The Hicks v. Dowd case that NPR featured is complicated. The nuances of the case and its implications cannot fit into a single NPR radio piece. The Wyoming Law Review will publish a lengthy analysis of the case this summer.  See: http://uwadmnweb.uwyo.edu/law/Student_life/lawreview.asp.

Two cases about conservation easement donations to a public agency:

• Wyoming Easement Extinguishment Case (Hicks v. Dowd) | Hicks v. Dowd Facts
• Walter v. Otero County Land Trust Facts

The land conservation community does not want to let stand the impression that conservation easements are transitory, nor that land trusts lightly terminate perpetual conservation easements or dispose of fee-owned conservation land for development. The Alliance has taken several steps to explain and address this misconception and related issues:

Land Trust Alliance Initiatives to Ensure Permanence

The Alliance is aware of and shares your concern about the potential negative impact of this NPR coverage. The alliance is helping to create good case law, educate attorneys, collect useful legal materials and provide tools to land trusts. These steps are intended to assist the land trust community in making all conservation easements permanent. The Alliance is also working to help all land trusts be strong and effective through Land Trust Standards and Practices, Rally: the National Land Conservation Conference, The Learning Center, the Standards and Practices Curriculum, and the Land Trust Accreditation Commission, an independent program of the Land Trust Alliance.

The best way to avoid legal challenges is to prevent them. The Alliance's training courses are building the knowledge of land trust practitioners, helping them draft strong legal documents and implement sound easement stewardship.

Since August 2007, the Conservation Defense Initiative launched the Network and initiated regular teleconference and regional conference meetings to facilitate information sharing and problem solving among experienced conservation leaders across the country. The online forum allows Network members to address issues rapidly. The Alliance also established the Conservation Defense Fund, for use by the Alliance to intervene in precedent-setting cases, usually by filing a friend of the court brief. Several large law firms around the country have volunteered their services to the Fund to assist with conservation permanence.

Also underway is an investigation of the feasibility of conservation defense insurance so that all land trusts can have access to money and resources to uphold conservation permanence. The Alliance hopes by Rally to report to members about the potential feasibility of such insurance, including proposed policy coverage, premiums, deductibles, claims, review and underwriting standards.

Finally, the Alliance increased its capacity to assist land trusts with enforcement and defense issues, dissemination and analysis of new case law, and guidance in addressing IRS concerns.

Addressing Public Perception and Media Relations

We all know that what is legally true is rarely accepted or appreciated by the general public, especially if the general public hears snippets of news articles while commuting to work or getting the kids off to school. So the Alliance is taking proactive steps on behalf of the land trust community to increase the public's conviction that conservation easements held by knowledgeable, publicly accountable land trusts are indeed permanent.

Here is what the Alliance is doing:

• Contacting NPR to secure placement for a follow-up piece to the March 11 story that better reflects the commitment to easement permanence of nonprofit land trusts
  
  
• Developing a statement regarding conservation permanence, which we will submit for placement on NPR's website
  
  
• Providing spokespersons to NPR who can address the positive message that strong land trusts keep easements permanent
  
  
• Developing further talking points for the land trust community, as needed
  
  
• Informing our members and the professional community about Alliance initiatives to support conservation permanence and the facts of cases such as Hicks v. Dowd

The Alliance suggests to members that, in responding to this NPR story or any other piece, remember the following:

• Do not allow yourself to get pulled into the negative question: "Why aren't easements permanent when they are supposed to be?" Instead focus on the positive message: "Strong land trusts and conservation easements are essential to my community." Remember the old adage: answer the question you wished they had asked, not the one they asked.
  
  
• The bottom line is that our best message is about the WHY of conservation and the WHO that benefit, not the HOW it was done or WHERE or even WHEN.
  
  
• Always remember to talk about your land trust, the good work you are doing and the impact on your community.

Here are some themes to consider and echo in your own messaging:

• Strong land trusts are critical to conserving land in communities across America and conservation easements are one of the best ways to do so.
  
  
• Land trusts have adopted and follow a set of professional standards and practices that help ensure their sound operation and the permanent protection of land. Some government holders also follow these standards, but government holders are not required to the same rules as land trusts.
  
  
• Conservation easements have helped thousands of farmers and ranchers keep their land in agricultural production and have helped communities protect the forests, clean water, scenic views and natural and historic areas that are important to their quality of life.
  
  
• Let me tell you a story about what a difference conservation has made to the people of my community...
  
  
• Conservation easements work because they allow the landowner to stay on the land, they restrict future inappropriate development and they are drafted as legally enforceable documents that protect the natural features or traditional uses of the land.
  
  
• The best way for landowners to permanently conserve their land is to work closely with an established nonprofit land trust in their community -- one that knows and follows established standards for keeping land permanently protected.

We cannot control what NPR may or may not run in response, but we are requesting a follow-up story and will keep you informed of progress. Also, please let us know if you see any local or regional media coverage that may piggyback on the NPR story. Keep in mind the advice to not perpetuate a story by responding too fervently or too frequently to it.

Please let us know if you see any local or regional media coverage that "piggybacks" on the NPR story. We hope this is helpful, and if you have feedback please contact Jim Wyerman, Director of Communications & Development at 202-638-4725 x 310 or communications@lta.org.

