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Land Conservancy looks to the future The Southern Oregon Land Conservancy will hold its annual meeting Tuesday to discuss saving open spaces and wildlife habitat through conservation easement on private property. The meeting begins at 7:30 p.m. in the C.K. Tiffin's conference room at 226 E. Main St., Medford. In addition to discussing preserving such spaces in the future, the group also will appoint new directors for the coming year. The public is encouraged to attend and join in the debate, said group president Dan Kellogg. The conservancy is a local land trust working with property owners in Jackson and Josephine counties. Since it formed in 1978, it has protected 570 acres through conservation easements. "With this being the turn of the century, this is a good time to look at the future," Kellogg said. "The easements and places we have protected will be pretty special in the future. Anything you save now will become more important in the future." The reason is that continued growth will increase the importance of open spaces and wildlife habitat, he said. For property owners, there are potential tax benefits through making a conservation easement, he said. And helping protect the environment can have long-range benefits for wildlife and humans, he added. "A conservation easement could be for forest habitat, for agricultural land, for riparian habitat," Kellogg said. "There are a lot of ways it can be done." For further information on the meeting or the conservancy, contact Kellogg at 855-9638 or conservancy Executive Director Alex Liston Dykema at 482-3069. Today's Edition : News | Sports | Business | Weather | Tempo | Classifieds Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA