This week the Land Trust is hosting author Janisse Ray at a “sold out” (but free) presentation where she will focus on the wild spectacles that are found in the natural world – mammals, reptiles, insects, flora, forests, streams, and events that are not superfluous to healthy lives and communities but are as necessary as light and air. 

Each time we add a property to the holdings that the Land Trust has promised to protect in perpetuity, such as the recently acquired “Gateway Property” on the south end of the island near entry to the Torras Causeway, we work to best manage wild places while providing public access. We also look at how we can decrease our footprints on the island, how we might partner with other organizations to develop carbon offsets and minimize the negative impacts of climate change, sea level rise, and increased temperatures and storms. We ask ourselves how we can be creative and forward-thinking keepers of the land while sharing it with others.

Such questions are both philosophical and pragmatic and are always being asked by dedicated environmentalists like Janisse Ray and Hank and Wendy Paulson, who believe we are not owners of the land we hold but rather are guardians who have a sacred responsibility to protect it on our watch. This month Hank, chair of the Paulson Institute and former U.S. Treasury secretary, in an op ed piece in the Financial Times, reminded us that even in the middle of a global environmental tempest, we can’t let panic and fear allow us to trade one set of problems for another. “There is widespread agreement that climate change is an existential threat,” he wrote. “But in our rush to address this challenge, our efforts must not heighten another, more immediate one: the global decline of biodiversity.”

Hank warned us that developing a 50-acre solar farm, for example, is not a valid solution if it means destroying a large chunk of forest that had ensured the survival of threatened plants and animals. “We are losing species at more than 1,000 times the natural rate. If we stay on this trajectory,” Hank wrote, “we risk losing up to half of them by the middle of the century” and such loss of biodiversity “poses a fundamental risk to health, prosperity and wellbeing.”

The thought of losing the deep, dark, rich biodiversity of the Altamaha River that Janisse Ray describes in Drifting into Darien, or the lush habitat hidden in the branches and understory of a maritime forest or among her beloved longleaf pines that she describes in Ecology of a Cracker Childhood, makes one want to try most anything to stop the decline and destruction. As fast as possible. Now. But we should not be trying to reach “net zero targets” by threatening the very systems and species we are sworn to protect. Rather, as Hank Paulson wrote, “We need to chart a path that does not address one environmental challenge by creating others.” While being vigilant, we also have to be exceedingly wise. Now, more than ever.

As always, thank you for being our co-guardians in conserving the wild wonders, the natural spectacles, of one of the most environmentally diverse places on Earth.

Emily Ellison

Executive Director

Thank you to our Pennies for Preservation partners Elegant Island Living (EIL), Sam Ghioto Studio, and Commonground Creative for working with us to create a beautiful full-page ad featuring our newest acquisition - the Gateway Property - in the August issue of EIL. If you have not yet visited the property, we hope you can do so soon! We also hope you take advantage of its 1/4-mile walking path while Cannon's Point Preserve is closed to the public during the month of September (read more below).

Take a virtual tour of the Gateway Property below.

Cannon’s Point Preserve will be closed to the public for the month of September. During this time, Land Trust staff and volunteers will work on necessary maintenance at the Preserve including structural repairs and cleanup of roads and trails. While the Preserve is closed, we encourage you to explore the many other Land Trust properties that will be open for visitation, such as Guale Preserve, the newly acquired Gateway Property, John Gilbert Nature Trail, 1810 Frederica Road (SSLT Office), and Mildred Huie Property.

Please also note that the southern viewing tower near the parking area at Cannon's Point Preserve is currently CLOSED for maintenance.

The newest addition to the Land Trust's backyard can be found in the Board of Directors native plant garden. This beautiful "Wildlife Sanctuary" sign represents the hard work completed by last school year's Junior Ambassadors, who came together to add more than 15 new native plants to the office backyard garden. This planting was one of the final steps in their year-long project to certify the backyard as a Wildlife Sanctuary through Georgia Audubon.

We greatly appreciate these students for their hard work and for their passion to protect St. Simons!