Addressing Policy Issues

Separate from the narrow legal fact that Hicks v. Dowd affects only government-held conservation easements is the larger impact that the case has had, and will continue to have, on policy development. This impact is driven both by public perception and by IRS concerns about conservation permanence.

Despite the limited facts in Hicks v. Dowd, the case is contributing significantly to the discussion about the applicability of the charitable trust doctrine to all conservation easements. It may also drive changes in the tax law to apply the same penalties and reporting requirements to government-affiliated land trusts as are currently applicable to publicly-supported land trusts. Attorney General intervention in conservation easement cases has been rare to date. Experts disagree about the advisability and efficacy of such intervention. For more information about the charitable trust doctrine, read the article by Nancy McLaughlin. See also, the Land Trust Alliance research report entitled "Amending Conservation Easements: Evolving Practices and Legal Principles," from August 2007. It can be found on The Learning Center. You will need to login in, click on Library and search by the report title.

Ultimately, the applicability of the charitable trust doctrine and the involvement of Attorneys General are questions of state law.

This debate also supports the need for additional outreach by the Alliance and the land trust community to all government easement holders. Alliance staff is working closely with federal government holders, and some state holders to help them better prepare for conservation permanence.

Addressing Practice Issues

Hicks v. Dowd illustrates the problems with groups accepting conservation easements that do not have the knowledge, resources or resolve to steward them. Full implementation of Land Trust Standards and Practices, as applicable to each individual conservation organization, is one way to ensure conservation permanence. Land trusts can minimize risks of conflict with careful land protection criteria, strategic conservation planning, appropriate evaluation of conservation options, thorough baseline documentation of conservation easement-protected land, annual visits and good communication with landowners. The purposeful protection of land and strategically directed conservation also will help prevent future challenges.

The rapid increase of land protected by private land trusts through conservation easements makes it likely that the proposed termination and modification of conservation easements will become more frequent. This is particularly true as conservation easements age and as ownership of conserved land changes. Conservation easement holders can address these issues by adopting and implementing written policies on conservation easement amendments, termination, condemnation and enforcement.

Nancy McLaughlin aptly observed that "as the cache of conservation easements in this country continues to grow, and as those easements, the vast majority of which are perpetual, begin to age, it will become increasingly important to determine whether, when and how easements that no longer accomplish their intended conservation purposes can be modified or terminated." (Nancy A. McLaughlin, "Rethinking the Perpetual Nature of Conservation Easements," 29 Harvard Environmental Law Review, 422, 424 (2005) at www.law.harvard.edu/students/orgs/elr/ and at http:// learningcenter.lta.org/objects/view.acs?object_id=17089.

Equally important is building sufficient skills in all land trusts so that termination can be avoided. Many tools exist and more can be created, that allow issues such as those raised in Hicks v. Dowd and in Walter v. Otero County Land Trust to be addressed without easement termination while still preserving the landowner relationship. Land trusts are encouraged to conduct annual visits to conserved land, build trusting landowner relationships, especially with successor owners, provide landowners access to conservation education and resources, and keep sufficient records to uphold an easement's conservation purposes.

Exercising due diligence prior to completing a conservation transaction is also critical. The due diligence required to satisfy the IRS requirements for tax-deductible easements and that required to ensure permanence and ease of stewardship often are different and require different practices. Land trusts can learn from Hicks v. Dowd that a prudent course of action includes a conservation with owners of any severed mineral interest, even if the landowner has obtained the "remoteness letter" required by the IRS. In a best-case scenario, the mineral rights holder may agree to extinguish its rights or subordinate them to the conservation easement. At a minimum, this conversation serves to notify the mineral estate holder of the conservation easement and provides an opportunity for the land trust and landowner to convince the holder to limit its area of exploration or its extraction activities in such a way as to minimize the adverse impact on the conservation resources.

A close reading of the Treasury Regulations at section 1.170A-14(g)(4) and the examples cited indicate that further steps for severed oil and gas interests may be required in order for the easement to qualify as a charitable deduction. While limited, localized disturbance that does not interfere with the overall conservation purpose is permitted, any extraction activities that are "irremediably destructive of significant conservation interests" must be prohibited. To be bound by the terms of the conservation easement, the owner of any minerals whose claim predates the easement must subordinate his or her interest in the minerals to the easement. Land trusts must take additional steps to minimize the adverse impact of all pre-existing legal rights on conserved land to uphold conservation permanence.

Attorneys can also help with better drafting of conservation easements, anticipating potential conflicts and resolving them beforehand. Attorneys and land trusts can help grantors and successor landowners understand the full implications of a permanent conservation easement before they either place an easement on their land or buy conserved property.

In addition, for those unanticipated dilemmas that often occur with a permanent conservation easement, there is a critical middle ground in response to conflicts, such as those shown in the two cases above. Experienced land trusts understand that conflict resolution does not have to result in either land trust capitulation or aggrieved landowners. There can be a satisfactory solution for all that upholds conservation easement purposes, complies with the law and addresses landowner concerns. Knowing how to balance those issues and being expert in addressing problems and finding solutions are the hallmarks of effective conservation organizations.

