Sponsor the 2019 Red Hills Spring Dinner Dixie House Fundraising Event
Tall Timbers will welcome Stephanie Meeks, President and CEO of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, as the featured speaker at the Red Hills Spring Dinner to be held at Dixie Plantation in Greenville, Florida, on Thursday, April 4, 2019. As Ms. Meeks eloquently demonstrates in her book The Past and Future City, historic preservation plays a key role in enhancing the quality of life of our urban fabric and rural countryside. At this fundraising event for the historic Dixie House, Ms. Meeks will highlight the critical message of connecting land conservation and cultural resource protection.
In the heart of the Red Hills, the 9,100-acre Dixie Plantation was the winter hunting estate of Gerald and Eleanor Livingston and has hosted the Continental Field Trial since 1937. Acclaimed architect John Russell Pope designed the Dixie House in 1936 – his only Florida construction. Pope also designed the Jefferson Memorial, the National Archives, and the National Gallery of Art on the Washington Mall.
Since Tall Timbers was gifted Dixie Plantation in 2013, the organization has been restoring this magnificent Neo-classical Revival style building. The Dixie House will serve as a conference, seminar, and public events venue to promote a greater understanding of the natural and cultural heritage of the Red Hills region. The upcoming final phase addresses urgent needs of the building so that it can be opened for Tall Timbers and the community.
We need your help to complete this important project! Proceeds from the Red Hills Spring Dinner fundraiser will go to the Dixie House restoration. If you would like to make a contribution to help sponsor this special evening, please contact Crystal Davis in the Tall Timbers Development Office at 850.545.2162 or cdavis@talltimbers.org.
By Kevin McGorty, Director Tall Timbers Land Conservancy
The best example of leadership is leadership by example.
—Jerry McClain
Whether saving a farm or the landscape of a distinct region, it takes leadership with passion and vision. Kate Ireland certainly had that passion and vision. Due to her outstanding organizational and people skills, she was asked to lead the effort to save her beloved Red Hills.
She led by example. Over the initial objections of her legal and financial advisors, she placed over 4,000-acres of her Foshalee Plantation under conservation easement with Tall Timbers. With that permanent protection at hand, she worked tirelessly to convince other landowners to do the same. Now more than half of the 300,000-acre region is conserved. These lands protect critical upland wildlife habitat and wetland ecosystems that improve water quality in the region’s lakes, rivers, and Floridan Aquifer. She led the effort to secure designation of historic Sunny Hill and Old Centerville Roads as official Leon County Canopy Roads.
Very dear to her was speaking to young people and the future leaders of Tallahassee and Thomasville. For many years she hosted Leadership Tallahassee’s environmental day at Foshalee Plantation or Leadership Thomasville at Pebble Hill Plantation. She would enthrall the classes with stories of life growing up on the plantations.
Most important, she stressed the need for each individual to develop a stewardship ethic for protecting the Red Hills. She often remarked that beyond land conservation, it was equally important to promote, “…good land use planning and smart growth. It is a fact that communities and regions grow. It is how they grow that is important. One of the challenging tasks we have is balancing growth with conservation. Each issue we face in this area takes forward thinking, creativity, compromise, sound planning and discussion….Solutions often are not far away if you look hard and long enough.”
At the end of each Environmental Day at Foshalee, the classes would be divided into crews and compete for the best prescribed burn. Armed with drip torches and flappers, the young city dwellers marveled at how a fire could be controlled for good land management purposes. With a twinkle in her eye as she watched the burn crews from her picnic cabin called “Tranquility”, Miss Kate knew another good stewardship lesson was learned by example.
Leadership Tallahassee Class 22 tries their hand at prescribed burning at Miss Kate’s Foshalee Plantation, 2004. Tall Timbers Game Bird Research biologist, Shane Wellendorf at right, was the burn boss, giving directions and keeping a watchful eye. Photos by Rose Rodriguez
Red Hills Spring Dinner and Easement Seminar recap
By Kevin McGorty, Land Conservancy Director
With a gentle breeze blowing off Lake Iamonia, some 200 guests celebrated the twentieth anniversary of the Red Hills Spring Dinner on April 8 at Tall Timbers. The dinner address was given by noted tax attorney, Stephen Small, who spoke at the inaugural dinner in 1991.
