In 1996, a group of concerned residents created the Keweenaw Land Trust to conserve land that was set for sale. Since then, Keweenaw Land Trust has grown its team, volunteer network, and added many more nature and conservation areas. Some residents in the Copper Country may have even visited a KLT plot without knowing.
When Pat Toczydlowski and some friends sat around a kitchen table 30 years ago, she couldn’t have expected a mission to save a former timber plot would grow to conserve 25 nature areas. She has remained a vital member of KLT’s team, and now works with the organization as a Project Specialist. Toczydlowski says when the group first started there was a lot still left to learn. KLT’s founding members used guidance from the National Land Trust Alliance to get started.
“When you start out an organization, you don’t have a track record. Nobody knows if they can trust you, like we’re protecting land forever, and what does that really look like? What does that mean?” Toczydlowski said. “So I think the biggest thing that I’ve noticed is just people learning to trust the organization and wanting to contribute. They see the success of like Silver Island or our newest Silver River Wetlands or Boston Creek. Those were all people that donated those lands because they really trusted KLT and they entrusted the future of those lands to the organization. And to me that’s just such a big vote of confidence.”
Keweenaw Land Trust purchased what would become the Churning Rapids Nature Area in the Tech Ventures Land Auction. Toczydlowski says in the nature area, visitors can see the efforts of conservation and the difference between uncut areas and the growth that occurs in the years after loggers yell “timber.”
“And that was the part that was like logged real heavily. And it used to look more like the northern part of that where like the Great Oaks Trail is and there’s some really big diameter trees and things in there,” she said.
Today KLT manages 25 nature areas and several public easements that open public access to nature. Many of the areas have been donated to the trust by families unable to continue land management, happily converting places such as the recently opened Boston Creek Nature Area where people can explore unique landscapes while identifying the region’s animals and plants.
“And as we’re moving forward, we’re recognizing that we need to evolve and grow. And so one of the challenges of work and land trusts and where we are is that we really have a hugely broad audience. We have a really multi-generational audience. And so that becomes a challenge, but also an opportunity when we’re thinking about how we communicate with our audience, the different forms in which people get information,” B Lauer, KLT’s Executive Director, said.
Keweenaw Land Trust plans to make more announcements and details for celebrating 30 years of land conservation in the Keweenaw Peninsula as the community ramps up activities in 2026, including an anniversary fundraising campaign. Lauer and Toczydlowski say the campaign offers a chance to support the group. With many projects earning individual support in recent years, some in the community may have had difficulty finding ways to support Keweenaw Land Trust. Learn more about the Keweenaw Land Trust here.
Comments