When voluntary solutions fail, land trusts and their attorneys also must be prepared to defend easements in court if necessary. For many land trusts without sufficient funds for defending easements, the cost of a single lawsuit could threaten the land trust's survival. Congress and the IRS have both raised questions about the ability of land trusts to defend their easements. Currently, land trusts have no conservation defense insurance available. If a land trust fails to properly defend an easement, it could result in bad case law that may jeopardize easements held by other organizations across the United States. To address these threats, it is essential for all conservation easement holders to exercise leadership to ensure the permanence and quality of land conservation. Implementing Land Trust Standards and Practices is one method to accomplish this goal. Working with the Alliance on collective conservation defense in another.

It is worth noting that several government agencies have adopted Land Trust Standards and Practices and are managing conservation easements and landowner requests responsibly and effectively. These groups are to be applauded and used as models for government conservation everywhere on the thousands of conservation easements and fee-owned land under the care of local, state, and federal government.

Conclusion

The land trust community and the Alliance are working to make all land trusts strong and all conservation permanent. As the work of land trusts becomes more visible, however, new threats to conservation easements and fee-owned properties will occur. These threats may come from successor landowners, neighbors or others in the community who do not share the conservation vision of the original grantor, or from lack of public confidence in the permanence of conservation.

The best way to prevent and prepare for challenges to conservation easements and land trusts owned land is to implement good practices, as defined in Land Trust Standards and Practices. How a land trust responds to a potential violation or to a landowner request, especially for amendments or termination of a conservation easement, affects the enforceability of that easement and potentially all other easements. It also affects the public trust and confidence in conservation as a whole as demonstrated by the NPR feature on the Wyoming easement termination.

Conservation easements are new legal tools, and the enabling statutes have not been in place long enough for the development of a full body of case law. As the first cases make their way through state court systems, they are likely to be cases of first impression. States without case law on the topic will look to those states to inform their decisions. It is important that land trusts work together to defend conservation permanence and build a strong body of favorable case law in every state.

Conservation organizations concerned with the credibility and sustainability of conservation, therefore, may want to do everything possible to ensure good practices and sound policies and implement their programs to uphold conservation permanence.

The Hicks v. Dowd case that NPR featured is complicated. The nuances of the case and its implications cannot fit into a single NPR radio piece. The Wyoming Law Review will publish a lengthy analysis of the case this summer.  See: http://uwadmnweb.uwyo.edu/law/Student_life/lawreview.asp.

Two cases about conservation easement donations to a public agency:

• Wyoming Easement Extinguishment Case (Hicks v. Dowd) | Hicks v. Dowd Facts
• Walter v. Otero County Land Trust Facts

The land conservation community does not want to let stand the impression that conservation easements are transitory, nor that land trusts lightly terminate perpetual conservation easements or dispose of fee-owned conservation land for development. The Alliance has taken several steps to explain and address this misconception and related issues:

Land Trust Alliance Initiatives to Ensure Permanence

The Alliance is aware of and shares your concern about the potential negative impact of this NPR coverage. The alliance is helping to create good case law, educate attorneys, collect useful legal materials and provide tools to land trusts. These steps are intended to assist the land trust community in making all conservation easements permanent. The Alliance is also working to help all land trusts be strong and effective through Land Trust Standards and Practices, Rally: the National Land Conservation Conference, The Learning Center, the Standards and Practices Curriculum, and the Land Trust Accreditation Commission, an independent program of the Land Trust Alliance.

The best way to avoid legal challenges is to prevent them. The Alliance's training courses are building the knowledge of land trust practitioners, helping them draft strong legal documents and implement sound easement stewardship.

Since August 2007, the Conservation Defense Initiative launched the Network and initiated regular teleconference and regional conference meetings to facilitate information sharing and problem solving among experienced conservation leaders across the country. The online forum allows Network members to address issues rapidly. The Alliance also established the Conservation Defense Fund, for use by the Alliance to intervene in precedent-setting cases, usually by filing a friend of the court brief. Several large law firms around the country have volunteered their services to the Fund to assist with conservation permanence.

Also underway is an investigation of the feasibility of conservation defense insurance so that all land trusts can have access to money and resources to uphold conservation permanence. The Alliance hopes by Rally to report to members about the potential feasibility of such insurance, including proposed policy coverage, premiums, deductibles, claims, review and underwriting standards.

Finally, the Alliance increased its capacity to assist land trusts with enforcement and defense issues, dissemination and analysis of new case law, and guidance in addressing IRS concerns.

Addressing Public Perception and Media Relations

We all know that what is legally true is rarely accepted or appreciated by the general public, especially if the general public hears snippets of news articles while commuting to work or getting the kids off to school. So the Alliance is taking proactive steps on behalf of the land trust community to increase the public's conviction that conservation easements held by knowledgeable, publicly accountable land trusts are indeed permanent.

Here is what the Alliance is doing:

• Contacting NPR to secure placement for a follow-up piece to the March 11 story that better reflects the commitment to easement permanence of nonprofit land trusts
  
  
• Developing a statement regarding conservation permanence, which we will submit for placement on NPR's website
  
  
• Providing spokespersons to NPR who can address the positive message that strong land trusts keep easements permanent
  
  
• Developing further talking points for the land trust community, as needed
  
  
• Informing our members and the professional community about Alliance initiatives to support conservation permanence and the facts of cases such as Hicks v. Dowd

The Alliance suggests to members that, in responding to this NPR story or any other piece, remember the following:

• Do not allow yourself to get pulled into the negative question: "Why aren't easements permanent when they are supposed to be?" Instead focus on the positive message: "Strong land trusts and conservation easements are essential to my community." Remember the old adage: answer the question you wished they had asked, not the one they asked.
  
