CALT NEWS

Partners Needed to Prevent the
Paving Over of Local Farms

Many of us have stories about farms significant to our communities, ultimately being lost forever to development. have you ever really thought about the impact of losing our farms forever and our ability to provide our own food? Learn More

CALT WELCOMES SHARMA TORRENS AS OUR NEW CONSERVATION SPECIALIST!

Sharma Torrens has joined the Central Arizona Land Trust to further its land conservation work in Arizona’s six northern counties. She brings extensive experience in sustainable agriculture, conservation easements, and natural resources conservation.

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The current administration recently provided more clarity on its commitment to conserve 30% of our nation’s lands and waters by 2030 with the release of the Conserving and Restoring America the Beautiful report. It is good news for land trusts.
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NEW THUMB BUTTE LAND DONATION

We're excited to share that we recently received a land donation on the slopes of Thumb Butte, Prescott's iconic landmark. The generous donor, Mr. Robert Knudsen, has deep roots in Arizona. His grandparents and other family members migrated from Arkansas to Arizona. Great Aunt Antoinette was a schoolteacher and in 1909 she bought a one-acre property in Prescott with a view of Thumb Butte and the valley for $1.

Central Arizona Land Trust

who we are

CALT is a community-based, nationally accredited Arizona non-profit organization dedicated to protecting the irreplaceable landscapes that define central and northern Arizona.

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our history

In 1989, a bulldozer began carving out new home sites at the foot of Thumb Butte, a cherished scenic historic landmark overlooking the City of Prescott.

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WHERE WE WORK

CALT works in six counties throughout Central & Northern Arizona, including Yavapai, Coconino, Mohave, Navajo, Apache, and Maricopa.

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"Conservation of special landscapes is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. When a willing landowner partners with a local land trust, they preserve the future of that landscape forever."
-Becky Ruffner, CALT Board President

"Through our strong partnership with the Central Arizona Land Trust on the Thumb Butte, Payne-Granite Dells, and Boyle Debusk Conservation Easements, we have enhanced our open space footprint and expanded our nationally-recognized public recreational trails network. We are very grateful for their efforts and look forward to working with them on the protection and preservation of open space in Prescott for years to come."
-Michael Lamar, City Manager for the City of Prescott.

“The conservation easement at the Frontiere Property furthers our mission while protecting a beautiful and ecologically valuable asset for today’s and future generations. That is somethingthe County, Central Arizona Land Trust, and the Army National Guard can be very proud of."
-Cynthia Nemeth, Director of Coconino County Parks and Recreation.

"We have been long time cattle ranchers in the state of Arizona since 1965 and we appreciate conservation easements protecting rural lands."
-Claudette Haverfield, owner of Seven Spears Ranch.

Conservation Easements are legal instruments that protect open space, natural resources, and wildlife habitat. We are delighted with the effort that the Central Arizona Land Trust made to create the Easement for Coldwater Farm. Now this vital habitat for wild animals including endangered Yellow-billed Cuckoos and the Southwestern Willow Flycatchers is safe from all future development.
-Coldwater Farm owners Garry and Denise Rogers

REGIONAL SERVICE PROVIDER

Land protection

CALT works with private landowners to develop conservation easements that protect open space, wildlife habitat, scenic views, and working farms and ranches in perpetuity.

Have a look at our brochure:
Creating a lasting legacy through
conservation easements

tax benefits

A conservation easement may be treated as a charitable gift, for Federal Tax purposes, if donated to a qualifying organization, such as CALT, making the value of the easement tax deductible.

Education

CALT invites people of all ages to experience the beauty and uniqueness of our easement areas. Outreach efforts and activities include opportunities to learn about birds and their habitat, wetland ecology, and riparian environments.

Support

CALT works with landowners to evaluate land protection options and to develop conservation easements specific to the property. Each conservation easement is unique and addresses the resources being protected.

learn more about conservation easements and other land protection tools.

advocates for land protection

CALT BOARD OF DIRECTORS

BECKY RUFFNER

BOARD PRESIDENT

Becky Ruffner is part of a family with five generations in central Arizona, beginning in the 1860's when Marion Ruffner homesteaded near Tavasi Marsh in the Verde Valley. Her deep love of western landscapes brought her to the work of the Central Arizona Land Trust and local conservation efforts of land trusts throughout the country.

