1. The Smith Island Land Trust
Standardizing Property Assessments and Prioritizing Future Acquisitions
-Main goal for the project was to adapt and develop a method of assessing resources within SILT complex
-Intro to land trusts: background info

2. What is a Land Trust?
“…An organization directly involved in the permanent protection of land and its resources for the public benefit.”
-Land Trust Alliance
-LTs can operate at local, state, fed, and private levels
-LTA is a national organization. Nature Conservancy. SILT is our private LT
-What do we mean by “public benefit”

3. Why Preserve Land? To promote a healthier environment
To support better quality of life
To protect dwindling resources
-Heathy ENV=healthy BI ecosystem. BIs are dynamic, in constant change. Want to preserve the natural state of flux. Each habitat has it’s purpose
-Psychological studies show that access to nature helps development of spirituality, fosters creativity and emotional health. Also good for physical health
-Maritime forests are

4. What’s the Plan?
“The purpose of the Smith Island Land Trust, Inc. is the preservation of land within the Smith Island Complex.”
Compilation of site data to produce an interactive, web- based map of the SILT complex
Development of a systematic protocol to prioritize future land trust acquisitions
Development of a standardized, quantifiable method to perform parcel assessments that can be replicated for longitudinal data alongside future surveys

5. 1. Interactive Map

8. 2. Prioritizing New Properties

9. 3. Building a Better Protocol

11. ~Field Trip Time~

12. Questions?