Many landowners find conserving their land a special and rewarding experience. Learn about the many different ways to conserve your land.
Ellie Russell recently donated her lakeshore camp in West Milton, VT to the Lake Champlain Land Trust as a bequest in her will.
Early on, Ellie Russell spent a lot of time outside. But it wasn’t until she came to Vermont in the 1960s that her passion for the land really took hold.
“My parent’s efforts to get me outside for walks through the woods or to the seashore probably subconsciously created my eventual love of the outdoors,” Ellie Russell reflected recently. “When I moved to Vermont, I felt like I was coming home. It just felt right.”
Ellie can still use the camp (with mutually agreed upon restrictions) as she wishes during her lifetime, and after, the property will be transferred to the Land Trust to be conserved forever. Ellie also wanted to make sure the Land Trust had sufficient funding to take good care of the property, so she directed a gift to the Land Trust in her will.
As an avid birdwatcher and wildlife lover, Ellie knows that by making plans now to conserve her land in the future, she can ensure that her property will never become a sea of condos and will continue to provide vital habitat for the birds and animals that call her cliffs, woods, and lakeshore home.
I’m still waiting to see a bobcat up on the cliffs. Conserving my land so that animals like that can have a place to live undisturbed–that is my goal.
Ellie Russell, landowner donating her camp to the Lake Champlain Land Trust
For more information about donating your land, download our one-page summary of the benefits of land donation.
If you are interested in conserving your land now or in the future, give Chris Boget, Executive Director, a call at (802) 862-4150. We work in Vermont and New York to help landowners and communities conserve land throughout the Lake Champlain Basin. All conversations are confidential in respect for your family’s decision to explore your options.
