Ten years ago, Time Magazine reported that a group of Ecologists, Economists and Geographers in a report in the Journal Nature estimated the present value of services provided by various ecosystems to be somewhere between $16 and $54 trillion per year. Often times we think of the price of the land as the dollar value of nature without any thought as to what is provided continuously once land is set aside. Maybe we should be thinking about the dollar cost on a lost wetland that offers storm and flood protection to our homes and businesses. What dollar cost can be attributed to a fisheries nursery? What dollar cost can be attributed to our trails, picnic grounds, beaches and other fine recreational places?

Once we purchase land for the Kent County Parks System, the services nature provides are ongoing generation after generation. I am asking for your financial support of the Kent County Parks Foundation Land Legacy Fund. We are preserving our part of the natural world, parcel by parcel. During 2007 we were able to add two hundred acres to our park system. Soon we will be adding another land parcel to our great park system. Land purchases are not possible without your help.

Please join me in making a tax-deductible gift to the Kent County Parks Foundation. Together our contributions will preserve even more of our natural world for us and future generations.

Parks are for people. We value the natural beauty and the recreational opportunities our purchases provide and the services nature will continue to provide forever right here at home. Please contribute today.

Consider a tax deductible gift to the Kent County Parks Foundation

You may list the Parks Foundation in your will or trust, or as a beneficiary of your 401K retirement plan. The Land Legacy Fund and the Parks Endowment Fund are designated funds established to insure that your gift will be used to further expand, protect, and preserve our parks for future generations. For more information call the Parks Foundation office at 616 742-6574.