Noted tax attorney, Stephen Small, was the guest speaker at the 20th Anniversary Red Hills Spring Dinner held at Tall Timbers in April. Photo – Rose Rodriguez
This year’s event showcased the 2009-2010 conservation easement donors. In addition, a special tribute was given to the late Kate Ireland, one of the founders of the Tall Timbers Land Conservancy. In paying tribute to Miss Kate, Lane Green remarked that she “was the driving force behind the entire conservation movement here in the Red Hills.” On a personal note, Green stated, “She was a neighbor, mentor, boss, and ultimately my friend.”
The dinner also honored three professionals whose distinguished careers made a substantial difference in saving the Red Hills region. The late Lou Clark was considered the “dean of conservation easement appraisers” in the South. In the Red Hills, he worked with landowners to protect over 80,000 acres. His assistant, Ms. Park Palmer, fondly remembered Lou’s integrity and modesty. He was a gentle giant in both stature and in his field of expertise.
Attorneys Tommy Vann and Duby Ausley were recognized for their leadership and guidance in helping Red Hills’ landowners with conservation easements. Speaking in praise of Tommy, Vann Middleton remarked that Tommy’s firm represented “small family farms such as the historic Moody Farm in Boston, Georgia to the larger and more complex Seminole Plantation easement. Tommy has worked with a wide diversity of clients helping each of them conserve their land and its precious natural resources for future generations to enjoy.”
Vann Middleton of Tall Timbers presents attorney Tommy Vann with plaque in recognition of his exceptional leadership and distinguished legal services assisting landowners with donated conservation easements in the Red Hills. Photo – Rose Rodriguez
In his acceptance speech, Tommy observed, “The donation of a conservation easement is a team sport. If any member of the team falls down on his or her job, the whole house can collapse. It takes a charitably motivated conservation minded donor. It takes a qualified done organization, and Tall Timbers, in my opinion, is in the elite category of being qualified in this country to receive and administer conservation easements. It takes a competent lawyer to guide the client to record his or her wishes. It takes a good CPA to report the transaction and to defend it, if necessary. It takes a really good appraiser. In a recent case, I was dealing with an IRS appraiser who made an assumption at the beginning that we didn’t agree with. I said to him, ‘In railroad vernacular, when you start off on the wrong track, every station you come to is the wrong station.’ Stephen Small got us on the right track. I was at his first seminar 20 years ago, and he got me on the right track, and he got Tall Timbers on the right track. The landowners continue to be on the right track, but you have to be vigilant in your documentation, as Stephen said. You have to expect the most out of each member of the team, but remember to inspect what you expect.”
The final recipient was Duby Ausley. His firm has worked on 22 easement projects protecting over 35,000 acres in the Red Hills. Duby expressed gratitude for the honor he was given, and praised the work of Tall Timbers in preserving the beautiful Red Hills and in its quail research. Humorously, he acknowledged that he was an “accidental recipient” of honor at the dinner, since he originally opposed the idea of conservation easements for Kate Ireland’s Foshalee Plantation. Duby said he began conservation easement work when Miss Kate threatened to “get another lawyer” if he didn’t figure it out. So, he noted, “I figured it out!”In addition, he placed his own property, Mistletoe Plantation, under conservation easement with Tall Timbers. He added, “I am honored to be honored on the same podium as Tommy and Lou who are true professionals, and the same program as Kate Ireland because none of this would have happened if it wasn’t for Kate.”
Attorney Duby Ausley accepting his plaque for distinguished legal service at the Red Hills Dinner. Photo – Rose Rodriguez
In his dinner address, and at his seminar held earlier that day, attorney Stephen Small spoke about Conservation Easements 2011: the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, and the Next Decade. In referencing the good, he said that some twenty years ago when he gave his first speech at Tall Timbers, “it was all hope, it was all promise, it was a concept, it was all an idea that someday, maybe we’d get some conservation easements on some of these wonderful properties that make this a beautiful place to live. …That’s what was on the table in 1991, how special and how spectacular the Red Hills is, and is there something we can do to save it, to protect the open space, wildlife habitat, and the scenic views, and the quality of life and the lifestyle commitment that we’ve made? The good news is, it’s a reality now. There’s still a lot of work to do, but with 82 easements and 114,000 acres protected since 1991, that’s enormous. That’s real progress.”
