I have been a member of the nature Conservancy for about 30 years, and leaving your land to them would be a wonderful thing, but this may not be a good way to save preserve it. The mission of this organization, which I fully support, is to use whatever resources they can acquire to preserve those pieces of land that they judge to be the most worthy of preservation, based on their own ideas about what is most rare or special and most important. Anyone can question their values and judgement about what is most worthy of preservation--I have not questioned any of their judgements, but then I haven't had the needed information to really do so--but their mission I think is beyond reproach. So, if you donate land to The nature Conservancy, you are doing a wonderful thing in making resources available to this organization, but unless your land meets the standards they have for what they decide to use their resources to preserve, your land will be sold by them to raise money for the projects they consider top priority. My timberland, for example, is in my opinion one of the most beautiful properties in Garrett County MD. I would love to think I could leave it to some organization and have it preserved for all to enjoy. But if I gave it to the Nature conservancy, I have no doubt that it would be logged and sold. I am aware that there are some programs for selling development rights to the State that can result in some degree of protection, and that is an option I might conside at some point. But often what we think is so wonderful and worthy of preservation, is in the larger scheme of things, something only temporary. My trees will get old and begin to die in 100 years or so. The deer are eating all the seedlings, so the forest is not going to sustain itself in anything like the form I now find so beautiful. In 100 years it could look like a mess, with some scattered wonderful old trees and nothing but thickets of sick beech trees and black birch. Could I--or anyone--do anything to preserve this in anything like its present form. No, not a chance. --Spruce

This is the message I'm getting for those concerned We are conducting final tests on the Eagle Cam. It will be online very soon, please check back later. You can still keep an eagle eye on our birds by clicking the daily slideshow links to the right >>>

Hi lovemymimi here are a few more.... Tembe Africam it's an awesome watering hole in Africa. It has elephants, zebras, lions, etc. http://www.africam.com/wildlife/tembe_webcam This is the Norfolk Botanical Gardens eagle cam http://www.wvec.com/eaglecam This is the Sutton eagle cam in Oklahoma, I just went there and they have babies, getting fed right now! http://www.newson6.com/category/163029/sutton-eagle-camera And finally, the reindeer cam, big hit with the littles ones in my family this past Christmas. http://reindeercam.com/

11 different web cams -- everything from the Amazon River to the tiny golden lion tamarin monkey to the giant pandas. What a treasure trove -- thank you for sharing this website.