FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Laura DiBetta
Program Manager, Land Trust Accreditation Commission
518-587-3143 | ldibetta@landtrustaccreditation.org
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY -- The Land Trust Accreditation Commission, an independent program of the Land Trust Alliance, announced today the accreditation of five land trusts, bringing the total number of land conservation groups from across the country that have earned this important distinction to 135.
“This round of accreditation decisions comes at an important time as land trusts and their supporters work to save land in an uncertain economic environment,” said Commission Executive Director Tammara Van Ryn. “Accreditation provides the public with an assurance that land trusts meet high standards for quality and that their conservation work is permanent.”
Conserving land helps ensure clean air and drinking water, safe food, scenic vistas, wildlife habitat and places for people to enjoy nature. Across the country, local citizens and communities have come together to form land trusts to save the places they love. These groups have conserved over 37 million acres of land.
“Congratulations to the 135 land trusts that have been awarded accreditation,” said Rand Wentworth, president of the Land Trust Alliance. “This is a significant milestone and proves that land trusts of every size and from every region have what it takes to earn the public’s trust, as well as the confidence of Congress and the IRS who have granted land conservation special tax incentives.”
The five newly accredited land trusts are as follows:
Each land trust is filling an important niche in their community, and the accreditation program celebrates their diversity and creativity in protecting the special places people love. What they all have in common is their proven commitment to meeting national standards for excellence, upholding the public trust and ensuring that conservation efforts are permanent. These land trusts are among the 135 land trusts from across the country that have been awarded accreditation since the fall of 2008. A complete list of accredited land trusts can be found on the Commission’s website, www.landtrustaccreditation.org.
“We are delighted that accreditation has been granted by the Land Trust Accreditation Commission,” said Genesee Valley Conservancy (GVC) Board President Dr. Myrtle Merritt. “This recognition validates our mission ‘to protect the habitat, open space and farmland of the Genesee Valley Region.’”
“The Conservancy believed that we owed it to the donors, the landowners, and most importantly to the open space we protect to be as strong and as efficient as possible,” said Summit Land Conservancy Executive Director Cheryl Fox. “Achieving and maintaining accreditation demonstrates our dedication to the highest standards of nonprofit management and conservation practices in the nation.”
“The Commission provides a tremendous service to the land trust community,” said Lucy Hayden, executive director of Winnakee Land Trust (WLT). “They have developed an opportunity for land trusts to publicly show that they are operating at the highest level of public service and accountability in protecting the nation’s open space, farmlands, and parklands. Accreditation not only forces a land trust to better know itself, but to show evidence of its compliance with all the field’s best practices.”
Land trusts applying for accreditation submit extensive documentation and make a significant commitment of time and money to participate. In a rigorous review process, the Commission examines each application, interviews the land trust and evaluates multiple sources of information, including comments from the public.
All of the accredited land trusts have made significant investments in their organizations, even as they faced tough choices about how to allocate resources. “Through the accreditation process land trusts have taken the time to conduct important planning and to make their operations more efficient and strategic,” said Van Ryn. “Accredited organizations have dramatically increased the funding dedicated to stewarding and defending conservation land in perpetuity, engaged and trained board members and new citizen conservation leaders, and improved systems for managing land and ensuring that the terms of conservation easements are being upheld.”
“The rigorous accreditation process was immensely beneficial to GVC,” said Eric Grace, Executive Director. “It gave us the opportunity to dive into all areas of the organization, evaluate our procedures and make the changes necessary to be a land trust that operates with the highest ethical and legal standards.”
“The accreditation process is essentially a thorough organizational audit in which you review every file and drawer and binder against an exhaustive checklist that vets every aspect of land trust practice,” said Hayden. Your organization is submitted to a complete physical. Yes, it’s a lot of work, but the Land Trust Alliance provides all kinds of support, both before you begin and as you are working through. In the process, with the Alliance’s assistance, WLT upgraded 100 percent of its baseline documentation, revisited critical policies, and was advised on many detailed areas of best practices. That assistance goes hand-in-hand with the audit. It’s a two-way system.”
“We are pleased to expand the list of accredited land trusts with the addition of these 17 land trusts from across the country,” said Van Ryn. “The accreditation seal is a mark of distinction in land conservation, signifying that the accredited group meets national standards for excellence, upholds the public trust and ensures that conservation efforts are permanent.”
The Land Trust Accreditation Commission, an independent program of the Land Trust Alliance, awards the accreditation seal to community institutions that meet national quality standards for protecting important natural places and working lands forever. The Commission is governed by a volunteer board of diverse land conservation and nonprofit management experts from around the country. More information is available on the Commission’s website, www.landtrustaccreditation.org.
The Land Trust Alliance is a national conservation group that works to save the places people love by strengthening conservation throughout America. It works to increase the pace and quality of conservation by advocating favorable tax policies, training land trusts in best practices and working to ensure the permanence of conservation in the face of continuing threats. 2007 marked the 25th anniversary of the Alliance. The Alliance publishes Land Trust Standards and Practices and provides financial and administrative support to the Commission. It has established an endowment to help ensure the success of the accreditation program and keep it affordable for land trusts of all sizes to participate in accreditation. More information can be found at www.landtrustalliance.org.
