|
(If you missed Our Story; Part 1, click here)
The Lake County Land Trust was established with a vision to protect important and beautiful places in Lake County. The founding board members, including Roberta Lyons, Mary Benson, Kim Clymire, Sibyl Day, Ginger Kite, Susanne Scholz, and the late Glenn Dishman, recognized the need to protect crucial wetlands and other habitats in the area. After setting up a non-profit charitable corporation in 1993 they received a federal tax ID number in 1994. Although it took a few years for the trust to gain momentum, it soon acquired its first property, Rabbit Hill in Middletown, donated by the Madrone Audubon Society who had received it in the will of Skee and Huck Hamann.
This 9.5 acre middletown park with views is a threatened serpentine habitat which is home to numerous rare and endangered plants. Due to mining in the 1800s serpentine plant communities have become fragmented and isolated affecting pollinator behavior and thus gene flow. Rabbit Hill Preserve is not only protecting an important habitat but also a historically important area to the community and memory of the Hamann’s daughter, Joan Hamann-Dole.
Our Story will continue in next month’s News & Views where you will learn about a project that would capture the imagination of people all over Lake County and started the Lake County Land Trust on its course of preserving important wetland habitats and more. Stay tuned!
| 
