DANBURY, Conn., August 19, 2010 – The Land Trust of Danbury announced it has received a grant of $2,500 from the Meserve Fund. The grant will help The Land Trust complete a comprehensive land management plan begun last year with a grant from the Meserve Fund.
The Land Trust’s land management plan has involved conducting baseline surveys of The Land Trust’s properties; designing and developing a plan for ongoing stewardship of the properties and creating composite geographic information systems (GIS) mapping of all the properties to aid land acquisition planning, visual review, presentation and assessment of the holdings.
According to Bill Montgomery, president of The Land Trust, “Over the past 39 years, our land stewardship responsibilities have grown to 19 properties and 217 acres. Increasingly we have recognized the need for accurate cataloging and mapping of the properties in our charge. The grants from Danbury’s Meserve Fund have helped us fulfill that need.”
Creation of the database, mapping and other aspects of the project are being conducted under direction of The Land Trust by the Brawley Consulting Group.
The Meserve Fund was established in 1978, to manage and distribute $3 million left to greater Danbury by noted arborist Albert Wadsworth Meserve and his wife Helen. Since its inception, the Meserve Fund has benefited over 100 community groups with 710 grants and 290 area students with 487 scholarships.
The Brawley Consulting Group provides land conservation and management services to area land trusts and specializes in habitat restoration, trail design and construction, geographic information systems mapping, property management plans and baseline documentation.