The Southeastern Trust for Parks and Land (SE Trust) is celebrating a decade of conservation, recreation and community work in Georgia, North Carolina and Tennessee. Formed in January 2012 by Bill Jones, visionary entrepreneur, founder and current executive director of SE Trust, the organization now boasts a robust network of thousands of acres across dozens of properties. SE Trust restores land, plants, trees, builds parks and trails, monitors wildlife, controls invasive species, creates pollinator and vegetable gardens, and more.
Over the past 10 years, SE Trust has focused its land acquisition projects by working with private landowners that value SE Trust’s public impact on recreation, community, and conservation. The organization has planted more than 150,000 longleaf pine trees, created outdoor classrooms, and activated conservation and environmental stewardship efforts to improve air and water quality, provide plant and wildlife habitat, impact stormwater control, and give nature time and room to thrive.
“Our phenomenal growth over the last 10 years is a result of tireless work and selfless giving by a myriad of people on our board and hundreds more volunteers,” said Bill Jones, executive director of the Southeastern Trust for Parks and Land. “Like I always say, anytime you have people and nature coming together, ‘something good is happening’ and that’s certainly true as we celebrate a decade of mission successes.”
Jones’ mantra, “something good is happening,” has been the undercurrent and motivating factor for volunteers at the 501c3, non-profit organization dedicated to conserving land and making it available for the public good to preserve, restore and provide access to our nation’s dwindling natural lands.
The organization is building multiple parks and activating land across the Southeastern U.S. for conservation, play and community building. Properties range from geographically small, but critical “pocket parks” including Jan Hill Lane Nature Preserve in Atlanta to intensive conservation efforts, like a longleaf pine restoration of more than 350 acres in Burke County, Ga. SE Trust properties boast unique partnerships and activities including hiking, mountain biking, bouldering, geo-caching, bird watching, passive nature education, and most importantly the quiet enjoyment of nature.
“We design our sites as either nature preserves or nature parks, depending on which part of our mission has the most positive impact on the site,” Jones said. “Ultimately, our goal is to foster natural land conservation, environmental stewardship, science education and research, and public recreation for the benefit of individuals and communities for generations in the future.”
For more information, visit: http://www.stpal.org.