  
• The bottom line is that our best message is about the WHY of conservation and the WHO that benefit, not the HOW it was done or WHERE or even WHEN.
  
  
• Always remember to talk about your land trust, the good work you are doing and the impact on your community.

Here are some themes to consider and echo in your own messaging:

• Strong land trusts are critical to conserving land in communities across America and conservation easements are one of the best ways to do so.
  
  
• Land trusts have adopted and follow a set of professional standards and practices that help ensure their sound operation and the permanent protection of land. Some government holders also follow these standards, but government holders are not required to the same rules as land trusts.
  
  
• Conservation easements have helped thousands of farmers and ranchers keep their land in agricultural production and have helped communities protect the forests, clean water, scenic views and natural and historic areas that are important to their quality of life.
  
  
• Let me tell you a story about what a difference conservation has made to the people of my community...
  
  
• Conservation easements work because they allow the landowner to stay on the land, they restrict future inappropriate development and they are drafted as legally enforceable documents that protect the natural features or traditional uses of the land.
  
  
• The best way for landowners to permanently conserve their land is to work closely with an established nonprofit land trust in their community -- one that knows and follows established standards for keeping land permanently protected.

We cannot control what NPR may or may not run in response, but we are requesting a follow-up story and will keep you informed of progress. Also, please let us know if you see any local or regional media coverage that may piggyback on the NPR story. Keep in mind the advice to not perpetuate a story by responding too fervently or too frequently to it.

Please let us know if you see any local or regional media coverage that "piggybacks" on the NPR story. We hope this is helpful, and if you have feedback please contact Jim Wyerman, Director of Communications & Development at 202-638-4725 x 310 or communications@lta.org.

Addressing Policy Issues

Separate from the narrow legal fact that Hicks v. Dowd affects only government-held conservation easements is the larger impact that the case has had, and will continue to have, on policy development. This impact is driven both by public perception and by IRS concerns about conservation permanence.

Despite the limited facts in Hicks v. Dowd, the case is contributing significantly to the discussion about the applicability of the charitable trust doctrine to all conservation easements. It may also drive changes in the tax law to apply the same penalties and reporting requirements to government-affiliated land trusts as are currently applicable to publicly-supported land trusts. Attorney General intervention in conservation easement cases has been rare to date. Experts disagree about the advisability and efficacy of such intervention. For more information about the charitable trust doctrine, read the article by Nancy McLaughlin. See also, the Land Trust Alliance research report entitled "Amending Conservation Easements: Evolving Practices and Legal Principles," from August 2007. It can be found on The Learning Center. You will need to login in, click on Library and search by the report title.

Ultimately, the applicability of the charitable trust doctrine and the involvement of Attorneys General are questions of state law.

This debate also supports the need for additional outreach by the Alliance and the land trust community to all government easement holders. Alliance staff is working closely with federal government holders, and some state holders to help them better prepare for conservation permanence.

Addressing Practice Issues

Hicks v. Dowd illustrates the problems with groups accepting conservation easements that do not have the knowledge, resources or resolve to steward them. Full implementation of Land Trust Standards and Practices, as applicable to each individual conservation organization, is one way to ensure conservation permanence. Land trusts can minimize risks of conflict with careful land protection criteria, strategic conservation planning, appropriate evaluation of conservation options, thorough baseline documentation of conservation easement-protected land, annual visits and good communication with landowners. The purposeful protection of land and strategically directed conservation also will help prevent future challenges.

The rapid increase of land protected by private land trusts through conservation easements makes it likely that the proposed termination and modification of conservation easements will become more frequent. This is particularly true as conservation easements age and as ownership of conserved land changes. Conservation easement holders can address these issues by adopting and implementing written policies on conservation easement amendments, termination, condemnation and enforcement.

Nancy McLaughlin aptly observed that "as the cache of conservation easements in this country continues to grow, and as those easements, the vast majority of which are perpetual, begin to age, it will become increasingly important to determine whether, when and how easements that no longer accomplish their intended conservation purposes can be modified or terminated." (Nancy A. McLaughlin, "Rethinking the Perpetual Nature of Conservation Easements," 29 Harvard Environmental Law Review, 422, 424 (2005) at www.law.harvard.edu/students/orgs/elr/ and at http:// learningcenter.lta.org/objects/view.acs?object_id=17089.

Equally important is building sufficient skills in all land trusts so that termination can be avoided. Many tools exist and more can be created, that allow issues such as those raised in Hicks v. Dowd and in Walter v. Otero County Land Trust to be addressed without easement termination while still preserving the landowner relationship. Land trusts are encouraged to conduct annual visits to conserved land, build trusting landowner relationships, especially with successor owners, provide landowners access to conservation education and resources, and keep sufficient records to uphold an easement's conservation purposes.

