Register now through Aug. 30th for free Conservation Lands Workshop

The CHNEP Conservation Lands Workshop is an opportunity for those who work with and are concerned about conservation lands to network, collaborate and learn about solutions to issues facing these lands in southwest Florida. The next workshop will be Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2016, at the Charlotte Harbor Event & Conference Center (75 Taylor St., Punta Gorda). Confirmed presentations are listed below.

Conservation lands increase the quality of life and enhance the tax base of the adjacent private lands. They provide essential habitat for native species, allow water to flow naturally on the surface and to aquifers -- cleansing and storing water as it moves -- and they protect human development, as the mangroves did during Hurricane Charley. Land can be conserved through purchase and by conservation easements by citizens, jurisdictions, agencies, land trusts and others.

The CHNEP thanks the speakers who are donating their time and expertise and the sponsors, as of June 24, including Mosaic, Janet and Bruce Bunch, GE Foundation, Jelks Family Foundation, Charlotte County, Charlotte Harbor Event & Conference Center and the Friends of Charlotte Harbor Estuary, Inc. The CHNEP is still seeking sponsors.

To learn more and to register for this workshop, go to www.EventBrite.com. There is no fee to participate but we do ask that you register by 5 p.m. on Aug. 30. Lunch and refreshments will be provided. You may register after Aug. 30 but lunch may not be provided. Donations are accepted to help defray expenses. (Lunch and refreshments for each person cost approximately $25.) Any donation of $100 or more will be acknowledged as a sponsor. Please invite others to attend.

We anticipate the Sept. 7 program will begin at 9 a.m. and conclude by 4 p.m., but the doors will be open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The agenda and additional details will be sent by email to all who register.

After the workshop, PDF files of the presentations and videos (PDF of presentation and audio) will be posted at www.CHNEP.org. Presentations from annual workshops since 2012 will also available from this site soon.