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Services  |   Conservation Easements Land Management and Endowments Land Stewardship Project Monitoring Ecological Restoration Planning Conservation Education

Objectives  |

Conservation Values  |

Board of Directors  |   Riley Swift Patrick J. Shea, Ph.D. John H. Anderson, D.V.M. William (Bill) Clark Alexander Ferreira Robert Weygandt

Staff Patrick J. Shea, Ph.D. Barbara Rocco Kelly Velasco Natalie Summers Jill Grant Brian Williams

A Message from the President

It's been nearly 3 years since my last "Message from the President". During this time, the Wildlife Heritage Foundation (WHF) has transformed into a fuller, more vigorous organization. There have been many changes, one of which is a change of address. In August 2007, WHF closed the Woodland office and opened a new, expanded office in Lincoln, CA. This change was necessary to accommodate three additional staff members to our growing organization. Natalie Summers was brought onboard to coordinate our Grants & Agreements Program and lead the Human Resources Department. Kelly Velasco will develop and implement Education Program and Jill Grant will be our in-house wildlife biologist. Among their many individual talents, these three have a strong background in public education. Another significant change in our organization has been to redefine Barbara Rocco's position from Conservation Coordinator to Business Manager. WHF is fortunate to have well-qualified and experienced individuals to broaden its preservation efforts and lead it forward into the future.

Even in the midst of all these changes, WHF continues to maintain its core values and adhere to its mission statement: "To protect, enhance, and restore vital wildlife habitat on lands conserved for the benefit of future generations." We are unique because we believe in conserving both large and small parcels of land to serve a useful purpose in providing critical habitat for plant and animal species. In my last address I mentioned that we held conservation easements on more than 5,000 acres. I am pleased to update that figure to more than 10,500 acres of valuable wildlife habitat that will be protected in perpetuity under the stewardship of WHF.

Another major accomplishment this past year has been the partnering of WHF with USFWS. This partnership is the culmination of more than a year of negotiations among Catellus Limited Operating Partnership, WHF and USFWS. As a result of these extensive negotiations, WHF will hold and manage a large endowment the proceeds of which will be used by USFWS to manage and monitor property donated by Catellus Limited Operating Partnership to the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge. After reviewing an annual work plan developed by USFWS and presented to WHF, WHF will provide funds to USFWS for its yearly management and monitoring responsibilities on the refuge. To our knowledge, this is the first time USFWS has enter into such an agreement with a public nonprofit organization and we look forward to a long and productive relationship.

We have also partnered with Restoration Resources to implement a wood duck nesting program on a large conservation easement in Placer County, CA. Sponsors will be able to adopt a nesting box and track the progress of the ducklings online. All proceeds will go directly into the monitoring these nesting boxes and to educational outreach to the local community.

WHF is growing by leaps and bounds and we wish to extend our appreciation to our clients, partners, and supporters for making WHF a uniquely successful organization among the community of land trusts. The future holds many more changes, but one thing that will remain the same is our commitment to the preservation of wildlife habitat for myriad species that are evermore dependent on these conserved lands.