Exercising due diligence prior to completing a conservation transaction is also critical. The due diligence required to satisfy the IRS requirements for tax-deductible easements and that required to ensure permanence and ease of stewardship often are different and require different practices. Land trusts can learn from Hicks v. Dowd that a prudent course of action includes a conservation with owners of any severed mineral interest, even if the landowner has obtained the "remoteness letter" required by the IRS. In a best-case scenario, the mineral rights holder may agree to extinguish its rights or subordinate them to the conservation easement. At a minimum, this conversation serves to notify the mineral estate holder of the conservation easement and provides an opportunity for the land trust and landowner to convince the holder to limit its area of exploration or its extraction activities in such a way as to minimize the adverse impact on the conservation resources.

A close reading of the Treasury Regulations at section 1.170A-14(g)(4) and the examples cited indicate that further steps for severed oil and gas interests may be required in order for the easement to qualify as a charitable deduction. While limited, localized disturbance that does not interfere with the overall conservation purpose is permitted, any extraction activities that are "irremediably destructive of significant conservation interests" must be prohibited. To be bound by the terms of the conservation easement, the owner of any minerals whose claim predates the easement must subordinate his or her interest in the minerals to the easement. Land trusts must take additional steps to minimize the adverse impact of all pre-existing legal rights on conserved land to uphold conservation permanence.

Attorneys can also help with better drafting of conservation easements, anticipating potential conflicts and resolving them beforehand. Attorneys and land trusts can help grantors and successor landowners understand the full implications of a permanent conservation easement before they either place an easement on their land or buy conserved property.

In addition, for those unanticipated dilemmas that often occur with a permanent conservation easement, there is a critical middle ground in response to conflicts, such as those shown in the two cases above. Experienced land trusts understand that conflict resolution does not have to result in either land trust capitulation or aggrieved landowners. There can be a satisfactory solution for all that upholds conservation easement purposes, complies with the law and addresses landowner concerns. Knowing how to balance those issues and being expert in addressing problems and finding solutions are the hallmarks of effective conservation organizations.

When voluntary solutions fail, land trusts and their attorneys also must be prepared to defend easements in court if necessary. For many land trusts without sufficient funds for defending easements, the cost of a single lawsuit could threaten the land trust's survival. Congress and the IRS have both raised questions about the ability of land trusts to defend their easements. Currently, land trusts have no conservation defense insurance available. If a land trust fails to properly defend an easement, it could result in bad case law that may jeopardize easements held by other organizations across the United States. To address these threats, it is essential for all conservation easement holders to exercise leadership to ensure the permanence and quality of land conservation. Implementing Land Trust Standards and Practices is one method to accomplish this goal. Working with the Alliance on collective conservation defense in another.

It is worth noting that several government agencies have adopted Land Trust Standards and Practices and are managing conservation easements and landowner requests responsibly and effectively. These groups are to be applauded and used as models for government conservation everywhere on the thousands of conservation easements and fee-owned land under the care of local, state, and federal government.

Conclusion

The land trust community and the Alliance are working to make all land trusts strong and all conservation permanent. As the work of land trusts becomes more visible, however, new threats to conservation easements and fee-owned properties will occur. These threats may come from successor landowners, neighbors or others in the community who do not share the conservation vision of the original grantor, or from lack of public confidence in the permanence of conservation.

The best way to prevent and prepare for challenges to conservation easements and land trusts owned land is to implement good practices, as defined in Land Trust Standards and Practices. How a land trust responds to a potential violation or to a landowner request, especially for amendments or termination of a conservation easement, affects the enforceability of that easement and potentially all other easements. It also affects the public trust and confidence in conservation as a whole as demonstrated by the NPR feature on the Wyoming easement termination.

Conservation easements are new legal tools, and the enabling statutes have not been in place long enough for the development of a full body of case law. As the first cases make their way through state court systems, they are likely to be cases of first impression. States without case law on the topic will look to those states to inform their decisions. It is important that land trusts work together to defend conservation permanence and build a strong body of favorable case law in every state.

Conservation organizations concerned with the credibility and sustainability of conservation, therefore, may want to do everything possible to ensure good practices and sound policies and implement their programs to uphold conservation permanence.

Contacts:

Vanessa Vaughan,
The Conservation Fund,
703-908-5809

Stacy Shelton,
US Fish & Wildlife Service,
404-679-7290 (o); 678-575-7796 (c)

NATIONAL FOREST CARBON PROGRAM BRINGS BIG BOOST TO LOUISIANA REFUGES

The Conservation Fund’s Go Zero^® program donates restoration of 814 acres at Grand Cote National Wildlife Refuge and Lake Ophelia National Wildlife Refuge

Alexandria, LA—Two central Louisiana national wildlife refuges are getting a big boost toward their habitat restoration goals with the donation of more than 245,000 native trees this month. Private support for the initiative comes from a mix of donations from corporations, foundations and individual donors to The Conservation Fund’s voluntary carbon offset program, Go Zero.^®

Together with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) and Environmental Synergy Inc. (ESI), the partners are restoring 814 acres of native oak and cypress trees at Grand Cote National Wildlife Refuge and Lake Ophelia National Wildlife Refuge near Marksville, Louisiana. As the forests mature, they are expected to trap an estimated 260,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent from the atmosphere.