WHAT IF . . .

(Dichanthelium clandestinum)

Land Trust properties are filled with beautiful and interesting plants and wildlife! This month, our staff witnessed the stunning blooms of the prehistoric swamp rose mallow at the Land Trust office. They also came across an eastern garter snake at the Mildred Huie Property and blooming deer's tongue at Guale Preserve.

If you find interesting plants or wildlife while visiting Land Trust properties, share your photos with us! Photos can be emailed to Raleigh Kitchen at rkitchen@sslt.org.

Thank you to the nearly 20 community members who submitted more than 40 of their favorite St. Simons photos during our Photography Contest this month! See below for the four WINNING photos that will be featured in our 2024 Land Trust Calendar. The calendar will be available for purchase this fall.

Photo by Will Barrett

Photo by Steve Kendall

Photo by Steve Kendall

Photo by Dalton Hemmings

As we begin the third quarter of 2023, we are so genuinely grateful for all the ways you have supported the Land Trust this year. Whether you attended speaker events, visited a property, purchased a hat, or follow us on social media, your partnership means more than you know.

In addition to this support, we hope you will consider renewing your Land Trust membership.

All who become a new member at the $100 level or higher, or who renew their memberships at their current level or higher, before midnight on Thursday, August 24, will be entered into a drawing to win a Two-Night stay at the King and Prince Beach & Golf Resort for two people.

Our wonderful partners at King & Prince

If you prefer to make your membership gift with a check, please mail to P.O. Box 24615, St. Simons Island, or drop off your payment at 1810 Frederica Road before August 24.

The 'A Penny for Your Thoughts' conversation series with our Pennies for Preservation partners continues! This Q&A initiative individually highlights each partner so the community can connect with and get to know each business and business owners a little better.

Please see below the Pennies for Preservation partners who were featured on social media in JULY.

and the Land Trust's dedicated Pennies for Preservation partners.

Pennies for Preservation businesses raise funds to preserve and protect St. Simons Island.

1) Collecting a voluntary 1% or specific dollar amount donation from

their customers' receipts/invoices.

2) Donating 1% of their companies' proceeds or services.

From New Zealand to Sweden, Land Trust hats traveled far and wide this month! We are grateful to our members and supporters who share their experiences with us. Keep the photos coming!

Don't have a hat? Let's fix that!

All four versions of SSLT hats can be purchased in-office or on our website below.

August 1: Kite Feeding Aggregation Field Trip with Coastal WildScapes

August 3: Janisse Ray Presentation, Book Signing, and Reception. SSLT Office. ALMOST SOLD OUT!

August 10: Urban and Suburban Meadows Film Screening with Coastal WildScapes and One Hundred Miles. Ritz Theater, 6:00-8:00pm.

August 14: Keep Golden Isles Beautiful Clean & Green Golf Tournament. Register or Sponsor HERE.

August 17: Georgia Audubon Webinar: Audubon's American History, with Gregory Nobles

August 22: Georgia Audubon Webinar: Project Safe Flight Georgia Fall Update

September 7: Georgia Audubon Webinar: Insects and Their Importance to Birds, with Alex LoCastro

September 13: Balancing Civilization and Wildness in Your Coastal Landscape lecture with Coastal WildScapes. Ashantilly Center in Darien.

September 14: Georgia Audubon Webinar: Building Better Backyards for Birds, with Richard Hall

September 21: Georgia Audubon Webinar: Gardening for Bats, with Roseanne Guerra

September 23: Coastal WildScapes' Fall Native Plant Sale, Ashantilly Center, Darien

October 14: SSLT Ambassador Family Day at Guale Preserve. More info to come!

October 21: One Hundred Miles Choosing to Lead Conference. Jekyll Island.

November 2: "William Bartram and the Golden Isles" presentation with Bob Sattelmeyer. SSLT Office. More info to come!

January 20, 2024: St. Simons Land Trust's annual OYSTER ROAST, Gascoigne Bluff Park, SSI