especially coastal wetlands and bluffs in Los Angeles, California.
- Deserts, with emphasis on Mojave, Ft Irwin and Joshua Tree National Monument areas of California.
- Southern Coastal California Forests that are National Forest in-holdings.
Also, Southeastern Forests - Long-leaf Pine habitat, especially in the Sandhills region of North Carolina.
While there were few in operation by the late 1800’s, land trusts numbered 53 in 26 states by mid-century.
Since then, environmental awareness and urban sprawl have encouraged the rapid growth of the land trust movement.
Now there are more than 1,230 land trusts dedicated to open space protection in all states.
These non-profit organizations work one-on-one with landholders to find ways in which to protect the land.
Many types of land can be protected - farmland, wetlands, wildlife habitat, woodland, ranch lands and watersheds.
As long as land has conservation, historic, scenic, or other value as open space, a land trust is able to assist a landholder in planning for its protection and future management.
To date more than 5 million acres across the country have been protected.
Current Board Members
We have over forty years experience in community relations, social
justice and environmental activism, and include:
Leeona Klippstein (President)
2002-2005 has over fourteen years experience as a
conservation leader. Co-founded the nonprofit wildlife
conservation organization “Spirit of the Sage Council” enforcing
environmental regulations and successfully protecting over
2,000-acres of globally imperiled habitats. U.S. House of
Representatives recognized expert, and invited speaker on Habitat
Conservation Planning. A selected Advisory Committee Member of
Western Riverside County’s Multi-Species Habitat Conservation
Plan.
Doug Doepke, PhD (Vice President)
2003-2005 has been a Board Member of County of Los Angeles
Nature Centers since 1991. He served as President from 1991 – 1995
and has been the Vice President from 1997 – 2004.
Marlene Trunnell (Secretary)
2004-2005
From
Montclair, CA Marlene Trunnell is a member of the Cherokee Nation with over 30
years experience working with various nonprofit and grassroots
organizations, including those that are recovery wolf populations.
A member and spokesperson of Spirit of the Sage Council for over a
decade.
Sharee Hemphill (Board Member at
Large) 2004-2005 has previously served on boards for
various animal rights organizations. Currently Sharee serves in
the U.S. Armed Forces where she recently returned from a
humanitarian mission in Bosnia. A single mother of two boys,
Sharee is concerned about environmental degradation and what the
future may hold in store for future generations.
Scientific Advisors
We have the best scientists and educators, qualified to assist in
the management of nature sanctuaries as needed. To find out more,
click on their name and read their resumes.
( opens in new window )
Jim des Lauriers
Dr. Kenneth Shawn Smallwood
Former Board Members
Dolores Welty (Board Member, President)
is a retired teacher of high school English. Born and raised in
the high plains of eastern Wyoming, she also spent four years of
her childhood in the rain forests of western Washington. She now
lives in Encinitas, in north coastal San Diego County, CA where
she first learned how tough it is to fight sprawl and bulldozers
when she opposed the dredging of Batiquitos Lagoon and the
subsequent development of the north shore. "I didn't even get a
park bench," she says, "but I did learn what it takes to win, and
that's a very good lawyer." She is a co-founder and Director of
California Environmental Law Project that is currently involved in
16 cases, including Ward Valley and Agricultural run-off in Contra
Costa County.
Kathy Knight (Board Member, Vice President)
was born and raised in Los Angeles, remembers natural beauty of LA
in 1950's & 60's. Currently, Kathy is a full-time conservationist
with several organizational appointments, including Conservation
Chair, Airport Marina Group Sierra Club, Wetlands Coordinator,
Spirit of the Sage Council and President, Friends of Sunset Park.
Since 1995, Kathy has dedicated her life, resigning from her
profession from social worker in child adoption to volunteer full
time to save the Ballona coastal wetland ecosystem, Los Angeles,
CA. Kathy has given over 100 educational presentations to groups
and schools on the value of saving all 1,000 acres of the last
remnant of the Ballona wetland ecosystem. Her presentations cover
the beauty of the wildlife, economic benefits of saving it, and
importance to the migratory birds, and fisheries.
AWARDS: 1996 - Earthkeeper Award of the Interfaith Council for the
United Nations. 1997 - Angeles Chapter Sierra Club Conservation
Award.
Steve Sugarman (Board Member, Chief
Financial Officer) has a Master of Arts in Research
Psychology from California State University - Long Beach. He has
been active in numerous environmental and animal-rights causes in
his time in Southern California. Among them are: Save the
Headlands (which stopped development of the Dana Point Headlands),
Animal Rescue Foundation of Dana Point (one year on the Board of
Directors), Bolsa Chica Stewards in Huntington Beach (co-founder)
and numerous beach clean-ups in Orange and Los Angeles Counties.
Besides his work with The Habitat Trust, Board of Directors, Steve
is currently the Executive Director of the Social & Environmental
Entrepreneurs (SEE) since 1995, providing fiscal sponsorship of
over 50 conservation and social justice projects in the U.S. and
internationally.
Frank Schiavone (Board Member, Public
Relations) is a husband and father of three adult children,
living in Rancho Cucamonga, San Bernardino, CA. An active
environmentalist who cares deeply about protecting habitat for
rare and endangered species, he is a member of several
environmental groups. With a BA in History, Frank would like to
complete a BS degree in a biological science and then go on to get
his Masters in Marine Science at Cal State University, Monterey
Bay / Moss Landing Marine Labs. Frank has an abiding belief that
the Earth’s living systems are precious gifts from God and it is
incumbent upon all of us to be good and faithful stewards.
Timothy Everett (Board Member, Secretary)
lives in Los Angeles, CA and is an attorney practicing in
Immigration, Social Justice and Environmental Law. Tim received an
internship with the National Wildlife Federation in Washington,
D.C. where he performed extensive studies and analyses of Habitat
Conservation Plans and Incidental Take Permits (HCP/ITP) under the
federal Endangered Species Act. With a true appreciation of
biodiversity, Tim not only works to protect endangered wildlife
but also finds time to enjoy the beauty of the outdoors as an avid
hiker.
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