For almost 40 years, the Ozark Land Trust (OLT) has protected more than 30,000 acres of Ozark lands across Missouri and Arkansas.
As a land trust, OLT permanently conserves land for the public benefit and limits development to protect natural resources.
Together, Missouri State University alumnae, Haley Smith and Taylor Dye, have made a big impact in preserving the Ozarks as urban development continues.
“Haley and Taylor are at the heart of OLT’s efforts and are responsible for monitoring every property — both those on which we have conservation easements and the lands we own, every year,” said Larry Levin, OLT executive director.
What’s a land trust?
According to Levin, land trusts are essential to the goal of permanently conserving our national and regional lands, waters, habitats and communities.
“Across the U.S., land trusts have protected over 60 million acres, and hundreds of thousands of acres in the Ozarks alone.”
Land trusts also engage in conservation practices, which help restore and protect land through resource-sensitive enhancements. In communities, land trusts can help preserve green and open space and protect cultural and historical resources.
A Q&A with a dynamic duo
When did you graduate from MSU and how long have you been at OLT?
Haley: I graduated in 2016 with my bachelor’s in wildlife biology and I started working with OLT in October 2022.
Taylor: I graduated from MSU in 2016 with a BS in environmental biology and evolution and have been with OLT since July of this year.
Describe a day in your life at OLT. What do you do in your position? What’s your favorite part about it?
Haley: I’m OLT’s conservation manager. My job is to ensure we’re completing our yearly stewardship monitoring obligations and implementing management plans for our owned properties. When I’m working on our owned properties, I’m usually coordinating invasive species removal, maintaining one of our trails or hosting a public event to engage the community.
Taylor: I’m a conservation specialist at OLT. OLT is required to monitor the properties that are under a conservation easement. I travel to fulfill our obligations, and often meet with landowners who are excited to show me their land or current restoration projects. Other times, I take to foot and spend the day hiking around a property alone. I do this to ensure no illegal activity is taking place, assess the current conditions of the land and hear the thoughts and concerns of landowners. I meet a lot of awesome people in awesome places doing amazing things. Their passion for the preservation of the Ozarks is infectious.”
Why do you believe OLT’s work/land trusts are so important? Why should ordinary folks care about them?
Haley: Between urbanization and climate change, there’s a lot of pressure on our ecosystems. In our region alone, I can think of several examples where tracts of land are subdivided into smaller parcels, stripped of resources and replaced with 10 unnecessarily huge houses with monocultured lawns. Land trusts can prevent this by working with landowners to establish a conservation easement on the property that limits subdivision and development. Once that’s in place, the property is protected forever.
Taylor: Land trusts are the underdog of conservation but are growing in popularity. As cities sprawl, we need places that remain simply as they are. For some, land trusts are appealing because they protect the areas they live on and love; it’s a gift to future generations. For others, it’s an opportunity not just to hold the land, but to be a steward of the land.
How do you both work together as conservation specialist and manager?
Haley: Taylor and I operate like a two-person crew, meeting with all our landowners to complete monitoring obligations on a yearly basis. This takes a lot of coordination and planning because we cover most of Missouri, the northern half of Arkansas and have over 115 landowners to meet with. We work together to figure out how our skillsets can be developed to help OLT’s continued success. All in all, we make a great team and I feel lucky to have a teammate who also grew up in the area and stuck around to help make it a better place.
Taylor: Haley has been almost solely responsible for my training both in office life and out in the field. We work well together and have an open line of communication. If I have a problem or inquiry, Haley is my go-to person. Collaboration-wise, we love to be in the field together! It’s a joy meeting landowners as a dynamic duo, and often our travels mean a fun camping trip or city exploration. If a landowner has a question, whether it’s about land trusts, species identification or management practices, typically one of us has an answer.