Artist Boat Conserves 144 acres

[trymahjong]

From CEC:

Artist Boat Conserves 141 Acres for $6,5+ Million in Raised Funds Article Courtesy of Artist Boat   141 acres was acquired from Anchor Bay, LLC for conservation and educational purposes. In total Artist Boat has acquired 284 acres from Anchor Bay, LLC starting in 2018. This developer opted to save land at fair market value instead of developing and channelizing their land for second homes.   This acquisition along with the acquisitions from Marquette Development of 354 acres creates a three-mile long and contiguous living shoreline of saltwater marshes on west Galveston Bay. Lands once slated for over 1,000 units of canal houses are now conserved forever. Since 2010, Artist Boat has saved 1,039 acres with $24.5 Million in grant awards and donations allowing the organization to complete 15 land transactions. This would not be possible without the committed conservation funders and developers envisioning conserved land as an asset to our coastal heritage and Galveston Island, options to buy at a fair market value for conservation, and the extreme patience and time it takes to save land.   The closing meeting was attended by Karla Klay, Executive Director of Artist Boat, Keith Little, Artist Boat Board Chair, Nancy Greenfield, Artist Boat Board Vice President, Todd Cleveland, Executive Assistant at Artist Boat, Savannah Horton from Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, and members of Anchor Bay, LLC, David Steakley, Ford Jones, and Frank Jones.   The closing of the Anchor Bay land transcation occurred on August 21, 2024, at 10:30 am at South Land Title, LLC on 6710 Stewart Road in Galveston, Texas. This transaction brings the Coastal Heritage Preserve from 898 acres to 1,039 acres.   This $6.5+ Million dollar transaction received conservation grant funds from Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, US Fish and Wildlife Service, Texas General Land Office, Texas Trustee Implementation Group (BP DeepWater Horizon Oil Spill Funds), Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Galveston Bay Estuary Program, Partnership for Gulf Coast Land Conservation, The Brown Foundation, Malcom C. Damuth Foundation, CenterPoint Energy Foundation, Harry L. Willet Foundation, Dr. Leon Bromberg Charitable Trust, Edward Joseph Hudson Foundation, Galveston Bay Foundation, and hundreds of individual donors from the “Be One In A Million” Campaign for land conservation.   Artist Boat remains grateful to the developers, Anchor Bay, LLC, and Marquette Development, for being champions for land conservation on west Galveston Island through the Coastal Heritage Preserve.