Rolling Stone’s Leavell to help launch Conservancy landtrust
Chuck Leavell has played with the greats since the 1960s: Allman Brothers, Eric Clapton, Widespread Panic, John Mayer, Black Crowes, and the list goes on and on. He is currently the pianist/keyboardist and musical director for the Rolling Stones, but when he’s not on stage in front of thousands, he’s working to protect forests.
Chuck understands the importance of land conservation so much that he and his wife, Rose Lane, permanently protected hundreds of acres of their family farm. Now he’s helping sup- port the Madison Morgan Conservancy to expand into Georgia’s newest land trust to increase the pace of this kind of permanent land protection in Georgia.
For 25 years, the Conservancy has been working to permanently protect “farms, forests, and front porches” for future generations. 6,000 acres later, the Conservancy is celebrating its 25th anniversary on September 13th by hosting An Evening with Chuck Leavell at the Cultural Center’s historic, intimate, 400-seat auditorium, renowned for its exceptional acoustics – the perfect place to hear Chuck Leavell tinkle the ivories and talk about his music career and passion for conservation.
“Like many people, I’d taken trees and forests for granted most of my life, but as I studied this, I began to realize all the things that they give us. You know, materials to make our homes and schools and churches. Materials to make books and magazines. Newspaper, fine furniture. They clean our air, they clean our water…” Leavell says.
“As Metro Atlanta expands east, it is critical for growth to include conservation of natural resources on the front end. Protect it before it’s gone, and grow around it,” says Christine Watts, executive director of the Conservancy. “This kind of approach is not often seen in Georgia, but that’s what this Conservancy is trying to do in these seven counties east. It’s cheaper that way, too, than trying to reclaim those resources on the backend.”
The Conservancy invites the public to join them September 13th for An Evening with Chuck Leavell. Proceeds from the event will go towards the Conservancy’s work to keep this part of Georgia productive, wild, and beautiful. For tickets go to the Conservancy’s website, www.mmcGeor- gia.org.
About the Madison-Morgan Conservancy
For twenty-five years, in the midst of the Southeast’s largest and fastest- growing metropolitan area, the Madison-Morgan Conservancy has been protecting farms, forests, and front porches for future generations, successfully protecting critical resources and creating a culture of conservation like nowhere else in Georgia. Thanks to the Conservancy’s 600+ members, hundreds of donors, and terrific partners, Morgan County now boasts of 6,000+ acres of permanently protected land – a solid start to protecting the critical mass of land required to avoid sprawl. Now in its 25th year, the Conservancy is working to become Georgia’s first accredited, regional land trust since the 1990s to help this region remain productive, wild, and beautiful for generations to come.