The Aquidneck Land Trust has received a $100,000 commitment towards its effort to conserve approximately 125 acres of the Farmscapes Holdings, LLC property on Wapping Road in Portsmouth. On August 25, 2006, the Land Trust signed an option agreement with Farmscapes Holdings, LLC to purchase a perpetual conservation restriction on about 125 acres. Under the terms of the option agreement, acquired by the Land Trust for $70,000, the Land Trust will have two years to raise $3,000,000 to purchase the permanent conservation restriction. Shortly after the execution of the option agreement, The Loebs Family Foundation made a leadership commitment to grant the Land Trust $100,000 for this initiative.

Richard C. Loebs, Jr., Trustee for The Loebs Family Foundation, stated, “We are delighted to work with the Aquidneck Land Trust in supporting this important initiative to protect key wildlife habitat on the island, and we further commend Farmscapes Holdings for their generosity and vision.”

“We are very grateful to The Loebs Family Foundation for this first financial commitment to our effort and for the foundation’s consistent support of land conservation on Aquidneck Island. When we entered the $3,000,000 option agreement for this important conservation project on August 25th we knew it was just the beginning of a lot of hard work and fundraising. The outcome is still uncertain as we have a lot of work and fundraising yet to do, which will require financial contributions from many at all levels, but The Loebs Family Foundation has done a terrific job sending us on our way.” said Ted Clement, Executive Director for the Aquidneck Land Trust.

In 2004, the Aquidneck Land Trust completed a comprehensive mapping and prioritization project that identified and scored over 500 threatened open space parcels on Aquidneck Island. From that work, over 100 priority parcels for protection were identified, one of which was the Farmscapes Holdings, LLC property.

Aquidneck Land Trust will host a FREE tour at Newport Vineyards on Saturday, October 21st at 9am.

Join us for a tour of the conserved land at Newport Vineyards in Middletown and wine tasting. Participants will have the chance to learn about the techniques used in the venerable practice of producing wine from John Nunes one of the proprietors of Newport Vineyards. Later have the opportunity to sample the delicious wines produced on site. We will learn about the mix of traditional and modern techniques used to produce these award winning wines, and how the land conservation efforts of the Aquidneck Land Trust helped secure the necessary land for this agricultural business.

For more information contact Andy Arkway at 401- 849-2799 x14 or aarkway@ailt.org

Peter Forbes will present "Translating the Soul of the Land" at the Newport City Hall on Thursday November 9, 2006 at 6:30pm as part of the Aquidneck Land Trust Conservation Speaker Series.

Peter Forbes, a photographer, writer, and farmer considers himself a life long student of the relationship between land and people.

For ten years, Peter led the Trust for Public Land in New England. In 1998, Peter became TPL’s first national fellow and devoted himself to researching and writing about how individual and community relationships with the land can become the seeds for broader social change. In 2001, he founded the Center for Land and People, to help foster a new practice of land conservation where relationship is as important as place. He later began to unfold an ambitious dream of creating a place, and a set of relationships, that might help to create healthier, whole communities. Today, the Center for Whole Communities has alumni from 38 states and more than 150 communities and organizations.

Peter’s essays are included in the following books Our Land, Ourselves: Readings on People and Place and the Great Remembering: further thoughts on land, soul and society, and Coming to Land.

Admission to the presentation is FREE. If you would like to attend the Conservation Speaker Series or would like more information RSVP to Megan at mandersen@ailt.or g/a > or 401-849-2799 x19.

The Aquidneck Land Trust’s mission is to preserve Aquidneck Island’s open spaces and natural character for the lasting benefit of our community. The Land Trust has conserved over 1,855 acres on Aquidneck Island. This year alone, the Land Trust has conserved over 567 acres. The Land Trust is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. For more information, visit www.AquidneckLandTrust.org or call (401) 849-2799..