Policy Events at Rally 2008

If you haven’t already, we hope you’ll make plans to attend Rally 2008 in Pittsburgh, PA September 18-21. Rally is an unparalleled opportunity to network with colleagues, catch up on emerging issues and learn skills essential to running an effective land trust.

This year’s Rally features hundreds of different events, including more than two dozen workshops and seminars on public policy.  In this email, we’re eager to highlight four sessions where your participation, questions and feedback are particularly important to our policy success in the year ahead:

Advocating for Success: How Do I Get There From Here?

SEM-28 -- Friday, September 19 -- 8:30am - 4:00pm -- $125/$155

This highly interactive seminar addresses how to incorporate advocacy into your overloaded schedule. You will leave armed with a personalized organizational action plan and the necessary skills for conservation advocacy at the local, state and national level.

Land Trust Alliance Federal Policy Update 2008

B23 -- Saturday, September 20 -- 1:30pm - 3:30pm -- All

Russ Shay, director of public policy for the Land Trust Alliance will discuss the current status of legislation affecting federal tax incentives, the 2008 Farm Bill, the IRS’s activity in the conservation easement arena, and answer your questions about these and other federal issues.

Working with the IRS

Saturday, September 20 -- 4:45pm – 5:45pm -- Rooms 319-321

The Land Trust Alliance has invited three representatives of the Internal Revenue Service and a representative of Colorado’s conservation community to share their perspectives and take your questions on recent IRS scrutiny of conservation easements and appraisals.  We won’t be able to cover every question and the IRS can’t comment on individual cases, but we encourage you to submit questions in advance by emailing  rshay@lta.org.

Land Trust Alliance's 2009 Public Policy Review

D24 -- Sunday, September 21 10:30am - Noon -- All

This session is an open meeting of the Alliance's Policy Advisory Council, allowing all Land Trust Alliance Members to provide their input on what public policy issues the Alliance should work on in 2009. We will be circulating a memo on our policy options to this list in early September. Only you can tell us what policy issues will help your conservation work the most.

You can click on each title for more information or click here for descriptions of other policy-related sessions.

The August 25 Rally registration deadline is just a few weeks away and many field trips, seminars and hotels have already booked up. For general rally information and registration, including a new room block at the Marriott City Center, click here.

Hope to see you there!!