Learn more about the five newly accredited land trusts >>
See a list of all 135 accredited land trusts that have been accredited since the fall of 2008 >>
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]]>FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Rob Aldrich
Director of Communications, Land Trust Alliance
202-638-4725 | raldrich@lta.org
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Congratulations to the 17 newly accredited land trusts that have just been awarded accreditation! This brings the total number of land conservation groups from across the country having earned this important distinction to 130, demonstrating to landowners, the conservation community and others that the land they protect today will remain protected tomorrow.
The Land Trust Accreditation Commission, an independent program of the Land Trust Alliance, made the announcement February 9, 2011.
Each land trust in this newly accredited group fills an important niche in their community and represents the diversity and creativity in protecting the places that give meaning to our lives. This group ranges from three all-volunteer land trusts working in New England to an organization working nationally to protect and restore wetland habitats. Each made a significant commitment of time and money to demonstrate the importance of meeting national standards for excellence, upholding the public’s trust and ensuring that conservation efforts are permanent— the common threads among all accredited groups.
“Congratulations to the 130 land trusts that have been awarded accreditation,” said Rand Wentworth, president of the Land Trust Alliance. “This is a significant milestone and proves that land trusts of every size and from every region have what it takes to earn the public’s trust, as well as the confidence of Congress and the IRS who have granted land conservation special tax incentives.”
Read the press release from the Land Trust Accreditation Commission >>
Learn more about the 17 newly accredited land trusts >>
See a list of all 130 accredited land trusts that have been accredited since the fall of 2008 >>
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]]>FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Rob Aldrich
Director of Communications, Land Trust Alliance
202-638-4725 | raldrich@lta.org
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Congratulations to the seven newly accredited land trusts that have just been awarded accreditation! This brings the total number of land conservation groups from across the country that have earned this important distinction to 113. All are members of the Land Trust Alliance.
The Land Trust Accreditation Commission, an independent program of the Land Trust Alliance, made the announcement December 15, 2010.
Each land trust in this newly accredited group fills an important niche in their community and represent the diversity of the land trust community. The newly accredited land conservation groups range from a group working to conserve vast working ranchlands in the West, to a land trust that protects the bays, beaches and barrier islands of the Gulf Coast, to a group preserving unique desert landscapes.
The Alliance congratulates its members who have been awarded accreditation. “Just about every land trust that goes through accreditation tells us that the process isn’t easy. But they agree that accreditation has made them stronger and more effective organizations,” said Rand Wentworth, president of the Land Trust Alliance.
Read the press release from the Land Trust Accreditation Commission >>
Learn more about the seven newly accredited land trusts >>
See a list of all 113 accredited land trusts that have been accredited since the fall of 2008 >>
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]]>SAHC earned accreditation this March along with 11 other land trusts across the nation. Of the 1,700 land conservation groups in the country, a total of 93 have received this important distinction since the Commission was established in 2006.
“Becoming accredited is a crucial step for SAHC in order to assure our members, the landowners with whom we work, and the public that we follow rigorous ethical and professional standards,” said SAHC Executive Director, Carl Silverstein. “SAHC has always held itself to the highest possible standards, and this is our opportunity to be recognized formally for doing so.”
Accreditation is awarded to land trusts that meet national quality standards for protecting important natural places and working lands forever. Land trusts that are given this distinction are able to display the official accreditation seal in association with their name, indicating that they meet standards for excellence in their policies and practices, uphold the public trust and ensure that their conservation efforts are permanent.
“The accreditation seal is a mark of distinction in land conservation,” said the Commission’s Executive Director, Tammara Van Ryn. “The seal lets the public know that the accredited land trust has undergone an extensive, external review of the governance and management of its organization and the systems and policies it uses to protect land.”
Land trusts applying for accreditation submit extensive documentation and make a significant commitment of time and money to participate. In a rigorous review process, the Commission examines each application, interviews the land trust and evaluates multiple sources of information, including comments from the public.
Strong, well-managed land trusts provide local communities with effective champions and caretakers of their critical land resources, and safeguard the land through the generations. Conserving land helps ensure clean air and drinking water, food security, scenic vistas, wildlife habitat and places for people to enjoy. Across the country, local citizens and communities have come together to form land trusts to save the places they love, and have collectively conserved over 37 million acres of land.
Founded in 1974 to protect the Highlands of Roan and the Appalachian region, SAHC is one of the country’s oldest land trusts. Its mission is to conserve the unique plant and animal habitat, clean water, local farmland and scenic beauty of the mountains of North Carolina and east Tennessee for the benefit of present and future generations.
This year, with the help of its partners and members, SAHC will reach the milestone of protecting 50,000 acres throughout the mountain region, including key sites adjacent to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, in the Sandy Mush Farming community and along the Appalachian Trail and the Blue Ridge Parkway.
The Land Trust Alliance, of which the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy is a member, is a national conservation group based in Washington, D.C. that works to save the places people love by strengthening conservation throughout America. The Land Trust Accreditation Commission is an independent program of the Land Trust Alliance. More information on the accreditation program is available on the Commission’s website, www.landtrustaccreditation.org. Learn more about the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy and how to become a member at www.appalachian.org.