Land Trust Alliance

Laws Give Break for Land Preservation. But Hurry.

Kimberly Seese — 2013-02-23T05:00:00Z

February 23, 2013 | The Wall Street Journal

Restricted Gifts: Solving Accounting and Reporting Challenges

Kimberly Seese — 2013-02-20T19:35:00Z

Date: April 24, 2013
Time: 2:00 pm - 3:30 pm ET
Instructor: Kay Sohl
Level: Beginner / Intermediate
Cost: $55 before 4/23, then cost will increase to $65

REGISTER ONLINE >>

Land trusts depend on the generosity of donors, and it’s absolutely essential that land trusts use these gifts according to the donor’s intentions. In this webinar, you will learn best practices in managing the receipt and use of restricted gifts.

Participants will learn:

1. How GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles), FASB, and IRS regulations on restricted gifts

2. What constitutes unrestricted, temporarily restricted or permanently restricted gifts, including endowments

3. The difference between board designated funds and restricted gifts

4. How to record temporarily and permanently restricted gifts

5. How to record the use of temporarily restricted funds

6. How to manage time restrictions on gifts, multi-year grants and donor pledges

7. Strategies for setting up stewardship funds

21 Additional Land Trusts Achieve Accreditation

Kimberly Seese — 2013-02-19T19:35:00Z

February 19, 2013 | Land Trust Accreditation Commission | Saratoga Springs, NY

New $1.63 Million Conservation Agreement Will Permanently Protect Glen Helen Natural Area

Kimberly Seese — 2013-02-19T05:00:00Z

February 19, 2013 | Dayton Daily News | OH

Farm Owner vs First Energy

Kimberly Seese — 2013-02-14T05:00:00Z

Februarty 14, 2013 | 13abc.com | Fremont, OH

Improve Your Chances for Success with FRPP Funding

Kimberly Seese — 2013-02-06T01:44:07Z

Date: February 28, 2013
Time: 2:00-3:30 PM ET
Instructor: Jane Ellen Hamilton
Level: Beginner / Intermediate -- Participants should have a basic understanding of the FRPP Program.
Cost: FREE

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Applicants for federal Farm and Ranch Land Protection Program funding must comply with the requirements of the FRPP Manual. This webinar will help you understand how adopting and implementing Land Trust Standards and Practices that relate directly to FRPP Manual contents can help your organization improve its chances for securing funding to protect locally important farms and ranches. You will receive guidance on several important conservation easement transactional practices, including:

1. Evaluating and selecting projects

2. Completing strong transactions in a timely manner

3. Drafting conservation easements that meet FRPP standards

4. Adopting easement stewardship practices that ensure the perpetuity of FRPP-funded projects

This webinar is applicable to both governmental entities and land trusts and will help participants distill key information about how developing best practices can help your organization achieve its farmland protection goals.

Standards Covered: 8 (Evaluating and Selecting Conservation Projects), 9 (Ensuring Sound Transactions), and 11 (Conservation Easement Stewardship)

Meadowbrook Marsh Expands

Kimberly Seese — 2013-02-05T05:00:00Z

February 5, 2013 | Port Clinton News Herald | OH

Conservation Loans and Investments: Tools to Achieve REPI Success

Kimberly Seese — 2013-02-04T22:27:15Z

When: March 27, 2013, 1:00 PM ET

Sponsor: Readiness and Environmental Protection Initiative (REPI) for U.S. Department of Defense

This webinar is designed to educate you and your land conservation partners about tapping into “other people’s money” to potentially overcome the common hurdles you may face from gaps in funding or funding requests not being processed fast enough to meet a closing deadline. Logan Yonavjak, from the Conservation Private Capital Group, and Reggie Hall, from The Conservation Fund, will discuss conservation loans and investments that can help you focus on the project and not worry whether you will have the funds to move on it when the time is right.

Instructions on How to Join the Webinar:

Click this link.
Select “Enter as a Guest” and enter your name.
Upon entering the meeting room, you will be prompted to enter your phone number.
After entering your phone number, you will be called automatically by the system into the audio conference.

Managing Biodiversity on Land Trust Lands

Kimberly Seese — 2013-01-31T21:28:00Z

Date: March 13, 2013
Time: 2:00-3:30 PM ET
Instructors: Paul Doscher, Chris Wilson
Cost: $55 before 3/12, then cost will increase to $65
Level: Beginner / Intermediate

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How do you know if your land supports a rare species or ecological community or not? How do you gather biological information without breaking the bank? How can you manage land to protect biological and other resources and still generate income from the land? Learn about how to document what is out there, choose your conservation targets, decide how to protect your targets and more. The webinar is based on guidance from Chris Wilson’s Documenting and Protecting Biodiversity on Land Trust Projects and the on-the-ground experience of Paul Doscher who works for the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests. The Society has 150 properties that range from ecological reserves to intensively managed farmland and forests, some of which have been owned and managed for nearly 100 years.

