Project Page: Use this page to see the breadth of GLT's current and past projects in Southcentral Alaska. Each description offers a link to complete details on a specific project. Please note active projects are listed first. Campbell Creek Estuary Project, Anchorage, Active For the Campbell Creek Estuary Conservation Project Great Land Trust purchased the 60-acre Campbell Creek estuary property, donated the property to the Municipality of Anchorage, and created a conservation easement to ensure it will be protected in perpetuity. When preserved the property will provide permanent protection for valuable salmon and wildlife habitat and provide access to the Anchorage Coastal Wildlife refuge. See the full project page here.   courtesy of Carl Johnson Photography Knik Islands Conservation Project, Mat-Su Valley, Active The Knik Islands Conservation Project was completed in the fall of 2011 as a partnership between Great Land Trust and Eklutna, Inc. The project permanently conserves nearly 4800 acres at the mouth of the Knik and Matanuska Rivers with a conservation easement. The land will remain under the ownership of Eklutna Inc. and traditional uses such as hunting and fishing by Shareholders and public access through permits will continue. See the full project page here.   Little Campbell Creek Greenbelt Project, Anchorage, Active GLT is currently working to conserve five parcels totaling nearly 20 acres within the Little Campbell Creek watershed. The Little Campbell Creek has lost a substantial portion of its wetlands since 1982, and less than 200 acres of wetlands remain contiguous within the Little Campbell Creek watershed. Taking actions to conserve these targeted parcels in conjunction with restoration efforts will provide a number of benefits to Little Campbell Creek and its estuarine system. See the full project page here.   photo by Dave Mitchell Henri Near Point Project, Anchorage, Active Great Land Trust is working in partnership with The Conservation Fund to add 149 acres on the slopes of Near Point, to Chugach State Park. In 2006, GLT launched a new program "Pathways to the Chugach: Connecting to our Park". The purpose of this program is to work with the community to identify and conserve traditional routes into the park and to provide for additional trailheads to meet current and future public use demands. GLT is currently working to raise additional funds to purchase this critical parcel as part of our Pathways to the Chugach program. We invite you to support our efforts so the Park can be enjoyed by the community and visitors for generations to come. See the full project page here.   courtesy of Carl Johnson Photography Scott Walther Pioneer Reserve Conservation Easement, Mat-Su Vally One of Great Land Trust’s most recently completed projects for two conservation easements with Pioneer Reserve, LLC., a wetland mitigation bank owned and operated by the Walther Family. Scott Walther and His daughter Calli Donn partnered with Great Land Trust to place conservation easements on 166 acres on the Little Susitna River and 104 acres on Vine Creek in Wasilla. See the full project page here.   Andover Drive Wetlands Conservation Easement, Anchorage A neighborhood group came together and raised the funds to jointly purchase this beautiful four acre parcel in the Eagle Brook Subdivision. The group was interested in ensuring that the wetlands, wildlife habitat, and open space values on the parcel were conserved and that no further development would be allowed. They wanted this property to become an informal neighborhood park for the community to enjoy. In December of 1999 the conservation easement was finalized. See the full project page here.   Great Land Trust photo The Fish Creek Conservation Project, Anchorage The Fish Creek Conservation Project is an example of applying a watershed approach to land conservation. A watershed approach involves evaluating and seeking to conserve the natural resources in a region drained by a single stream or waterbody. In this case, GLT evaluated land that made up the Fish Creek watershed. Rather than focus on single parcel of land, GLT volunteers and staff worked to evaluate groups of parcels that, if conserved, would benefit Fish Creek's ecology and complete a greenbelt system along the creek. This project developed into three phases: Phase 1 - Fish Creek Estuary, Phase 2 - Fish Creek LaHonda, and Phase 3 - Helen McDowell Sanctuary. See the full project page here.   