The other good news he stated is the federal income tax incentives have never been better. Through the end of this year, a landowner donating a conservation easement can take 50% adjusted gross income off their taxes, and if a majority of a landowner’s income is derived from farming, ranching, or timbering, a deduction of 100% can be taken and carried forward fifteen years.
On the estate tax side, he commented that “the estate and gift tax rules in this country have never been more generous than they are right now.”With these incentives, he suggested landowners consider, “How does my family land fit into my overall estate tax situation, and is this a good time to do some planning to get my family land down to future generations?”
He talked about the “Bad and the Ugly,” and asked if there was anyone in the audience from the IRS. He spoke about bad conservation easement deals that are tainting the overwhelming good donations. According to Small, the IRS doesn’t like conservation easements, and is “on the warpath” auditing easements. Instead of rooting out overly inflated easement values or conservation easements that don’t have a clear public purpose, the IRS’ tactic is to win its cases on “technical points of law” such as not having acknowledgement gift letters. “You can donate the most significant easement in the history of the United States, and if you don’t have that gift letter, you can lose the deduction.” The IRS has been winning cases on these technical issues. He argued they should be going after the bad deals and bad actors.
He offered some tips on how to stay out of trouble with the IRS.
Stay away from the bad deals. “If a deal looks too good to be true, it is too good to be true.”
Don’t be intimidated by conservation easements or the IRS. Hire competent advisors including experienced appraisers.
Work with a land trust in good standing.
Make sure that the IRS return packet has all the forms filled out correctly, includes the conservation easement and related documents, and includes the acknowledgement letter. Having a completed packet cross the desk of an IRS agent stands a better chance of getting it “moved to the outbox” than a defective package that can be flagged for a technicality.
He concluded his remarks with four observations about the next decade.
There needs to be more financial sophistication in land trust deals, including linking a pool of investors to purchase landowner rights for a limited time to be used in the marketplace for such purposes as carbon sequestration credits, wetland mitigation credits, and timber income credits. This could turn a profit for all parties involved while protecting open land.
Land trusts should consider securing easements from non-traditional landowners, such as colleges and universities, religious organizations, and municipalities and government agencies. Lands under these entities are not protected and are vulnerable for sale. Land trusts should identify key strategic lands held under these entities that add benefit to a community.
Land trusts need more funding and capability, and therefore need to reach out to major donors.
To be sustainable and relevant, land trust organizations need to continually focus on community outreach and education, building membership, raising funds, and then repeating this cycle in order to carry out the work of saving the distinctiveness of their communities.
Staff changes at the Tall Timbers Land Conservancy
The Tall Timbers Land Conservancy (TTLC) will kick off the fall easement season with two new staff members. Shane Wellendorf was hired as the new Conservation Coordinator. Shane has been with the Game Bird Program at Tall Timbers for over eleven years and brings with him a great deal of field experience and familiarity with easement lands. Kim Sash was hired as Conservation Biologist, replacing Chris Borg who recently left to be closer to family in New England. Kim is a former Tall Timbers employee who worked as Assistant Land Manager at Pebble Hill Plantation. She has been working as a biologist with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission in Gulf County, Florida.
Shane and Kim will hit the ground running as there are now several excellent conservation easement projects in the pipeline for the summer/fall of 2011. We welcome these new staff members to the TTLC!
Nestlé abandons plans to use Wacissa River for bottling
In an issue that had as many twists and turns as the Wacissa River itself, Nestlé Waters North America announced on July 27, 2011 they would no longer pursue using the Wacissa River as a water source for commercial bottling. In a press release, Nestlé Natural Resource Manager Kent Koptiuch said “After a thorough review of the data, we have determined that while the Wacissa River springs complex continues to produce an abundant 200 million gallons of water per day or more, Allen Spring is naturally subject to seasonal low flows that do not meet our strict selection criteria for a stable, sustainable water supply."
This decision follows closely on the heels of Jefferson County developing an Aquifer Protection Ordinance which would require a super-majority vote of the Board of County Commissioners to approve any development associated with or related to the production of bottled water.
On July 21, Jefferson County was scheduled to hold a public hearing to gather input on the proposed Aquifer Protection Ordinance. That hearing was cancelled at the last minute at the request of the Suwannee River Water Management District to allow additional time to ensure the ordinance did not conflict with District authority to regulate water use.
