Restoration of Helenium virginicum Blake, a Threatened Plant of the Ozark Highlands
R.L. Rimer
K.A. McCue
One of the greatest challenges for biologists today is to protect biodiversity against a backdrop of widespread habitat loss. Helenium virginicum Blake (Virginia sneezeweed) is a federally threatened herb associated with sinkhole margins and wet meadows in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia and in the Ozark Highlands of Missouri. In this study we evaluated the influence of seed source (maternal line), planting site, water regime, and weed exclusion on survivorship, growth, and fecundity of H. virginicum with the objectives: (1) to establish two viable populations on public land in Missouri, and (2) to formulate reintroduction protocols for the species. We collected seed from the one known population in the state of Missouri. Seeds were germinated under controlled conditions and then transplanted to two sites on public land. Maternal line was found to have no significant effects on seed germination or seedling survivorship in the greenhouse for the first year. Maternal line, site, water regime, and weed exclusion cloth had no effects on the survivorship of H. virginicum at field sites. Maternal line, along with site, water regime, and weed exclusion cloth had significant effects on height at time of flowering and number of flowers produced by H. virginicum. The results of this study address some of the unknowns regarding the biology of H. virginicum and will be used to guide future reintroduction projects as well as the ongoing development of state and federal recovery plans.
Land Trust Activity and Highest and Best Uses Under Conservation Easements in Georgia, USA
Columbia L. Crehan
David H. Newman
Warren A. Flick
Hans Neuhauser
Land trusts are non-profit organizations that aim to protect land and natural and cultural resources, usually through the acquisition of property rights. The most widely used land protection tool among land trusts is the conservation easement. The donation or sale of a conservation easement may offer financial rewards to the landowner, including potential property tax reductions. In Georgia, as well as numerous other states, there are problems with obtaining accurate and uniform assessments of easement-burdened properties, in part due to a lack of information on and understanding of the impacts of conservation easements on the properties they encumber. We conducted a statewide survey of the use of conservation easements and fee simple land acquisition by land trusts in the state of Georgia. Using these data, we collected a sample of conservation easements and described their remaining “highest and best uses” by considering the combined effects of the prohibited uses and reserved rights. From the land trust survey responses (92% response rate), we found that at least 25 active land trusts exist in Georgia; these land trusts had protected 25,884 hectares by 2002, with 70% of this land area under conservation easement. The remaining highest and best uses of easement-burdened properties in Georgia fall into income-producing and non-income-producing categories. These categories can be used to educate state and local tax officials, and to develop a standardized process for assessing easement-burdened properties.