Go Zero works with companies and individuals to help reduce and then offset the carbon footprint of everyday activities, such as the CO₂ emissions resulting from an in-town or cross-country move with U-Haul, a flight purchased from Travelocity.com, a package shipped from Gaiam.com, or the electricity it takes to power a Dell notebook for three years. Customer donations help plant native trees in protected parks and wildlife refuges that will capture and store carbon over time, while also creating forest habitats that are critical to birds, fish, bears and other wildlife.

More than 287,000 U-Haul customers have elected to offset their emissions by donating over $1 million to Go Zero. “By leveraging our human, technical, financial and business resources, U-Haul and our customers have attempted to make a real difference in protecting the environment,” said John “J.T.” Taylor, president of Phoenix-based U-Haul International, Inc. “U-Haul customers should be applauded for their support of The Conservation Fund and these two Louisiana refuges, and for positively impacting the communities where we live.”

The refuges will also benefit from customer donations made via Dell's “Plant a Tree for Me” program. “Providing a great customer experience starts with delivering great value and continues with working to protect the environment throughout the life of our systems,” said Mark Newton, lead environmental strategist for Dell. “The 'Plant a Tree for Me' program lets us partner with our customers, The Conservation Fund and U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to make a positive difference for our planet.”

Colorado-based Gaiam, a lifestyle company, has collaborated with the Fund’s Go Zero program since 2006 by offering its customers the opportunity to zero out the carbon footprint associated with shipping their purchase. Gaiam was the first company in the U.S. to offer such a program. “The Conservation Fund's Go Zero program is a great fit for Gaiam and its customers particularly because it focuses on planting a mix of native tree species to restore high-priority conservation lands,” said Gaiam's Chris Fisher, director of customer experience. “Once those lands are restored, they belong to everybody - even future generations.”

After decades of farming, much of the land within Grand Cote and Lake Ophelia refuges was too degraded to support a natural ecosystem. Although both areas were identified by the USFWS as high priorities for restoration when the refuges were established in 1989, public funding necessary to restore the forests has never been available.

“Loss of forest habitat is a huge challenge for ducks, songbirds and even the Louisiana black bear,” said Cindy Dohner, southeast regional director for USFWS. “The Go Zero program is providing tremendous benefits to wildlife and people. The Service relies on partnerships like these to restore ecosystems and enable wildlife to return and flourish once again.”

Each fall, hundreds of thousands of migrating birds descend upon Lake Ophelia and Grand Cote to escape the North’s freezing temperatures, plump up on quality grub and select their mates for spring breeding. Many find shelter within the parks and wildlife refuges of central Louisiana. However, over the past century, Louisiana’s once lush forests and waterways have been cleared, dammed, leveed and drastically altered, leaving fewer habitats for our partners in flight.

“Every day, we hear about the impacts of deforestation in the Amazon or Indonesia,” said The Conservation Fund’s Louisiana state director, Ray Herndon, “but it’s happening in the Gulf Coast area too. Migratory bird populations have lost more than 24 million acres of bottomland hardwood forest habitat over the last century along the Red River and lower Mississippi River valleys. Habitat destruction is more pronounced here than in any other area of the United States.”

Loss of native, forested habitat is especially hard on migratory birds. Waterfowl, songbirds and shorebirds all use forested, moist soil and open-water wetland habitats for nesting, foraging and taking cover from predators. To help keep the bird buffets stocked along the Mississippi Flyway, Go Zero partners with leading companies committed to making a difference for the global climate, America’s forests and their wildlife communities.

Environmental Synergy Inc. (ESI), an Atlanta-based developer of forest carbon projects, will manage the planting and carbon monitoring plans, using on-site measurements over time. USFWS will manage the land and the forests as they grow. The 814-acre project will be validated against the standards of the Climate, Community and Biodiversity Alliance.

# # #

Heroes of Go Zero include: Hundreds of thousands of dedicated individuals, Accenture Supply Chain Academy, Americas Lodging Investment Summit, Bella Figura Letterpress Invitations, Carfax, Inc., City of Austin, Conde Nast Publications, Dell Computer Corporation, Delta Air Lines, Inc., e-Blue Horizons, LLC, Florida Center for Environmental Studies, Gaiam, Inc., Indianapolis Colts NFL, Land Rover Portland, Lee County Board of County Commissioners, L'Oreal USA, Inc., McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry, LLC, Michigan International Speedway, Molinaro Koger, NBC Universal, New Jersey Natural Gas, Organic, Inc., Philadelphia Eagles, Premiere TV, Inc., Reverb Inc., SEAT Planners Incorporated, Sesco Lighting, Sustainable Forestry Initiative, Inc., The North Face, Training Resources Group LLC, Travelocity, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U-Haul International, Inc., University of Delaware, Way Basics, William McDonough & Partners, P.L.C., World Class Charters, Inc.

About USFWS

The mission of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is working with others to conserve, protect and enhance fish, wildlife, plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. In the past decade, the Service and its partners have added 32,000 acres to seven refuges and reforested or restored approximately 80,000 acres on more than 40 refuges in Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. For more information on our work and the people who make it happen, visit http://www.fws.gov and http://www.fws.gov/southeast.

