River Fields, incorporated in 1959 as a not-for-profitland trust in Louisville, Kentucky, has become the largest and oldest river conservancy advocacy group along the Ohio River to effectively protect, preserve and enhance the river front's natural and cultural resources. River Fields is the ninth oldest conservation organization in the United States.[1] River Fields currently owns land or holds conservation easements on 33 properties, totaling more than 2,200 acres. River Fields is one of the nation's few land trusts tackling regional advocacy work as well as land conservation.
In 1959, land conservation and environmental advocacy were not yet priorities for the average citizen. Fifty years ago, the late Archibald Cochran and Mrs. W.L. Lyons Brown[2] invited a group of like-minded citizens, who shared a common interest in preserving the integrity of the Ohio River and its corridor, to form the Louisville Area River Foundation, Inc. In 1969, this group was renamed River Fields, Inc.[1]
Mission and vision
Mission
River Fields' mission is to protect, preserve, and enhance natural and cultural resources on both sides of the Ohio River between Westport and West Point, KY, and the region, for the benefit of the public.
Vision
River Fields envisions that the natural and cultural environment of the Ohio River, and its corridor, is revered and enjoyed by the citizens of the region.
Land conservation
Since its inception, River Fields has worked successfully with landowners and supporters to preserve thousands of acres of beautiful open space, farms, woodlands and wetlands along the Ohio River Corridor and watershed.[3]
Currently, it owns 10 river corridor properties, totaling about 62 acres. These properties are critical to protect the region's natural, cultural and historic landscape. Our largest property, Garvin Brown Preserve, is open to the public year-round.
In addition, through conservation easements, River Fields holds development rights to 23 additional properties in metro Louisville and surrounding counties. These easements protect nearly 2,130 acres of land, including sensitive wetlands and watersheds, beautiful scenic vistas and historic properties, as well as wildlife habitats and working farms.[4]
Garvin Brown Preserve
Garvin Brown Preserve, a 46-acre nature preserve that is owned and preserved by River Fields in Prospect, Kentucky, is open to the public year-round from dawn until dusk daily.[5][6]
Advocacy
Since River Fields' founding, it has advocated for the protection of land and water resources in balance with responsible growth in the region. River Fields seeks solutions that promote responsible growth, including planned development, growth management, greater public access, environmental and historic preservation, enhancement of scenic views, urban design, and transportation reform.
The Ohio River Bridges Project is the largest capital project ever undertaken in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and one of the largest transportation projects in the nation.[7] River Fields has monitored the project for more than two decades. Based on the facts and the law, as well as tax-supported government studies, River Fields favored building a downtown bridge and fixing Spaghetti Junction, the only way to fix cross-river mobility issues. The proposed eastern bridge, on the other hand, offered no significant traffic or safety benefits and will cause significant environmental harms.[citation needed] The Natural Resources Defense Council has called it "one of the most environmentally destructive" highway projects in the United States.[citation needed]
In 2009, The National Trust for Historic Preservation and River Fields filed a lawsuit arguing that project leaders had not followed federal law. The suit was settled in January 2013.[8]
As a result of the suit, which transportation agency officials concede never slowed construction, there was:
Confirmation that the two bridges would be built simultaneously, a major victory for those[who?] who feared that only the eastern crossing would be built, while the urgent safety and congestion problems downtown would languish or not be built at all.
Funding for historic preservation projects on both sides of the Ohio River.
Increased public involvement in the ongoing process of building the spans, as well as further safeguards against damage during the construction process for the area's natural, cultural, and historic resources.[9]
River Fields has developed collaborative relationships with government agencies at the local, state and national levels. River Fields works closely with key agencies such as Louisville Metro Planning and Design Services, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, and the State Historic Preservation Offices of Kentucky and Indiana, as well as a number of other organizations throughout the Ohio River Corridor.
