Post by Taylor on Feb 27, 2006 7:57:49 GMT -5
This article on the non-profit Nature Conservancy states that they will be opening an office in downtown Huntsville, not far from the NSS headquarters. Office Space has been offered (rent-free) by the owners of the Russel Erskine building. The NSS is mentioned in the article.
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Lynne Berry to run preservation group's new office downtown
February 25, 2006
One of the world's best-known land preservation groups is opening an office in downtown Huntsville.
The Nature Conservancy hopes to move into the Russel Erskine building on Clinton Avenue by the end of March. Lynne Berry will run the office and serve as the nonprofit conservancy's chief local fundraiser. Berry just finished a one-year stint as Harrison Brothers Hardware's store director. Before that, she spent five years as head of the Historic Huntsville Foundation.
During a meeting with The Times' editorial board Friday morning, Berry said her main job will be to raise the conservancy's profile in Huntsville. She plans to do that by teaming up with other local environmental outfits on preservation projects. Spending time with the conservancy's 800 dues-paying members from Madison County. Reaching out to government and business leaders. "I want to have a seat at the table at places like the Chamber of Commerce," Berry said.
The conservancy is hardly a stranger to North Alabama. In 1967, it worked with the National Speleological Society to preserve Shelta Cave off Pulaski Pike. More recently, it bought 21,000 acres in Jackson County and Franklin County, Tenn., that included the rugged Walls of Jericho canyon (the conservancy later sold the Alabama property to the state's Forever Wild program).
The Arlington, Va.-based conservancy owns large preserves in Paint Rock Valley and on three mountains - Keel, Sharp and Bingham - that straddle the Madison-Jackson county line. And it has spent the past few years working to save Jackson County's pristine Paint Rock River, which it calls one of the "last great places on Earth." The river supports about 100 fish species and 40 types of freshwater mussel, including the exceedingly rare pale lilliput and Alabama lampshell.
Jeff Danter, the conservancy's Alabama director, said opening an office in the Rocket City was a logical move. "I couldn't form relationships with people in Huntsville from Birmingham," he said Friday. The group's state headquarters is in Birmingham, and it has smaller offices in Mobile and Paint Rock. Doug Fears, the lone employee in Paint Rock, spends most of his time working with farmers on better conservation practices such as keeping livestock out of the river.
Berry said the Russel Erskine building's owners, Phil Dotts of Huntsville and David Greenberg of White Plains, N.Y., have agreed to give the Nature Conservancy free office space on the ground floor, in what used to be the Gold Room restaurant. The former hotel, which is now federally subsidized housing for seniors, recently had a $5.5 million makeover.
Berry said the conservancy's Alabama board of directors will meet in Huntsville in June. A handful of local residents serve on the board, including city ecologist Soos Weber and Madison Mayor Sandy Kirkindall.
www.al.com/news/huntsvilletimes/index.ssf?/base/news/1140862570285140.xml&coll=1
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Lynne Berry to run preservation group's new office downtown
February 25, 2006
One of the world's best-known land preservation groups is opening an office in downtown Huntsville.
The Nature Conservancy hopes to move into the Russel Erskine building on Clinton Avenue by the end of March. Lynne Berry will run the office and serve as the nonprofit conservancy's chief local fundraiser. Berry just finished a one-year stint as Harrison Brothers Hardware's store director. Before that, she spent five years as head of the Historic Huntsville Foundation.
During a meeting with The Times' editorial board Friday morning, Berry said her main job will be to raise the conservancy's profile in Huntsville. She plans to do that by teaming up with other local environmental outfits on preservation projects. Spending time with the conservancy's 800 dues-paying members from Madison County. Reaching out to government and business leaders. "I want to have a seat at the table at places like the Chamber of Commerce," Berry said.
The conservancy is hardly a stranger to North Alabama. In 1967, it worked with the National Speleological Society to preserve Shelta Cave off Pulaski Pike. More recently, it bought 21,000 acres in Jackson County and Franklin County, Tenn., that included the rugged Walls of Jericho canyon (the conservancy later sold the Alabama property to the state's Forever Wild program).
The Arlington, Va.-based conservancy owns large preserves in Paint Rock Valley and on three mountains - Keel, Sharp and Bingham - that straddle the Madison-Jackson county line. And it has spent the past few years working to save Jackson County's pristine Paint Rock River, which it calls one of the "last great places on Earth." The river supports about 100 fish species and 40 types of freshwater mussel, including the exceedingly rare pale lilliput and Alabama lampshell.
Jeff Danter, the conservancy's Alabama director, said opening an office in the Rocket City was a logical move. "I couldn't form relationships with people in Huntsville from Birmingham," he said Friday. The group's state headquarters is in Birmingham, and it has smaller offices in Mobile and Paint Rock. Doug Fears, the lone employee in Paint Rock, spends most of his time working with farmers on better conservation practices such as keeping livestock out of the river.
Berry said the Russel Erskine building's owners, Phil Dotts of Huntsville and David Greenberg of White Plains, N.Y., have agreed to give the Nature Conservancy free office space on the ground floor, in what used to be the Gold Room restaurant. The former hotel, which is now federally subsidized housing for seniors, recently had a $5.5 million makeover.
Berry said the conservancy's Alabama board of directors will meet in Huntsville in June. A handful of local residents serve on the board, including city ecologist Soos Weber and Madison Mayor Sandy Kirkindall.
www.al.com/news/huntsvilletimes/index.ssf?/base/news/1140862570285140.xml&coll=1