Higgins Lake Land Conservancy
The Higgins Lake Land Conservancy was established in July of
2007 to encourage land owners in the Higgins Lake area to engage in strong
stewardship of their lands and to promote the protection of vacant land from
over development and dense urbanization.
Active
stewardship by land owners is necessary to protect the water quality of Higgins
Lake. This is true even though there are a number of government regulations also
aimed at protecting water quality. Despite the seemingly endless local, state
and federal water quality laws, the water quality in many of our inland lakes is
still being degraded. This is almost solely the result of over development of
the lands around those lakes. When land is developed, natural vegetation
which previously served as a filtering system is lost. The result is an
increase in surface water runoff entering our lakes. The surface water runoff
carries with it pollutants such as lawn fertilizers, petroleum products, and
waste by-products. The runoff changes pristine, clear lakes into turbid bodies
of water rich in nitrates and sulfide.
The most cost effective and permanent way to protect the water quality of our lakes and streams is to control the intensity of development through conservation of undeveloped land. The efforts of the Higgins Lake Land Conservancy will assure the natural beauty of the surrounding lands are preserved for future generations while at the same time protecting the quality of the water of Higgins Lake.
Any person, family, family trust, estate, group, organization or legal entity who wants to help ensure the beauty and quality of Higgins Lake and the Higgins Lake Area can help the Conservancy in its efforts.. If you or your family own undeveloped land (small parcels or large parcels or even your back yard) in the Higgins lake area and you want to protect it from becoming overdeveloped, there are a number of alternatives available to you. Some of the alternatives are discussed below. If you or your family do not own undeveloped land but want to assist in protecting undeveloped tracts, then you can be a donor to the Higgins Lake Land Conservancy. Your donation will be used to protect and conserve vacant land. One of the strategies we will use to conserve and protect land is to apply donated funds to the purchase of vacant properties in the Higgins Lake area and then use legal tools such as split restrictions, and conservation easements to protect those lands before reselling them.
Leave Your Footprint
Working with the Higgins Lake Land Conservancy can provide you with an opportunity to help ensure that Higgins Lake maintains its pristine status, not only now, but after our lifetimes. The most direct way is to take the steps to make sure that your land is protected in the future and that any development is consistent with good lake stewardship. You can also do your part by financially supporting the Higgins Lake Land Conservancy.