Connecting people with people and people with nature

Land at Heart Award

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Land at Heart Award Winners to Date:
2014: Lynn Whitmore
2015: Toby Tyler
2016: Carmen and Conrad Field
2017: Ed Bailey and Nina Faust
2018: Daisy Lee Bitter
2019: Ed Berg
2020: Robert Archibald, Bill Hague, & Dave Brann
2021: Barbra Seaman
2022: Mike Mungoven
2023: Claire Waxman
2024: Cliff Gill 
​Each year KHLT recognizes an individual who has been an outstanding leader in conservation with the Land at Heart award. This year’s Land at Heart Award goes to an amazing volunteer, who is also one heck of a pilot, Cliff Gill!

Cliff Gill joined KHLT’s monitoring team as a volunteer pilot in 2014. Since that time, Cliff has saved many hundreds of staff hours by photographing KHLT-protected lands from the skies above. Cliff donates his time, plane, fuel, and expertise to provide KHLT with some of the highest-quality imagery available, exceeding satellite imagery obtained through other means.

Cliff primarily monitors KHLT’s remote fee-owned Preserve lands, but when COVID-19 hit in 2020, Cliff helped staff monitor many of our conservation easements as well, with permission from the landowners. His aerial imagery has enhanced our conservation capabilities by giving staff the ability to monitor the lands from above and analyze the imagery for any potential areas of concern that need on-the-ground follow-up.

​In 2023, Cliff gained a new perspective by joining staff for an on-the-ground monitoring event, trudging through wetlands and willows like a pro. Cliff’s dedication to helping KHLT steward its lands on the Kenai Peninsula has earned him this well-deserved recognition as a Land at Heart Award Recipient, which KHLT presents with gratitude and appreciation. Thank you, Cliff!

Baby Salmon Live Here

The goal of the Baby Salmon Live Here initiative is to encourage good stewardship of important salmon habitat. The program includes installing Baby Salmon Live Here signs in strategic places that baby salmon live, highlighting that on the Peninsula, salmon live all around us!

2024 Sign Installation Events TBD

Fish Need Land Too
Fish Need Land Too is a collaborative program between KHLT and Kachemak Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve (KBNERR), where small groups trek into the field to discover how land benefits salmon. KBNERR biologists help participants discover how healthy habitat directly benefits salmon at all life stages. This demonstrates that conservation efforts help provide room and board for juvenile fish.

If you’re interested in joining a future Fish Need Land Too field trip, please let us know!

King Maker

The King Maker program, first developed in Anchorage by Great Land Trust, celebrates individual Alaskans making a difference for salmon in Alaska. Through this program we celebrate Alaskan heroes who are doing great things to conserve salmon habitat by crowning them as King Makers.

The goal of our King Maker program is to inspire individuals in our communities to take simple steps to help salmon on the Peninsula. Acknowledging the value of salmon habitat will help to ensure they are here far into the future.

Boots-on-the-Ground Experiences

Inviting friends of the land trust to experience firsthand the important work we do together is what Boots-on-the-Ground is all about.

2024 Events TBD