About The Conservation Fund

The Conservation Fund is dedicated to advancing America’s land and water legacy. With our partners, we conserve land, train leaders and invest in conservation at home. Since 1985, we have helped protect more than 6 million acres, sustaining wild havens, working lands and vibrant communities. We're a top-ranked conservation organization, effective and efficient. www.conservationfund.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Ann Barrett
The Conservation Fund
703-908-5809 | abarrett@conservationfund.org

Stacy Shelton
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
404-679-7290

The Conservation Fund Announces Fourth Gold Level Project Under the Climate, Community and Biodiversity Standards

MARKSVILLE, LA -- The Conservation Fund, in partnership with U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (Service), announced today that its forest-based carbon sequestration project in central Louisiana received gold level validation, the highest level available, under Climate, Community and Biodiversity (CCB) Standards, Second Edition. The Conservation Fund has more gold level CCB Standards validations than any other group in the country.

Supported by donations from the Fund’s voluntary carbon offset program, Go Zero®, the group planted 245,000 oak, pecan and cypress trees across 814 acres at Grand Cote National Wildlife Refuge and Lake Ophelia National Wildlife Refuge, near Marksville. According to planting and carbon monitoring partner, TerraCarbon, LLC, as the forests mature, they are expected to trap an estimated 240,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.  

“For more than a decade, the Service and The Conservation Fund have set the highest standard for the restoration of bottomland forests in the Lower Mississippi Valley,” said the Service’s southeast regional director Cindy Dohner. “We are restoring these lands to support healthy fish and wildlife populations, while creatively addressing the transformational conservation challenge of our time: accelerating climate change. We are gratified that our combined efforts have again been recognized as the gold standard for biological carbon sequestration.”

The newly restored forests provide vital habitat for the federally threatened Louisiana black bear, as well as numerous bird species.  Migratory waterfowl, songbirds and shorebirds all use forested, moist soil and open-water wetland habitats for nesting and foraging. New forests will also improve water quality for the globally endangered pallid sturgeon. Portions of the restored areas on both Refuges will be open to the public for wildlife-dependent recreational uses.

The Climate, Community and Biodiversity Alliance developed voluntary standards to help design and identify land management activities that simultaneously minimize climate change, support sustainable development and conserve biodiversity.

“The Conservation Fund and the Service are pioneering the development of high quality, multiple benefit forest carbon projects in the United States by restoring native forests that create vital habitats to safeguard endangered species,” said Joanna Durbin, director of the Climate, Community & Biodiversity Alliance.  “We welcome the news that this project qualifies for the stringent Gold Level criteria of the Second Edition of the CCB Standards for exceptional biodiversity by conserving the habitat of the endangered pallid sturgeon, a freshwater giant found only in the Missouri and Mississippi river basins, as well as many other species like the Louisiana black bear.”

Go Zero works with companies and individuals to help reduce and then offset the carbon footprint of everyday activities, such as the CO2 emissions resulting from an in-town or cross-country move with U-Haul, a flight purchased from Travelocity, a package shipped from Gaiam or the electricity it takes to power a Dell notebook for three years. Companies from C&S Wholesale Grocers to The North Face use Go Zero to offset portions of their energy use and staff travel.

Customer donations help plant native trees in protected parks and wildlife refuges like Lake Ophelia and Grand Cote that will capture and store carbon over time, while also creating forest habitats that are critical to birds, fish, bears and other wildlife.  To date, donations to Go Zero have resulted in the restoration of 3,800 acres and the planting of 1.2 million native seedlings that will trap an estimated one million tons of CO2 over the life of the forests. Much of this effort has been focused on restoring lands within the Lower Mississippi River Valley - an area that has lost more than 20 million acres of forestland over the last 100 years.

"Bottomland hardwood forests in the Lower Mississippi River Valley are some of the most productive forests in the U.S., capable of storing more than 300 metric tons of carbon dioxide per acre at maturity,” said David Shoch, vice president of forestry and technical services at TerraCarbon. “Growing forests like these lock up greenhouse gases from the atmosphere and at the same time restore an imperiled ecosystem.”

"It is wonderful that The Conservation Fund has earned this important recognition,” said Gina Goff, director of community involvement at C&S Wholesale Grocers, Inc.  "The men and women of our company are proud to be part of The Conservation Fund's important work and to address environmental challenges through support to Go Zero.”

Thanks to donations from U-Haul and its customers, more than 208,000 seedlings have been planted on Service lands including more than 100 acres at Lake Ophelia and Grand Cote.

“U-Haul and our customers are working to make a real difference in protecting the environment and mitigating greenhouse gas emissions,” said John "J.T." Taylor, president of U-Haul International, Inc.  "We congratulate the Fund on yet another CCB gold validation.  During our visit to Grand Cote and Lake Ophelia this fall, our team witnessed first-hand the tremendous on-the-ground results this program has achieved with the Service. The Conservation Fund team should be proud of the work they are achieving in our communities."

Both wildlife refuges also benefit from customer donations to Go Zero via Travelocity’s Travel for Good program.

“We're very proud of our partnership with The Conservation Fund and all the outstanding work they're doing right here in the U.S.,” said Travelocity’s Travel for Good manager, Alison Presley. “The forests they've planted at Lake Ophelia and Grand Cote are vital to local wildlife and will be enjoyed by generations to come.”

Customer donations from Dell’s Plant a Tree program, a combined effort between The Conservation Fund and Carbonfund.org, have made an impact at Lake Ophelia and Grand Cote.  

