If you want to protect land, then you need to own it. That's the philosophy behind land trusts, the fastest-growing and most vital part of the land conservation movement today. Join Nature Conservancy's Tennessee State Director Gina Hancock in an examination of land trusts as she reviews Conservancy: The Land Trust Movement in America by Richard Brewer in Knox County Public Library's Brown Bag, Green Book program, Wednesday, September 19, 12:00 pm in the East Tennessee History Center, 601 South Gay Street. The program series is co-sponsored by the City of Knoxville.
Although land trusts are the fastest-growing and most vital part of the land conservation movement today, this model of saving land by private action has become dominant only in the past two decades. Brewer tells why the advocacy model--in which private groups try to protect land by promoting government purchase or regulation-- in the 1980s was eclipsed by the burgeoning land trust movement. He gives the public a primer on what land trusts are, what they do, how they are related to one another, and their importance to conservation in the coming decades. As Brewer points out, unlike other land-saving measures, land trust accomplishments are permanent.
Hancock joined The Nature Conservancy in 2000 as Director of Communications and was promoted to Associate State Director in 2002. Prior to joining the Conservancy, she worked in corporate communications and was managing editor for three newspapers. She is a graduate of Murray State University with a B.A. in Journalism. She lives and works in Nashville.
The public is invited to join the conversation and bring a lunch or pick up something from a downtown restaurant. Copies of the books are available at the Library if you'd like to read one before the program.
Brown Bag Green Book continues on October 17, Madeline Rogero, Mayor of the City of Knoxville, will discuss Emerald Cities: Urban Sustainability and Economic Development by Joan Fitzgerald.
For more information, please call Emily Ellis at 865-215-8723.