Controversy
River Fields is notorious for being against an East End Bridge crossing the Ohio River from Louisville to Utica, Indiana. Widely blamed for the traffic snarl that ensued when the Sherman Minton Bridge was closed in September 2011, their spokesman Lee Cory denied any culpability on River Fields part, but continued to insist that only a new downtown bridge is needed, and that blame should go to those who want an East End Bridge first.[10]
In 2009, River Fields threatened to sue Louisville Eccentric Observer for publishing a story concerning how River Fields went from "a nationally renowned conservation group to a one-issue monolith".[11] It was suggested by some that River Fields stole LEOs from their distribution boxes so that people would not read that story.[11]
Education
One of River Fields' key goals is to educate the public on the importance and need of conservation easements and on issues that affect the river corridor. To accomplish this, they inform and work closely with local citizen's organizations, decision makers, and the news media. River Fields keeps area residents informed about critical topics that impact the river and region.
Land trusts are nonprofit organizations which own and manage land, and sometimes waters. There are three common types of land trust, distinguished from one another by the ways in which they are legally structured and by the purposes for which they are organized and operated:
The Trustees of Reservations is a non-profit land conservation and historic preservation organization dedicated to preserving natural and historical places in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It is the oldest land conservation nonprofit organization of its kind in the world and has 140,000 dues-paying members as of 2018. In addition to land stewardship, the organization is also active in conservation partnerships, community supported agriculture (CSA), environmental and conservation education, community preservation and development, and green building. The Trustees of Reservations own title to 120 properties on 27,000 acres (11,000 ha) in Massachusetts, all of which are open to the public; it maintains conservation restrictions on over 200 additional properties. Properties include historic mansions, estates, and gardens; woodland preserves; waterfalls; mountain peaks; wetlands and riverways; coastal bluffs, beaches, and barrier islands; farmland and CSA projects; and archaeological sites.
The American Battlefield Trust is a charitable organization whose primary focus is in the preservation of battlefields of the American Civil War, the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812 through acquisition of battlefield land. The American Battlefield Trust was formerly known as the Civil War Trust. On May 8, 2018, the organization announced the creation of the American Battlefield Trust as the umbrella organization for two divisions, the Civil War Trust and the Revolutionary War Trust, which was formerly known as "Campaign 1776."
Conservation development, also known as conservation design, is a controlled-growth land use development that adopts the principle for allowing limited sustainable development while protecting the area's natural environmental features in perpetuity, including preserving open space landscape and vista, protecting farmland or natural habitats for wildlife, and maintaining the character of rural communities. A conservation development is usually defined as a project that dedicates a minimum of 50 percent of the total development parcel as open space. The management and ownership of the land are often formed by the partnership between private land owners, land-use conservation organizations and local government. It is a growing trend in many parts of the country, particularly in the Western United States. In the Eastern United States, conservation design has been promoted by some state and local governments as a technique to help preserve water quality.
The Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves is an agency of the Commonwealth of Kentucky in the United States dedicated to the protection of Kentucky's natural heritage. The agency's primary focus is protecting rare and endangered species habitat. It oversees a statewide program of nature preserves, the Kentucky Wild Rivers Program, and the "Nature's Finest" license plate program of the Kentucky Heritage Land Conservation Fund Board. The program was formerly known as the "Kentucky State Nature Preserves Commission", from 1976 until a reorganization in 2018.
The mission of American Land Conservancy is to safeguard and protect the natural environment for benefit of people and wildlife.
Louisville, Kentucky is home to numerous structures that are noteworthy due to their architectural characteristics or historic associations, the most noteworthy being the Old Louisville neighborhood, the third largest historic preservation district in the United States. The city also boasts the postmodern Humana Building and an expanding Waterfront Park which has served to remove the former industrial appearance of the riverfront.
Salona, in McLean, Virginia, is a former plantation house on the National Register of Historic Places surrounded by land protected by two conservation easements. The Salona homestead and grounds comprise 7.8 acres (3.2 ha) within the 52.4-acre (21.2 ha) site, and are protected by a 1971 easement held by the Fairfax Board of Supervisors. A much newer conservation easement held by the Northern Virginia Conservation Trust added an additional 41 acres (17 ha), of which 10 acres (4.0 ha) will be placed in active recreational use, and the rest used for passive recreation, such as trails.
