The Land Trust Accreditation Commission, an independent program of the Land Trust Alliance, made the announcement May 27.
The group of newly accredited land trusts includes land trusts protecting vast forests in Maine, wind-swept prairies in South Dakota and Nebraska, coastal bluffs and ranches in southern California, pristine watersheds in Washington and Wisconsin, and rolling Ohio farms. 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.
“The success of these land trusts directly depends on retaining the public’s trust, as well as the confidence of Congress and the IRS who have granted land conservation special tax incentives,” said Rand Wentworth, president of the Land Trust Alliance. “Accreditation is one way to demonstrate to the public that land trusts are operating at the highest standards.”
Read the press release from the Land Trust Accreditation Commission >>
Learn more about the six newly accredited land trusts >>
See a list of all 59 accredited land trusts that have been accredited since the fall of 2008 >>
]]>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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Contact: Nina Nowak
Director of Communications
Phone: (650) 854-7696
E-mail: nnowak@openspacetrust.org
Palo Alto, CA— Peninsula Open Space Trust (POST) has become one of the first land trusts
nationwide to be awarded accredited status by the Land Trust Accreditation
Commission, an independent program of the Land Trust Alliance, based in
Washington, D.C.
“Accredited land trusts meet national quality standards
for protecting important natural places and working lands forever,” said
Commission Executive Director Tammara Van Ryn. “The accreditation 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.”
POST was one of several land trusts
across the country selected in 2006 by the Land Trust Alliance, a national
conservation group representing more than 1,700 land trusts across the United
States, to develop its new accreditation program. As part of the pilot program,
POST helped shape the accreditation process and set an important example for
other land trusts to follow.
“POST’s accredited status demonstrates our
continued commitment to permanent land conservation," said POST President Audrey
Rust. “POST has been going strong for 31 years and has established itself as a
leader in local land protection. During that time, the land trust movement has
matured and the time was right to establish accreditation as a goal for all land
trusts. Now that we have gone through this rigorous program, our organization is
all the stronger for it.”
POST joined 38 other land trusts awarded
accreditation at a special ceremony earlier this month at “Rally: The National
Land Conservation Conference” in Pittsburgh, Pa. The event, hosted by the Land
Trust Alliance, is the largest gathering of land conservationists in the
country.
In 2005, POST completed a $200 million campaign called “Saving
the Endangered Coast” to preserve open lands along the San Mateo Coast. More
recently, the nonprofit land trust raised $29.7 million to protect Mindego Hill,
a prominent landmark and historic ranch along Skyline Ridge on the San Francisco
Peninsula. POST is also intensifying its efforts in the western hillsides of
south Santa Clara County, where the need for land conservation is especially
urgent.
Local citizens and communities come together to form land trusts
to save the places they love. Land trusts throughout the country have worked
with willing landowners to save more than 37 million acres of places people care
about, including forests, beaches, parkland, farms and wildlife habitat. 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 landscapes and views, recreational places, and habitat for the
diversity of life on earth.
Accredited land trusts are able to display a
seal indicating to the public that they meet national standards for excellence,
uphold the public trust and ensure that conservation efforts are permanent. The
seal is a mark of distinction in land conservation.
# # #
About
POST
POST is a leading private, nonprofit land trust
dedicated to preserving the beauty, character and diversity of the San Francisco
Peninsula and Santa Cruz Mountain range. Since its founding in 1977, the
organization has been responsible for saving 60,000 acres as permanent open
space and parkland in San Mateo, Santa Clara and Santa Cruz counties. For more
information about POST, please visit
www.openspacetrust.org.
About the Land Trust Accreditation
Commission
The Land
Trust Accreditation Commission awards the accreditation seal to community
institutions that meet national quality standards for protecting important
natural places and working lands forever. The Commission, an independent program
of the Land Trust Alliance established in 2006, 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.
Only select land trusts can enter the rigorous accreditation process each year after successfully implementing guidelines in stewarding and defending conservation lands in perpetuity, as well as implementing accredited systems and standards in record keeping and administration. These guidelines are outlined in the Land Trust Alliance’s Land Trust Standards and Practices, the ethical and technical guidelines for the responsible operation of a land trust. According to Commission Executive Director Tammara Van Ryn “accreditation provides the public with an assurance that their land trust meets 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. The Orange County Land Trust has helped preserve almost 4,000 acres of land in nearly every community in Orange County, and one in Sullivan County. Founded in 1993 by Former County Executive Louis V. Mills and a group of conservation leaders, the Land Trust was formed to provide a balance to the anticipated growth and development of our region.
The Orange County Land Trust will join The Nature Conservancy and 13 other land trusts throughout the country in the extensive accreditation review process, which culminates in the awarding of the Accreditation Seal of the Land Trust Accreditation Commission.
“We are delighted to be accepted into this program of accreditation, “said Deanna Prisco, president of the Board of Directors of the Orange County Land Trust. “The accreditation process has allowed us to really look at everything we do, and has made us more efficient as an organization. We are very proud of our staff and volunteer board members who have worked diligently to implement these best practice guidelines into our daily operations.
It is especially important now,” she added “during such uncertain economic times, as we and our many supporters and volunteers continue to work to save important lands and working farms. Accreditation will provide the public with the assurance that we are operating efficiently and are meeting high standards for quality, and that these lands will be protected permanently for future generations”.
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 for favorable tax policies, training land trusts in best practices, and working to ensure the permanence of conservation.
The Orange County Land Trust is a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving the fields, forests, wetlands, ridgelines, and river corridors in and around Orange County through voluntary land conservation for the benefit of people. The Trust owns and manages nine nature preserves that are free and open to the public every day for passive recreation such as hiking, birding and nature study. The Land Trust partners with other conservation groups as well as community and government organizations to preserve Orange County’s natural and agricultural heritage. For more information and for volunteer opportunities, ways of giving, and upcoming events, visit the website at www.oclt.org or call (845) 343-0840.