ACT’s list of projects reads like the history of this place
Posted on Apr 24, 2008 - 07:45 PM
Alachua Conservation Trust, in its twentieth year, has a list of projects and accomplishments that reads like the history of this place, with native and pioneer names like Tuscawilla, Phifer, Lochloosa, Serenola, Haile, Hartzog, Saarinen, Yankeetown, and of course, Pithlachochoo. Listing or mapping them doesn’t do justice to the beauty and diversity of this portfolio - it is only by visiting these places and seeing what they are today, and imaging both their past and their future, that the roles of a local land trust can be appreciated.
ACT was once a good idea, but it has grown up now into a significant community institution. We are taking care of land and historic legacies, and other people’s money, and volunteer safety, and computer files, and all of this combined is a trust. Fortunately, our Board is generous, intelligent, wise, and diligent, and our staff demonstrates an unparalleled work ethic every day.
ACT’s supporters are the inspiration. Not a day goes by when somebody doesn’t call with an idea for land that should be protected, or an offer to volunteer, or with a generous response to our latest plea. Today, ACT is the healthiest financially that we have ever been - but relative to the cost of land and what it takes to run a professional operation, we still look for change under the cushion.
To list all of those who have made twenty years of Alachua Conservation Trust so fun and challenging would make a modest book - to tell all of the stories would make an encyclopedia. You know who you are and what you’ve done.
WE THANK YOU
