ANGOLA, Ind. — Despite losing its federal funding, an area conservation organization plans to continue working to protect natural resources in northeastern Indiana.

“We lost our funding and we lost our coordinator, but we haven’t lost our focus,” said John J. Hulewicz, president of Wood-Land-Lakes (WLL) Resource Conservation and Development. “We’re going to keep active. We’re not going to fail.”

Hulewicz became president in August after the resignation of the previous president.

WLL began in 1994 with the goal of addressing natural resource needs in six counties – DeKalb, Elkhart, LaGrange, Noble, Steuben and Whitley. The organization also offers conservation easements to landowners who want to protect their property from future development.

Earlier this year, cuts in federal spending meant the loss of WLL’s longtime coordinator and an end to monies for office space, Hulewicz noted. “When your physical storefront disappears, people think you’re out of business,” he explained. “We haven’t gone away and our intent isn’t to go away.”

To pick up the slack, WLL is relying on volunteers and seeking donations and grants, he said. “If folks believe in our mission statement and believe there’s a benefit, a monetary donation will help us do the day-to-day things. But we don’t want to limit donations to just monetary amounts. People can donate their time and their ideas.”

An anonymous supporter has offered to double donations to the organization through the end of this year, he noted. WLL is hoping to raise at least $500, which would be doubled to $1,000, thanks to the donor.

One of the organization’s strengths is its conservation easement program, Hulewicz said. WLL has 22 easements totaling 9,412 acres.

Conservation easements allow property owners to protect the integrity of their property in perpetuity, said Mike Yoder, chair of WLL’s land trust. The easements are legal contracts that are extremely difficult to break or change, he explained.

WLL is the only land trust in the state that focuses on productive farmland, Yoder explained. Other trusts may accept farmland, but they generally focus on wildlife, sensitive habitats or open space, he added.

“This organization is obligated to continue to monitor the leases, and we’re active in accepting new leases,” Yoder stated. “We lost a staff person who helped organize and manage all the activities. Now, that falls to volunteers, and it’s an extra responsibility we’re willing to pick up. We’re making plans to go forward without federal dollars.”

The WLL land trust has been active in the last three months, Yoder said. WLL is currently working with landowners on three conservation easements totaling 534 acres.

The conversion of Brownfields to usable properties is also important to WLL, Yoder noted. Brownfields are abandoned urban housing or manufacturing areas that typically have other problems such as soil contamination, he explained.

“The tendency is to grow into greenfield areas rather than reconstruct on Brownfields,” he said. “Our interest as a land trust is to protect those greenfield areas from development. It doesn’t make sense to buy up new land (for development).”

For information on conservation easements and other WLL activities, visit www.wood-land-lakes.org