Non-profit conservation groups participating in Giving Tuesday
Eastern Sierra Land Trust, Friends of Inyo seek support
Eastern Sierra Land Trust (ESLT) is joining organizations around the world on Nov. 29 by participating in the Giving Tuesday global generosity movement.
Assessing, monitoring, and stewarding more than 21,000 acres of protected Eastern Sierra land takes muddy boots on the ground throughout the year, according to the agency. Community and member support maintains a culture of local conservation and keeps land stewardship teams in the field.
Giving Tuesday is a global generosity initiative that encourages people and organizations to invest in their communities. Over the past 10 years, the idea has inspired hundreds of millions of people to give, collaborate, volunteer and celebrate generosity.
Last year, ESLT received generous donations on Giving Tuesday that allowed the organization’s lands team, volunteers, and community members to get out on protected Eastern Sierra lands and help with the many timeconsuming physical components of land conservation such as restoring wildlife habitat, removing invasive species, and removing trash.
“As winter arrives in the Eastern Sierra, we are still getting our boots dirty, monitoring and stewarding protected lands in-person, upholding our conservation easement agreements with our voluntary landowners,” shared Kay Ogden, ESLT’s executive director/CEO. “Our community has shown us incredible support for these legally required responsibilities during Giving Tuesday in years past, and we are tremendously grateful for their generosity.”
Each year, ESLT conducts monitoring visits on each property that the organization owns or holds conservation easements on. These visits entail hundreds of hours in the field, observing land to ensure conservation agreements are upheld, doing physical restoration work, and working with willing landowners to ensure their visions for their property are realized.
Since its founding in 2001, ESLT has protected more than 21,900 acres of natural and working lands in the Eastern Sierra: from a mule deer migration corridor in Swall Meadows, to the Mono Basin’s iconic Conway Ranch, to large swathes of wide-open working lands in Bridgeport Valley – and much more.
A vital component of the organization’s work is getting staff, volunteers, students, and community members onto the land to physically steward it and support a local culture of conservation.
As the new year approaches, key focuses for ESLT include expanding land and wildlife habitat protection, representing all Sierra voices in California’s 30x30 Initiative, and increasing equitable access to Eastern Sierra land.
To strengthen local conservation, the agency is asking people to consider participating in Giving Tuesday this Nov. 29 by supporting Eastern Sierra Land Trust or other nonprofits whose work inspires them. Volunteering opportunities are available and are an effective and hands on way to make a difference year-round.
Eastern Sierra Land Trust is a nationally accredited land trust based in Bishop, CA. ESLT, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, works with willing landowners to protect vital lands in the Eastern Sierra region for their scenic, agricultural, natural, recreational, historical, and watershed values. Learn more about ESLT’s work and how to get involved at www.eslt.org.
Friends of the Inyo
Friends of the Inyo has announced that its board of directors, checkbooks in hand, has literally “Reached for the Sky” with giving this year.
Board members have put up a $21,000 matching gift for the organization’s year-end fundraising campaign, which kicks off on Nov. 29, Giving Tuesday.
The match means charitable dollars will double in an effort to help raise $42,000 in support of Friends of the Inyo’s mission, which is to protect and care for the public lands of the Eastern Sierra.
Here’s how it will work
At 11:59 p.m. local time Monday, Nov. 28, a Giving Tuesday donation page will go live on the organization’s website, FriendsoftheInyo. org, and as Monday turns into Giving Tuesday and for the next 24 hours, those interested will be able to make their donations double by giving online to Friends of the Inyo.
Friends of the Inyo urges people to “Reach for the Sky” and donate, thereby helping to ensure that protection and care for the public lands of the Eastern
Sierra can continue well into 2023 and beyond.
Over the airwaves
At 9:15 a.m. Tuesday on KMMT-FM (106.5 in Mammoth Lakes; 104.9 in Bishop; 105.5 in Big Pine; 107.7 in June Lake; and streaming live online at kmmtradio.com), host John DeMaria is scheduled to talk with Friends of the Inyo’s Communications and Philanthropy Director Lou Medina about Giving Tuesday, why it’s important, and why your donation to Friends of the Inyo “matters now more than ever.”
To learn more about Friends of the Inyo, go to www.friendsoftheinyo.org.