If you share our commitment to ensuring a bright future for the Conservancy, let us show you how you can meet your personal financial goals while providing enriching support for the Conservancy through estate and planned giving.

The Conservancy honors individuals who have made or are planning to make gifts through one of the following arrangements:

• a bequest through a will or living trust
  
• a charitable gift annuity
  
• a charitable remainder trust
  
• a gift of life insurance, IRA, or other deferred giving plan.

Benefits of estate and planned gifts like those above may include:

• income tax deductions
  
• an income stream for life for you or your beneficiary
  
• limited capital gains taxes
  
• reductions in estate and probate costs.

If you have already named us as the beneficiary of a planned gift, we encourage you to notify us today so we may welcome you as significant supporter and honor you appropriately, if you so wish.

For more information, please contact us:

Geneva Lake Conservancy
P.O. Box 588
Fontana, WI 53125
Phone: (262) 275-5700
glc@genevaonline.com
Or click here to donate now!

And thank you for your financial support of our 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization!

~ Thomas M. Ramsey
Geneva Lake Conservancy Board of Directors

When asked why she would like to be considered as a director, Dawn replied, "I would like to be involved with an organization whose focus is to protect the beautiful area in which we are all so fortunate to live."

Dawn's family moved to Linn Township in 1972. Her father was principal of Northwestern Military and Naval Academy for 20 years, during which time her family were fortunate to live on the lakeshore campus. After college Dawn lived and worked in Chicago and the suburbs, seeing firsthand the effect of suburban sprawl, especially in Lake County.

Dawn and her husband Scott moved their family back to Fontana in 1998 when their children began school. Dawn and Scott returned to the area because they wanted to provide their children with the same experiences Dawn and Scott had growing up and raise their children in a style of living unique to the lake-area community.

"The GLC is working to protect and improve the area I have loved all my life," Dawn said about the Conservancy. "I feel the Conservancy has a responsibility to educate the community about conserving and protecting the area, especially in the next 20 years, as development and population growth will apply more and more pressure on Geneva Lake and the area."

Dawn has been involved with a number of not-for-profit organizations in the lake area over the years. She is treasurer of the Fontana Elementary School Board and serves on the finance committee for Holiday Home. In the past Dawn has served on the board of the Geneva Lake Sailing School.

Dawn has been involved in the fund raising, events, and strategic planning of those organizations. The Conservancy hopes to use Dawn's special skills in those areas and hopes she will be able to help us in finance, gift planning, local government interaction, strategic planning, and events.

Up until the late 1970s there was generally one way to go about subdivision development: the Levittown norm of postwar America. This cookie-cutter style has been and is still employed throughout much of America. The alternative, a more ecologically sensitive and economically favorable method called conservation development, still has to fight the majority of its battles in the minds of those who authorize such developments.

Because conservation subdivisions are the exception to the rule, their impact is currently limited. When ordinances exist that make conservation subdivisions the norm rather than the exception, developers and communities have the opportunity to create contiguous areas of open space. This, in turn, can allow for a region-wide network of adjoining protected open space.

Standard subdivision ordinances
Subdivision ordinances are designed specifically to provide regulations for dividing an entire plot of land into buildable lots. Current regulations in most communities focus on important factors such as soil suitability, wetlands, floodplains, street paving, and stormwater management as well as relatively unimportant factors such as street frontage, lotline setbacks, and lot area(1).

These secondary features, and thus most regulations, rarely, if ever, take into account the natural topography of the parcel. Additionally, these regulations are worded in such a way as to prohibit some methods used in conservation development to increase the conservation value of the land preserved. For example, minimum lot sizes of one acre or more can inhibit the developer's ability to cluster the homes on smaller lots to maximize the total amount of open space.

Conservation subdivision ordinances
Conservation subdivision ordinances are amendments or additions to existing zoning regulations that allow for the development of conservation subdivisions. No two ordinances may look the same, for it depends almost entirely on what the community sets forth as its primary goals. However, each ordinance is based primarily on the principles of density, water quality, and open-space requirements.

The University of Wisconsin Model Conservation Subdivision Ordinance contains requirements for an inventory and mapping of existing resources, a development yield analysis, a site analysis and concept plan, and general outline map.

These elements provide a comprehensive guideline to enhance the development of any parcel in such a way that respects the natural resources on the site and, when used in conjunction with master planning, the entire community.

Many ordinances reward developers with higher density, provided they develop the property in such a way to obtain a lager percentage of open space. The standard bare-minimum open-space requirement is 50 percent. Higher densities for a higher percentage of open space are sometimes used as an incentive for developers and community officials concerned with the perceived economic impact of conservation development.

In some instances, rural conservation developments may not be appropriate. In more urban areas, conservation values can still be applied to a property. This may take the form of Traditional Neighborhood Development. In 2002, Wisconsin law mandated that all state communities with populations more than 12,500 adopt TND - or something similar - as an ordinance. It is yet another tool that communities can use to secure its urban core and limit sprawl. There will be more on this important topic in future editions of the newsletter.

