D&R Greenway Land Trust’s Greenway Gala—a “May Day Picnic for Preservation”—will be held on Sunday, May 1 from 4 to 6 p.m. Festivities include music by Steve Hiltner’s Sustainable Jazz Ensemble, a spring hat and bowtie contest, libations and hors d’oeuvres. Guests are encouraged to dress in garden party finery and outdoor shoes.
The Donald B. Jones Award for Conservation will be presented to Wade R. Martin, a lifelong Montgomery Township resident. Martin, who professionally is executive director and financial advisor for the Martin-Rizzo Group at Morgan Stanley, has committed his knowledge and passion to help many landowners realize the financial, practical and soul-satisfying rewards of preserving land. Tickets cost $85 and benefit the mission of D&R Greenway. Purchase tickets at www.drgreenway.org or phone 609-924-4646.
“Mayday! Mayday! Mayday!” is a distress signal used for life-threatening emergencies. The vast loss of land to pavement and buildings at an unprecedented rate during our lifetime is just such an emergency. Without farms for food and natural lands to provide clean air and clean water, we endanger all of life as we know it.
For 18 years, Wade Martin has committed his knowledge of financial tools and his network of people to saving land and has directly enabled preservation of 1,750 acres. His partnership with D&R Greenway and the Land Trust Alliance to educate others through “Land College” has resulted in preserved places in Colorado, Alabama, Maryland and California, among others.
He is being honored with D&R Greenway Land Trust’s 2016 Donald B. Jones Conservation Award because, through his personal actions, Martin is saving land for life. This award has been given to a former governor, a congressman, a community and a 10-year-old environmental activist. What they all have in common is a love for the land and a commitment to action that results in land preservation.
“Wade has worked with us on numerous preservation transactions, helping landowners understand how donating or selling development rights at a bargain sale price makes good business sense,” said D&R Greenway Land Trust President & CEO Linda Mead. “Wade Martin teaches landowners to think holistically. And thinking holistically, they are now realizing the old model of preserving land for conservation’s sake has been replaced by doing this for sound economic reasons.”
The Donald B. Jones Conservation Award is presented annually to a person who embodies D&R Greenway’s mission to inspire a conservation ethic.
Donald B. Jones (1911-1994) was a determined preservationist who committed his time and resources saving the land and historic landmarks that give our region its sense of place. Awardees display a similar selfless generosity, making a significant impact on our landscape.
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