Conservation Defense

Highlights

• Developer Attempts to Extinguish Easement and Build Houses
• Clash of Conservation Values over Wolves
• Timber Trespass Resolved in Five Months without Litigation

The Conservation Defense Initiative has three components:

1. Conservation Defense Center
Provides networking, education and legal information to attorneys and land trusts on conservation defense.

• Clearinghouse*
• Attorney Locator*
• Attorney Network
• Special Training Opportunities

2. Conservation Defense Fund
Used by the Alliance to assist land trusts facing precedent-setting legal challenges to their conservation easements and land holdings.  The Fund is not a replacement for land trust legal defense funds and stewardship endowments.

3. Conservation Defense Insurance
Recently at Rally 2011 the Land Trust Alliance board voted to proceed with preparing the Terrafirma insurance policy and application and continue the fundraising for the capital. The Alliance board also approved the initial Terrafirma Members Committee that represents the land trust owner members. We have made extraordinary progress on advancing Terrafirma. This is the first time in history that an environmental organization has created its own insurance company. If this progress continues, we anticipate starting a year earlier than we had originally hoped with a final Land Trust Alliance board vote at the June 8, 2012 meeting.  But first we must obtain these critical items:

• Complete fundraising  (have pledges for $4 million; pending or invited applications for another $1,250,000 on a goal of $5.5 million)
• Obtain tax exempt determination (through first layer)
• Insurance license issued (awaiting capital funding)
• Have sufficient land trusts across eligibility threshold (16,000 properties)

At Rally 2010 the Land Trust Alliance board voted to proceed with capitalizing the program with $4 million. They took this important step after reviewing the research and proposed structure, and hearing the demand for this program from the over 465 land trusts that have formally committed more than 18,544 conservation easements and fee owned parcels to participate. At their June 5, 2009 meeting, the Alliance board approved the terms of a potential program to cover the costs of enforcing and defending easements and protecting land trust land.

For information on any of these programs, please contact Leslie Ratley-Beach, Alliance Conservation Defense Director, at lrbeach@lta.org.

*Access is offered to board, staff and volunteers of Alliance member land trusts and organizational partners, and to individual members at the $250 level and above.