In Growing Greener, Pennsylvania's definitive guide to putting conservation into local codes, developed by Natural Lands Trust and noted land planner Randal Arendt, states: "Successful communities have legally defensible, well-written zoning regulations that meet . . . future growth and provide for a logical balance between community goals and private landowner interests." Those community goals and interests should be outlined in the community's comprehensive - or master - plan.

Conservation and master planning
The development of conservation subdivision ordinances is best done in conjunction with community master planning. Without an overarching plan, developed and maintained by the community, conservation developments can and do become isolated occurrences whose benefits are often overshadowed by other large-scale development.

By 2010 all Wisconsin communities with populations more than 12,500 will be required to adopt master plans. This process, typically referred to as Wisconsin's Smart Growth law, presents a tremendous opportunity for communities to establish primary conservation values and to control the development that occurs within community borders. Limiting development type is not synonymous with limiting economic development. As the first two articles in this series put forth, conservation development can be as economically beneficial, if not more so, than standard development.

The concerns and goals identified within the master plan are used in conservation development to shape development along the lines that will enhance a community, protect its natural and cultural resources, and encourage sustainable economic and population growth.

With the necessary amendments and additions to current community regulations and comprehensive use within the master plan, communities can maximize benefits inherent to conservation development. The communities can also maximize their own resources and economic development in a sustainable way that honors the cultural and ecological facets of the communities.

~ Katie Sullivan
GLC Administrator

1. Arendt, R. (n.d.) Flawed Processes, Flawed Results, and a Potential Solution: A Constructive Critique of Outmoded Subdivision Ordinance Provisions. Available on Arendt's Web site Greener Prospects: www.greenerprospects.com/products.html

The Conservancy is proud to announce that in December we acquired another conservation easement. The property owned by Barton and Joan Love is on the south shore of Geneva Lake in Fontana. Many of you know this property as Westgate.

I am sure many of you have noticed or heard that the original estate on the Love property is no longer standing. The home was recycled, and the saved materials will be used in the construction of one of three possible homes on the property. Our conservation easement encompasses the entire 4.2-acre parcel. The three possible homes would take up no more than 8.8 percent of the entire property, leaving the GLC with more than 90 percent of the property protected.

The Loves have owned their gorgeous lakefront property about 10 years. Like a lot of people who visit the area, the Loves fell in love with Geneva Lake after spending a few weekends with some friends. In a recent communication, Bart stated, "The people are wonderful, the boat rides are outstanding, and the golf is great!"

We extend our gratitude to the Loves for becoming a part of our family.

~ Lynn Ketterhagen
Land Protection Specialist

Senate approves statewide phase out of phosphorus in lawn fertilizer

The Senate passed the phosphorus lawn fertilizer bill (SB 197) on January 15, 2008. The bill, modeled after Dane County's successful ordinance, would ban the use and sale of phosphorus lawn fertilizer (with a few reasonable exceptions).

"We are pleased that this initiative won strong bipartisan support," says Roger Walsh, Wisconsin Association of Lakes Legislative and Legal Committee Chair. "The Senate adopted a good bill today. We encourage the Assembly to pass this bill quickly and get it to the Governor's desk."

The vast majority of Wisconsin's lawns are saturated with too much phosphorus, a nutrient commonly found in fertilizer. Phosphorus runoff from lawns goes directly into surface waters, fueling smelly algae blooms and nuisance plant growth, suffocating fish, and making summertime unpleasant for property owners and recreational users on some of Wisconsin's beautiful lakes.

This bill enjoys broad support from county and local governments, local lake groups, statewide conservation organizations, and others interested in cleaner, safer, healthier lakes for everyone.

"Using phosphorus free lawn fertilizer is one easy step everyone can take to improve water quality," says John Molinaro, Wisconsin Association of Lakes President. "This bill would make the right fertilizer choice for lakes - phosphorus free lawn fertilizer - the default choice for consumers."

Some talking points about phosphorus:

• Phosphorus runoff from lawns goes directly into surface waters, fueling smelly algae blooms and nuisance plant growth, suffocating fish, and making summertime unpleasant for property owners and recreational users.
  
• This bill enjoys broad support across the state from county and local governments, local lake groups, statewide conservation organizations, and others interested in cleaner, safer, healthier lakes for everyone.
  
• This bill would make the right fertilizer choice for lakes-phosphorus free lawn fertilizer-the default choice for consumers.

For more information, please visit: Wisconsin Association of Lakes

Yerkes plant list

Plants in the outlying areas of the Yerkes Observatory property were inventoried last July by Stephen Hiltner, a Williams Bay native who serves as national resources manager for Friends of Princeton Open Space. His project supplemented the Preliminary Vegetation Survey conducted by the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission. Both surveys are available here.

Steve also asked any interested birders to make weekly checks for migrants in Frost Woods and in the Yerkes lakefront property in the spring. They will help researchers gain a better sense of how the woods are being used by wildlife. If you are interested, please contact the Conservancy, and we will pass along your information.

Cutting a Rug!
The Conservancy's entryway is in dire need of an update! The circular rag rug has served its time well, but is in need of retirement. A suitable rug should be a circle or oval at least 10 feet in diameter that blends in well with the 1800s decor of the Mill House entryway.