“Dell has helped our customers plant and sustainably manage more than 250,000 trees since the inception of the Plant a Tree Program and is well on its way to plant half a million trees in the next couple years,” said Mark Newton, Executive Director of sustainability at Dell. “Working closely with The Conservation Fund has helped us provide a meaningful way for people to account for the CO2 emissions related to powering their computers and together we plan to keep that momentum going.”

“Go Zero donors are providing critical, private capital that will help address two of the most extraordinary environmental challenges of our time, climate change and habitat loss,” said The Conservation Fund's Go Zero director, Jena Meredith. “The CCB gold level validation ensures these donations deliver real, measurable results to help address climate change and restore important wildlife habitat on behalf of the National Wildlife Refuge System and the American people.”

The Conservation Fund's Grand Cote and Lake Ophelia National Wildlife Refuge Restoration Initiative was recently validated by Scientific Certification Systems (SCS).

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Heroes of Go Zero include:

Hundreds of thousands of dedicated individuals and support from Accenture Supply Chain Academy, Boss, Inc., C & S Wholesale Grocers, Carfax, Cbox, Conde Nast Publications, CSX Corporation, Dell, Emkay Incorporated, Ernest Maier, Freshwater Institute, Gaiam, Greif, Indianapolis Colts, International Association of Assembly Managers, Krypton Products, Kumon University, Land Rover Portland, Lee County Board of County Commissioners, L'Oreal USA, McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry, Michigan International Speedway, Momentum Group, Network For Good, New Jersey Natural Gas, Philadelphia Eagles, Premiere TV, SEAT Planners, Sustainable Forestry Initiative, The North Face, Travelocity, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U-Haul International, Vans, William McDonough & Partners. www.conservationfund.org/gozero

About the Climate, Community & Biodiversity Alliance The Climate, Community & Biodiversity Alliance (CCBA) is a global partnership of leading NGOs that created the Climate, Community & Biodiversity (CCB) Standards to enable identification of projects that adopt best practices to deliver robust and credible greenhouse gas reductions while also delivering net positive benefits to local communities and biodiversity. www.climate-standards.org

About The Conservation Fund

At The Conservation Fund, we combine a passion for conservation with an entrepreneurial spirit to protect your favorite places before they become just a memory. A hallmark of our work is our deep, unwavering understanding that for conservation solutions to last, they need to make economic sense. Top-ranked, we have protected nearly 7 million acres across America. www.conservationfund.org

About US Fish & Wildlife Service

The mission of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is working with others to conserve, protect and enhance fish, wildlife, plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. We are both a leader and trusted partner in fish and wildlife conservation, known for our scientific excellence, stewardship of lands and natural resources, dedicated professionals and commitment to public service. For more information on our work and the people who make it happen, visit www.fws.gov.

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Where: New Orleans Marriott Hotel

The conference sponsors share a goal to improve society’s ability to understand the Gulf of Mexico ecosystem, which includes humans, to ensure its long-term environmental health.

View more event information.

April 28, 2009 

Contact: Chris Soto
csoto@lta.org

Association Recognized for Innovation in Media and Publishing

Presented with two 2009 EXCEL Awards

Washington, DC—The Land Trust Alliance is being honored by the Society of National Association Publications (SNAP) at its 29th Annual EXCEL Awards, which recognize the best and the brightest in association media and publishing.

As one of 181 winners selected from nearly 1,000 entries, the Alliance is being presented a Gold Award in the Magazines: Most Improved category and a Gold Award in the Magazines: Redesign category (submitted by Bates Creative Group) for taking bold chances and delivering excellence in the association industry.

“Congratulations to the Land Trust Alliance, one of the recipients of our EXCEL Awards,” said Amy Lestition, CAE, SNAP’s executive director, “These publications demonstrate the importance of conveying content in a variety of formats to our constituents. Bravo to the publication and media association professionals for their mastery of the field.”

“We went through a rigorous redesign process and this is a wonderful affirmation of our success,” said Chris Soto, editor of Saving Land, the winning magazine of the Alliance.

The Land Trust Alliance will be honored and celebrated at the 29th EXCEL Awards Gala on June 4, 2009. Award-winning entries are displayed at the EXCEL Awards Gala and are featured in the July/ August issue of Association Publishing. The Alliance may also be a winner of the distinguished EXTRA! Awards—presented to associations pushing the edge of the envelope further to innovate in an ever-changing publishing environment—which will be announced at the EXCEL Awards Gala in June. For more information on the Association Media and Publishing Conference and the EXCEL Awards Gala, visit www.snaponline.org.

For more information about the Land Trust Alliance, please visit www.landtrustalliance.org.

About the Land Trust Alliance: The Land Trust Alliance is a national conservation group that works on behalf of America’s 1,700 land trusts to save the places people love by strengthening conservation throughout America. The Alliance 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.

About SNAP: SNAP is the one non-profit, professional society serving the needs of association publishers and communications professionals. Areas of expertise include: fostering effective relationships among publishers, communications professionals, and industry providers; developing and maintaining high editorial and advertising standards through our Excel Awards and Publications Review Program; providing members with the latest industry movements through bi-annual meetings, Lunch & Learn Seminars, the SNAP listserve, and Association Publishing, our bimonthly magazine; and, connecting professionals with career opportunities in association publishing through our Career Center.