You will learn how to:

1. Use a step-by-step process for documenting biodiversity

2. Decide when and how to engage biologists for this work

3. Determine threats to biodiversity and how to prioritize your responses

4. Integrate recreation, working lands, community concerns into management planning

Prioritizing Land to Protect Water Resources Through Strategic Conservation Planning

Kimberly Seese — 2013-01-31T21:26:03Z

Date: March 12, 2013
Time: 2:00-3:30 PM ET
Instructors: Ole Amundsen, Anne Murphy
Cost: $55 before 3/11, then cost will increase to $65
Level: Beginner / Intermediate

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In national polls, water is often cited as one of the most important conservation goals by a public who can easily “get” the importance of water. So, what do you do if water resource issues are a significant issue in your service area? This webinar will explore how to incorporate water resources into the conservation planning process for a more holistic framework in setting priorities. Case studies on land trusts engaged in planning for land and water resource issues will be featured along with proven strategies to fine tune your water resource protection efforts. Instructors will also discuss opportunities for collaboration with watershed associations and other groups focused on water resource protection. The webinar will provide a road map and specific steps to developing a strategic conservation plan with an emphasis on protecting water resources.

Wildlife Preservation Grant Project Completed at Loy Prairie

Kimberly Seese — 2013-01-24T05:00:00Z

January 24, 2013 | Illinois Audubon Society | Springfield, IL

How to Be a Great Board Member, Part II: Governance Essentials for All-Volunteer Land Trusts

Kimberly Seese — 2013-01-23T01:42:48Z

Date: March 5, 2013
Time: 1:00-2:30 PM ET
Instructor: Connie Manes
Cost: $55 before 3/4, then cost will increase to $65
Level: Beginner / Intermediate

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This webinar will explain the legal and fiduciary duties of care, obedience and loyalty. Participants will understand the roles of the board President, Treasurer and Secretary, and explore ideas for additional officers. We will discuss exemplary land trust committee structures and how they integrate. We’ll investigate how to evaluate your board’s performance as well as your individual performance in order to improve organizational functioning and increase your satisfaction. Finally, we’ll look at strategies for troubleshooting common obstacles, to take your board from good to great.

How to Be a Great Board Member, Part II: Governance Essentials for Staffed Land Trusts

Kimberly Seese — 2013-01-23T01:41:48Z

Date: March 6, 2013
Time: 1:00-2:30 PM ET
Instructor: Connie Manes
Cost: $55 before 3/5, then cost will increase to $65
Level: Beginner / Intermediate

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Navigating one’s role on a nonprofit board can be challenging. Unlike most other volunteer work, members of the board are directly responsible for the organization, from its mission to its finances and its ultimate success. Staffed organizations can reduce the amount of time and programmatical work required of the board, but may present unique management and coordination issues.

This webinar will explain the legal and fiduciary duties of care, obedience and loyalty. Participants will understand the roles of the board President, Treasurer and Secretary, and typical standing committees. We will discuss board-staff interactions within the rubric of organizational and board structures and stages, and how to assess your organization’s point on the continuum. We’ll investigate how to evaluate your board’s performance as well as your individual performance in order to improve organizational functioning and increase your satisfaction. Finally, we’ll look at strategies for troubleshooting common obstacles, to take your board from good to great.

Sustainability Summit Workshop: Living Biological Growing Systems

Kimberly Seese — 2013-01-16T19:25:00Z

When: March 8, 2013, 9:00 AM to 3:15 PM CT

Where: 55th & Silver Spring

Host: Growing Power, Inc.

Growing Power, Inc. will be an exhibitor at the 10th annual Sustainability Summit and Exposition, and in addition to their presence at the conference, they will be hosting a tour and workshop at our national headquarters.

Note: Participants are not required to register for the Conference through the Sustainability Summit in order to take the tour and workshop - anyone may register!

View registration information.

Sustainability Summit and Exposition: An Economic and Ecologic Imperative

Kimberly Seese — 2013-01-16T19:17:55Z

When: March 6-7, 2013

Where: Delta Center of Milwaukee

View event details.