The Blue Ridge Land Conservancy (BRLC), formerly known as the Western Virginia Land Trust (WVLT), is a non-profit land trust and conservation organization headquartered in Roanoke, Virginia that seeks to preserve the wilderness and farmlands in the western portion of the Commonwealth of Virginia from excessive commercial development. BRLC's service area contains ten counties: Bedford, Botetourt, Craig, Floyd, Franklin, Montgomery, and Roanoke.
Conserving Carolina is a non-profit conservation organization working to preserve water and land resources in Western North Carolina. Conserving Carolina was created in July 2017, from a merger of two previously-separate organizations, Carolina Mountain Land Conservancy and Pacolet Area Conservancy. The combined organization maintains a primary office in Hendersonville, NC and a regional office in Columbus, NC.
Slocum's River Reserve is a 47-acre (19 ha) open space preserve co-managed by the land conservation non-profit organizations The Trustees of Reservations and The Dartmouth Natural Resources Trust. The property includes 3,000 feet (910 m) of frontage along the tidal Slocum's River in Dartmouth, Massachusetts, 2 miles (3.2 km) of trails, woodland, agricultural fields, and pasture. The reserve is open to the public.
California Rangeland Trust is a nonprofit organization founded in 1998 by a group of innovative ranchers committed to conservation. The Rangeland Trust is now the largest land trust in California, having conserved nearly 300,000 acres (1,200 km2) of rangeland on 61 ranches across 24 counties.
Knobs State Forest and Wildlife Management Area is a 2,035 acre state forest located in Bullitt County, Kentucky, United States. The forest is located about 28 miles south of Louisville, Kentucky. It is managed for sustainable timber production.
Joshua's Tract Conservation and Historic Trust, or Joshua's Trust, is a non-profit 501(c)(3) land trust operating in northeast Connecticut. Joshua's Trust was incorporated in 1966 to help conserve property of significant natural or historic interest. As of 2011, the Trust protects more than 4,000 acres, maintains trails that are open to the public, holds educational outreach programs, and publishes the Joshua's Tract Walkbook.
Sycamore Land Trust is a 501(c)(3) non-profit member-supported land trust headquartered in Bloomington in the U.S. state of Indiana that seeks to preserve the disappearing natural and agricultural landscape of southern Indiana. Sycamore's service area includes 26 southern Indiana counties: Bartholomew, Brown, Clark, Crawford, Dubois, Daviess, Floyd, Gibson, Greene, Harrison, Jackson, Knox, Lawrence, Martin, Monroe, Morgan, Orange, Owen, Perry, Pike, Posey, Scott, Spencer, Vanderburgh, Warrick, and Washington.
Scenic Hudson is a non-profit environmental organization in New York that protects land, creates, and enhances parks, and advocates for environmentally responsible policies and development practices.
The North Branch Land Trust is a conservation easement group that aims to buy the developing rights to land in the Back Mountain area of the Northeastern part of Pennsylvania. The North Branch Land Trust was established in 1993 and has grown from one conserved property a year to over 12,000 acres of conserved land. The watersheds affected by the NBLT are the Susquehanna River and Delaware River watersheds.
The Land Trust for Tennessee is an American non-profit conservation organization working to protect Tennessee's natural, scenic and historic landscapes and sites. Since 1999, The Land Trust has partnered to conserve more than 131,000 acres (530 km2) of land across 65-plus Tennessee counties.
The Big Sur Land Trust is a private 501(c)(3) non-profit located in Monterey, California, that has played an instrumental role in preserving land in California's Big Sur and Central Coast regions. The trust was the first to conceive of and use the "conservation buyer" method in 1989 by partnering with government and developers to offer tax benefits as an inducement to sell land at below-market rates. As of 2016, it has protected around 40,000 acres (16,187 ha) through acquisition and resale to government agencies. It has added conservation easements to another 17,000 acres (6,880 ha) and has retained ownership of a number of parcels totaling about 4,500 acres (1,821 ha).
The Hobart Nature District is located in the City of Hobart, Indiana and encompasses over 1,000 acres of scenic parks, wetlands and floodplains, winding rivers, peaceful lakes, open prairies, oak savannas, old-growth forests, and undulating ravines.
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