Land Trust Standards and Practices

Land Trust Standards and Practices are guidelines for the responsible operation of a land trust, which is run legally, ethically and in the public interest and conducts a sound program of land transactions and stewardship.

The Land Trust Alliance originally developed the standards and practices in 1989 at the urging of land trusts, which believe a strong land trust community depends on the credibility and effectiveness of all its members.  Land Trust Standards and Practices was last revised in 2004.

The Land Trust Accreditation Commission, an independent program of the Land Trust Alliance, provides independent verification of the 37 indicator practices from Land Trust Standards and Practices that show a land trust's ability to operate in an ethical, legal and technically sound manner and ensure the long-term protection of land in the public interest.

Adoption Requirements

The Land Trust Alliance currently requires all of its Land Trust Members to adopt Land Trust Standards and Practices. We have put together a set of steps detailing how a land trust can complete the adoption process.

Resources for Implementing Land Trust Standards and Practices

The Land Trust Alliance will continue to provide instructional tools to help land trusts understand and implement the specific practices.

• Look for workshops at the Land Trust Alliance Rally and throughout the year.

• A curriculum specifically targeted at helping land trusts implement the practices is under development.

• The Learning Center, the Land Trust Alliance's digital library for members and partners contains a large number of documents specifically written to help with implementation.

• Review the Standards and Practices Guidebook and other Land Trust Alliance publications.

• Evaluate how well your organization is implementing Land Trust Standards and Practices with Assessing Your Organization.

For more information, please contact Director of Standards and Research Sylvia Bates at sbates@lta.org or (603) 708-1073.