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JUDY CLAPP

VICE PRESIDENT

Judy Clapp graduated from Prescott College with a BA in Outdoor Education. After graduating she worked for the US Forest Service, both on kayak patrol on the Middle Fork of the Salmon River, and on a number of wilderness lookout towers in the Frank Church Wilderness area of Idaho. She then went from the great outdoors to the great indoors, working as an audio engineer/mixer based in Los Angeles.

After returning to the Prescott area, she bought a mobile home park and eventually partnered with Coalition for Compassion & Justice to provide affordable housing. She has served on the Board of Trustees of Prescott College as well as her neighborhood HOA board.

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DIANA KESSLER

SECRETARY

Member of family ranching business in Coconino County, Arizona; 100+ years on same piece of ground. BA from UofA, married, 2 children, 5 grandchildren; bookkeeper by trade. Believe it is vitally important to keep working lands producing, or begin again to produce, the wealth from natural resources that made our nation great. Saving these open lands as open is the work of land trusts. Exciting times ahead on this work.

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Brenda Hershkowitz
Treasurer

Brenda moved to Wickenburg Arizona, as a child, with her family in the early 1970’s. Growing up, she worked on friends and family ranches where her love for horses and the open range grew. She attended Northern Arizona University where she studied accounting and business management.

Brenda married James Hershkowitz, whose great-grandfather, Harry Hershkowitz, was an Arizona pioneer. Harry moved to Arizona in the late 1800s, settling in Congress where he ran a general store for the mining camps.
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Brenda’s love for wide open spaces and horseback riding through the Arizona landscapes brought her to become a volunteer for Central Arizona Land Trust. She is excited to be of service in preserving the open spaces in Arizona for generations to enjoy.

KEN JORDAN

Continuing his family´s legacy as Arizona pioneers, Ken Jordan has been ranching for 40 years, both in the cattle and meat goat production. He also worked for 37 years as a contract responder for major disasters, a job in which he helped people both around the country and abroad recover after natural catastrophes. Ken remains committed to the wise use of natural resources and open space.

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Dave Irvine

Dave Irvine is the Executive Director of the Highlands Center for Natural History in Prescott, AZ. Dave brings in over 30 years of experience working with non–profit, science education organizations.

Locally Dave has served on number of committees involved with stewardship of public lands and Prescott National Forest including: the Prescott Stewardship Forum, Central Arizona Sustainable Recreation Coordinating Team, and the Yavapai County Resource Allocation Committee (RAC). Dave holds a BS degree from Penn State University in Parks & Recreation with emphasis in Environmental Interpretation.

ANNA MARY GLAAB

Anna Mary Glaab believes that preserving working ranches and allowing families to continue their generations-long work and lifestyle is vitally important to our country and society.
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Born into the Rigden and Hays families, she grew up in Kirkland, AZ, getting her education working on the family ranch and attending the one room schoolhouse where her grandmother had taught in 1905. From there she attended and graduated from Prescott High School. She worked locally at the bank in Yarnell, then in 1983 was hired as a clerk at the Yarnell Justice Court. After the judge retired, she ran for his seat and was elected to serve as Justice of the Peace in Bagdad and Yarnell – a position she held for 26 years.

All along, she continued to help her family working on and managing the ranch – something she continues to do. Her lifelong involvement in ranching has taught her that nothing can compare to, or replace, the value of land and the freedom of open spaces.

Patricia Bruneau-Gaber

Patricia grew up in the foothills of the Sierras in Northern California. Her undergraduate studies occurred both at Oregon State University and at the University of Oregon, where she earned her BS and MS, with a focus on science and education.

A career in community college administration led to work in Alaska, Oregon and Arizona. She ended her “working” days as a Financial Advisor in Prescott.

The wide, open spaces of the west have informed Patricia’s life. Her background and experiences, as well as love of wide, open spaces, are a solid foundation for her activity with CALT.

Preserving Open Space
in the
Heart of Arizona

CALT NEWS

READ OUR FALL 2021 NEWSLETTER