Nestlé’s interest in using the Wacissa River to supplement its commercial bottling operation in Madison County sparked the creation of the Friends of the Wacissa, a diverse group who vocally opposed this proposal. Tall Timbers also had concerns about Nestlé’s proposal. These included the potential impact of water withdrawals on the ecology of the river and on the people who are dependent on the river for recreation and subsistence. Also of concern was the potential impact to the rural character of the Wacissa community from excessive truck traffic associated with transporting water from the Wacissa River to Madison County. Tall Timbers was also uneasy about setting a precedent within the Red Hills of approving the commercial use of a public resource like the Wacissa River for private benefit.
Nestlé has said they have no plans to explore other sites in Jefferson County but will focus on other areas in north Florida. Given the importance of water resources, increasing demand, and the relative abundance of water in the Red Hills, this will not be the last challenge facing our rivers, springs, and aquifer.
Leon County Animal Control Ordinance
The Leon County Board of Commissioners is considering revising the county’s animal control ordinance, and that has a number of individuals and organizations worried. In fact, the outpouring of concern resulted in Commissioners cancelling a public hearing early in July 2011, after many potentially affected parties objected to what they believed was inadequate notice to review and respond to proposed code changes.
There are several areas of concern to kennel owners, dog trainers, and foster families for abandoned dogs and cats. One proposed change would limit the number of dogs and cats based on the size of a parcel on which a kennel is located. Though not a problem for many in the Red Hills, this could be an issue if a kennel was located on small out-parcels (less than 5-acres) surrounded by larger properties. Another proposed change would prohibit dogs from running loose on private roads. A strict interpretation of this proposed change could potentially limit the use of hunting dogs on private land. Another concern has been raised in regard to a new definition of “proper shelter” for outdoor dogs. The new definition requires structures to be “sufficiently insulated.” Depending upon how “sufficiently insulated” is defined, this could directly affect Red Hills landowners.
Tall Timbers LandConservancy staff will be contacting potentially affected landowners in the Red Hills to make them aware of proposed changes to the Animal Control Ordinance. Planning staff will contact Leon County Commissioners to inform them of the concerns noted above and will attend and provide comments on this issue at the next public hearing on August 23, 2011 at the Leon County Courthouse.
Valuation of Ecosystem Services
Valuation of Ecosystem Services is a multi-year project with the University of Georgia to estimate the economic value of ecosystem services in the Red Hills. What are ecosystem services? Ecosystem services are natural processes provided by forests and wetlands that provide irreplaceable services such as water recharge, water filtration, flood control, pollination, and habitat, among others.
Results from the Red Hills project are expected in August 2011, and will be presented in a publication, which will be finished by the end of 2011. The results from this study will be used to educate decision-makers about the ecological and economic importance of the Red Hills region. The study will also provide an opportunity to communicate to landowners about additional potential sources of revenue to help maintain Red Hills’ rural landscapes.
The M-CORES program, which includes the proposed Suncoast Connector Toll Road in Jefferson County, passed through the Florida Legislature at breakneck speed with little review or analysis. Tall Timbers has a number of concerns given the potential for significant and wide spread impacts. These include fragmenting public and private conservation lands, robbing business from Main Street Monticello, impacting our rivers and other water resources, and making prescribed fire more difficult and costly.
Join us in asking the Jefferson County Board of County Commissioners to OPPOSE the Suncoast Connector toll road and its path through Jefferson County.
Take action now with our easy email form.
Send an email to all five Jefferson County Board of County Commissioners with one click!
Selected Publications authored by Wildland Fire Science staff.
Educating and guiding the next generation of fire researchers and managers is a key goal of Wildland Fire Science and a resource for testing new ideas in fire research.
Tall Timbers hosts the Prescribed Fire Science Consortium, a national network of researchers and managers who promote integrated research and management to advance next generation tools for fire practitioners. https://arcg.is/1DSjDT
Working with partners in the Prescribed Fire Science Consortium, the program is building nexgen 3-D fuel beds using terrestrial LiDAR and novel sampling techniques to power new fire behavior models for prescribed fire managers. This work links to Tall Timbers work in wildlife habitat usage and ecological forestry.