Great Land Trust photo Fish Creek Estuary Conservation Easement, Anchorage Phase 1 of the Fish Creek Conservation Project. Thanks to the generosity of more than 400 Great Land Trust members, individuals, community businesses, Federal and State agencies, private foundations and many conservation partners, GLT completed Phase 1 of the Fish Creek Conservation Project in the Spring of 2002. This project conserved 33 acres along Fish Creek including Fish Creek's Estuary, the only remaining undeveloped estuary of the original seven salmon streams in Anchorage. The lower-reaches of Fish Creek and the estuary are a pocket of urban wilderness along the Coastal Trail familiar to thousands of birders and bikers who visit the area annually. See the full project page here.   Great Land Trust photo Fish Creek LaHonda Conservation Easement, Anchorage Phase 2 of the Fish Creek Conservation Project. Fish Creek LaHonda, is one of four parcels along the Fish Creek Greenbelt. This parcel, which sits just north of Northern Lights Boulevard, would have been sold for condominium development as seven separate lots if GLT had not purchased and conserved it for parkland. The property is forested with mature spruce and birch, with some class A wetlands. Fish Creek runs through the property and many species of birds, including hawks, owls and songbirds frequent the woods along the creek bank. This conservation easement was finalized in 2002. See the full project page here.   Great Land Trust photo Helen Louise McDowell Sanctuary Conservation Easement, Anchorage Phase 3 of the Fish Creek Conservation Project. The Helen Louise McDowell Sanctuary, is located behind the houses on Saint Gotthard Avenue in the Geneva Woods subdivision. The 14 acres of boggy woods, a pond and portions of Fish Creek have survived in a mostly natural state while busy roads, subdivisions and strip malls grew up around the parcel. The land was expected to be developed for condominiums or another commercial enterprise but a group of conservation minded Geneva Woods residents had other ideas. GLT finalized the conservation easement in 2003, soon after it opened as a Municipal Park. In 2009 GLT, Alaska Trails, and the Anchorage Parks Department worked together to design and install interpretive signs, wildlife viewing benches, bird nesting boxes and a dedicated trail which meanders through the wetlands. See the full project page here.   courtesy of Carl Johnson Photography Goodman Conservation Easement, Palmer In 2005, with support from a US Fish and Wildlife Service, Private Stewardship Grant, GLT assessed and identified private inholdings within and adjacent to the Palmer Hayflats State Game Refuge. After learning about GLT's strategic conservation planning efforts, the Goodman Family expressed an interest in learning how they could conserve their parcel containing portions of Spring Creek, one of the most productive coho rearing creeks in the Refuge. GLT finalized the conservation easement in 2008. See the full project page here.   Great Land Trust photo Holser Conservation Easement, Wasilla Ms. Holser, a long-time supporter of the GLT, first approached us in 2000 wondering how she could conserve her 40 acres of exquisite wilderness in the rapidly-developing Wasilla area. The property is made up of 32 acres of forest, 8 acres of ponds and wetlands and two rustic log cabins. The property has been managed in a manner that encourages habitat diversification and rejuvenation for the wildlife that depend on edge zones and wetlands. A long-time conservationist, Ms. Holser's goals for the property were to conserve the parcel because of its importance as a large-animal corridor and to set precedence for the use of conservation easements in the Valley. GLT finalized this conservation easement in 2006. See the full project page here.   Great Land Trust photo Tanglewood Park Conservation Easement, Anchorage Once slated for eighty-seven condominiums and an expansion of the nine-hole Tanglewood Lakes Golf Club, this 41-acre parcel adjacent to Bowman Elementary School in the heart of Anchorage, is now a natural, undeveloped city park. GLT was contacted by many of the local residents about this property. As adjacent landowners, they valued the land as a quiet recreational open space for skiing, dog walking, and wildlife viewing and did not want to see it developed. GLT purchased this property in December of 2000, with money from the wetlands mitigation In-Lieu Fee program. GLT retained a conservation easement on the parcel and transferred the title to the Municipality of Anchorage for use as natural parkland. See the full project page here.   courtesy of Carl Johnson Photography Numbered Lakes Conservation Easement, Talkeetna The landowners contacted the GLT in 1999, to express an interest in conserving their 80-acre parcel in the Numbered Lakes region, of Talkeetna. The long term goal of the owners was to preserve the natural features on this expansive property. In the fall of 2005, the donated a conservation easement was finalized. See the full project page here.   