Tall Timbers is leading an effort to map fire regimes at the landscape scale. Staff work with numerous agencies to evaluate fire records and satellite imagery to build this critical conservation database. https://skfb.ly/6DqOY
We are linking physics and field observations to understand the fluid dynamics of fire behavior surface fire regimes. Our work combines field observations using advanced thermal imaging techniques, laboratory studies, and coupled fire-atmospheric modeling to help managers improve outcomes of managed fire regimes.
Burn prioritization modeling seminars and fire modeling tools are supported by Wildland Fire Science to train managers in the important planning stages of prescribed fires.
The conserved lands of the Greater Red Hills region are found on working, income-producing properties that support agriculture, forestry, and recreational hunting. These properties contribute $272 million annually to local economies and support 2,300 jobs. [link to Planning & Advocacy section] The landowners’ strong stewardship ethic preserves their working lands while replenishing drinking water supplies, protecting water quality, and providing wildlife habitat for dozens of rare and endangered species. Tall Timbers’ conservation easements on these working properties encourage landowners to retain their traditional livelihood by keeping farms in family ownership.
Home to world-class wild quail populations, the Greater Red Hills region contains the largest concentration of gamebird preserves in the United States. These preserves also support the largest community of Red-cockaded woodpeckers on private lands. Indicators of high quality habitat found here include the gopher tortoise, Bachman’s sparrow, fox squirrel, and many amphibians. Tall Timbers’ conservation easements identify and protect the critical habitats of these species.
The region also boasts outstanding aquatic resources. Large river systems, like the Flint/Apalachicola, Ochlockonee, and Aucilla, flow from Georgia and feed into the Gulf of Mexico to support some of the world’s most productive estuaries. Large disappearing sinkhole lakes, like Iamonia, Miccosukee, and Jackson, provide habitat for an array of aquatic species and migratory birds. Tall Timbers’ conservation easements protect these vital watersheds and wetlands that are the lifeblood for the ecological health of the region.
Once dominated by longleaf pine, our pine woodlands support abundant wildlife and local economies. These forests need prescribed fire to stay healthy. Herbert L. Stoddard and his associates Ed and Roy Komarek were pioneers in this emerging scientific field during the mid-20th century. Tall Timbers continues that legacy with applied research on prescribed fire and land management. Today, there is a tremendous need to expand prescribed fire use beyond the Red Hills to ensure ecosystem health and reduce wildfire risk. Additionally, Tall Timbers uses conservation easements to permanently protect private woodlands while balancing the need for economic return from selective timbering.
Tall Timbers hosts the premier fire technology transfer organization—the Southern Fire Exchange. This JFSP funded effort helps connect research to management through webinars, workshops, and support of the Prescribed Fire Science Consortium.
The Longleaf Legacy landscape prescribed fire burn team arm of Wildland Fire Science works directly with landowners and partners to effectively put fire on the ground and promote prescribed fire throughout the region.
Staff and researchers support Federal fire training by serving as a cadre for NWCG training courses, ranging from basic wildland fire to advanced fire effects.
(PFTC) specializes in training fire fighters the principles and techniques of prescribed fire through practical hands-on experience. https://www.fws.gov/fire/pftc/
Private land owners are the largest source of prescribed fire in the country. These land owners and the culture of fire that was maintained by them during decades of suppression are a part of why Tall Timbers is a world-wide center for prescribed fire science. Workshops and fire training are a critical focus of the Longleaf Legacy Landscape Burn Team and our support of the Georgia Forestry Commission Prescribed Fire Center in Marion County.
Very dear to her was speaking to young people and the future leaders of Tallahassee and Thomasville. For many years she hosted Leadership Tallahassee’s environmental day at Foshalee Plantation or Leadership Thomasville at Pebble Hill Plantation. She would enthrall the classes with stories of life growing up on the plantations.
The Tall Timbers Land Conservancy (TTLC) will kick off the fall easement season with two new staff members. Shane Wellendorf was hired as the new Conservation Coordinator. Shane has been with the Game Bird Program at Tall Timbers for over eleven years and brings with him a great deal of field experience and familiarity with easement lands. Kim Sash was hired as Conservation Biologist, replacing Chris Borg who recently left to be closer to family in New England. Kim is a former Tall Timbers employee who worked as Assistant Land Manager at Pebble Hill Plantation. She has been working as a biologist with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission in Gulf County, Florida.