Great Land Trust photo Pioneer Wetlands Conservation Easement, Anchorage In 2001, GLT accepted this donated conservation easement of 21-acres of Class B wetlands in South Anchorage. The easement conserves wildlife habitat and open space in an urban area and creates a buffer for Klatt Bog. The easement surrounds an exclusion area that has been used for broadcasting tower for commercial radio since 1984. See the full project page here.   Great Land Trust photo Skilling Conservation Easement, Girdwood GLT was contacted in early February of 2007, to discuss the conservation options for this amazing thickly forested parcel in a rapidly growing neighborhood in Girdwood, a booming ski town south of Anchorage. This property contains 27.10 acres of upland boreal rainforest and a number of pristine creeks as well as portions of the popular Virgin Creek trail. The Anchorage Area wide Trails Plan identified Virgin Creek Trail as "important to the Girdwood Community for recreational purposes." In December of 2007, GLT finalized the conservation easement. See the full project page here.   Great Land Trust photo Waldron Conservation Easement, Anchorage The next time you're sitting in traffic at one of Anchorage's busiest intersections, Tudor Rd and Lake Otis, glance toward the southwest behind St. Mary's Episcopal Church. There you will find one of GLT's conservation projects. Tudor Road was little more than a moose path, and the nearest neighbors were a half-mile away, when the Waldron kids were growing up on their family's 160-acre homestead in what is now Midtown Anchorage. Because of the conservation interest on part of the Waldron Family and St. Mary's Episcopal Church's willingness to partner, GLT was able to preserve this undeveloped tract of land located in Midtown Anchorage. See the full project page here.   Great Land Trust photo Dale Saunders Crane Sanctuary, Mat-Su A dying wish of a Trapper Creek homesteader has preserved a rest stop for Sandhill Cranes migrating to and from Alaska. Famed for their powerful calls, majestic flight and mating dance, Sandhill Cranes migrate to Alaska each spring and depart in late August or early September. Along the way, some would stop at an 80-acre Susitna Valley parcel owned by farmer Dale Saunders, attracted by his barley fields and wetlands. Dale passed away in June of 2003, willing this beautiful property and the responsibility of providing a resting and feeding stop for migrating Sandhill Cranes, to the Great Land Trust. See the full project page here.   Great Land Trust photo Su-Knik Wetland Mitigation Bank Conservation Easement, Mat-Su The Matanuska-Susitna Borough, Su-Knik Environments LLC, and Sustainable Environments LLC, approached Great Land Trust about holding a conservation easement on a Borough owned parcel classed to become a Wetland Mitigation Bank. GLT agreed to work with the contractors and the borough on the easement. Phase 1 of the mitigation bank designated 800 acres to the bank. GLT finalized the conservation easement in 2009. See the full project page here.   Great Land Trust photo Harmony Ranch Mitigation Bank Conservation Easement, Eagle River Harmony Ranch is the second mitigation bank GLT has worked on. Jerry Harman contacted the Great Land Trust in 2008 to discuss the idea of creating a Wetland Mitigation Bank on his Eagle River property. Over the past two years GLT has worked with Pat Athey and Jerry to draft a conservation easement that would satisfy the Army Corps of Engineer's requirement for creating a preservation wetland mitigation bank. The conservation easement was finalized in early 2010. See the full project page here.   Great Land Trust photo Moon Conservation Easement, Eagle River Ken Moon contacted GLT to learn more about the conservation options for his property and in 1995 GLT finalized the Moon Easement. This was the first conservation easement GLT completed. Located in Eagle River, the Moon Easement conserved 45 acres of sub-alpine tundra and portions of the South Fork of Eagle River. The parcel provides a buffer to Chugach State Park and secures open space is an area quickly being covered with residential developed. GLT no longer holds this conservation easement as it was transferred to the State of Alaska to be managed as parkland, per the wishes of the landowner. See the full project page here.   courtesy of Tim Remick Photography photo courtesy of Tim Remick Photography