Newly Accredited Land Trusts

February 21 , 2012

Congratulations to the twenty-three new land trusts that have just earned the important distinction of accreditation.

Thank you for all you do to strengthen land conservation!

Bayfield Regional Conservancy (WI)

Founded in 1996, the Bayfield Regional Conservancy preserves the natural lands, waters, forests, farms and places of scenic, historic and spiritual value that their community cherishes in Ashland, Bayfield, Douglas and Sawyer Counties. Their service area includes Wisconsin's entire Lake Superior drainage basin, as well as the incredibly rich and diverse lakes region in Sawyer County.

Caledonia Conservancy (WI)

One of Wisconsin’s oldest land trusts founded in 1994, the Caledonia Conservancy has permanently protected more than 122 acres, including portions of the old North Shore train right-of-way, the 28.5 acre Trout Ponds Prairie and 25.2 acres in the Tabor Woods Natural Area. They are committed to work with its supporters and volunteer Board of Directors to preserve and maintain open space and trails, promote balanced development and raise awareness of the importance of conservation.

ClearWater Conservancy (PA)

ClearWater Conservancy of Central Pennsylvania, Inc. is a Centre County-based land trust and natural resource conservation organization formed in 1980. Their mission is to promote conservation and restoration of natural resources in central Pennsylvania through land conservation, water resource protection, and environmental outreach to the community. The work of ClearWater Conservancy is a blend of planning and implementation of projects that benefit the entire community.

Congaree Land Trust (SC)

Established in 1992, the Congree Land Trust’s mission is to promote voluntary conservation of scenic lands, open spaces, farms, forests, natural areas and significant habitats in central South Carolina. They facilitate conservation easements for properties in 11 counties of central South Carolina. With their small staff and their valuable volunteer support, they manage their 80 easements and the many membership and development tasks.

Conservation Trust for Florida, Inc. (FL)

The Conservation Trust for Florida, Inc. was founded in 1999 by a group of professional conservationists to address the need to protect rural land and natural areas in Florida. They work with private landowners to protect their farms, ranches, and timberlands. They also work to preserve natural areas and wildlife corridors, like the Ocala to Osceola Wildlife Corridor. To date, they have helped to preserve over 10,000 acres of special Florida lands.

Conservation Trust of Puerto Rico (PR)

The Conservation Trust of Puerto Rico is a private, non-profit organization whose mission is to protect and enhance the Island’s natural resources. They carry out this mission through the acquisition of lands of great ecological, aesthetic, historic and cultural value, and the establishment of conservation easements. As part of its mission, they develop programs aimed at educating the public about environmental issues and the need to protect and conserve the Island’s natural resources. Through its reforestation program, Árboles… más árboles (A+A), the Conservation Trust of Puerto Rico produces and distributes native tree species that help promote the Island’s biological diversity.

D&R Greenway Land Trust, Inc. (NJ)

D&R Greenway Land Trust is central New Jersey's nonprofit land preservation organization, founded in 1989 through the collaboration and vision of four organizations: the Stony Brook - Millstone Watershed Association, Friends of Princeton Open Space, Regional Planning Partnership, and the Delaware & Raritan Canal Commission. Their vision of an organization dedicated to the preservation of their remaining natural areas led to the creation of this small grassroots organization that completed the first nonprofit acquisition using Green Acres funds in 1992. They permanently preserve watershed lands and large-scale landscapes, thereby preventing the loss of open space to development. Their operating region consists of over 1,500 square miles, encompassing portions of the Delaware, Raritan and Millstone River watersheds and the Delaware & Raritan Canal, and they have broadened their work to include preservation of farm land in Salem County in the area of Mannington Meadows.

Great Land Trust (AK)

Founded in 1995 by residents of Anchorage and the Mat-Su Valley, Great Land Trust is working with willing landowners and other partners to conserve Southcentral Alaska's lands and waterways. They permanently and directly conserve lands and waterways essential to the quality of life and economic health of our communities. The Great Land Trust achieves this goal in several ways, including: Working in partnership with landowners who wish to protect the special features of their land through voluntary private action; direct land purchase; and Cooperating with businesses, nonprofits, and local, state, and federal agencies on projects that benefit the community. The Great Land Trust offers individuals and businesses an opportunity to set aside specific areas for conservation - leaving a lasting legacy for the future.

Jo Daviess Conservation Foundation (IL)

The Jo Daviess Conservation Foundation is a locally based, nonprofit land trust, working with landowners on voluntary conservation projects using land acquisition, land donations, conservation easements, and landowner registry to help protect the natural resources, open space, and farmland in beautiful Jo Daviess County in northwest Illinois. Their mission is to protect the natural heritage, spectacular scenery, and agricultural character of Jo Daviess County, IL, and the surrounding area.

Mississippi Valley Conservancy (WI)

Mississippi Valley Conservancy (MVC) is a regional, non-profit land trust based in La Crosse that has permanently conserved more than 14,000 acres of blufflands, prairies, wetlands, and streams in southwestern Wisconsin since its founding in 1997. MVC works with private landowners and local communities on voluntary conservation projects in nine counties along or near the Mississippi River: Buffalo, Trempealeau, Jackson, La Crosse, Monroe, Vernon, Crawford, Richland and Grant Counties.

North Carolina Coastal Land Trust (NC)

Formed in 1992, The North Carolina Coastal Land Trust has been working with landowners who wish to conserve lands with scenic, recreational, historic and/or ecological value. Their mission is to enrich the coastal communities of their state through the acquisition of open space and natural areas, conservation education and the promotion of good land stewardship. They are active throughout the Coastal Plain of North Carolina and aspire to bring together citizens and landowners, natives and newcomers, to set aside lands for conservation.

North Olympic Land Trust (WA)

North Olympic Land Trust was pioneered by several Clallam County friends and neighbors who wished to protect the amazing marine shoreline, spectacular wildlife habitat, magnificent forests, productive farmlands, and significant cultural heritage. Their mission is to conserve lands that sustain the communities of the Olympic Peninsula. North Olympic Land Trust protects special qualities of the North Olympic Peninsula in Clallam County, Washington, just outside the internationally treasured Olympic National Park. They protect habitat for salmon and other wildlife, farmland, sustainable timberland, clean water and air, scenic vistas and open space, and cultural heritage. To date, the North Olympic Land Trust has conserved more than 2,000 acres.

Pee Dee Land Trust (SC)

The mission of the Pee Dee Land Trust is to conserve, and to promote an appreciation of, the significant natural, agricultural, and historical resources of the Pee Dee Region of South Carolina. They work diligently to foster the interconnectedness of people and the land. This interconnectedness is evident in their relationship to the water and the wildlife, as well as to the fields, farms and forests where they live. Their history has been shaped by this relationship, and an understanding of it can affect and improve their future.

Prickly Pear Land Trust (MT)

Prickly Pear Land Trust is an association of community-minded individuals committed to protecting the open space in Lewis and Clark, Broadwater and Jefferson Counties in Montana. Founded in 1996, the Trust now has almost 700 active members with backgrounds reflecting the diversity of the area. Their mission is to protect the natural diversity and rural character of the Prickly Pear Valley and adjoining lands through voluntary and cooperative means. They are dedicated to perpetuating the recreational, wildlife, scenic, agricultural and historic values of the land.

San Juan Preservation Trust (WA)

The San Juan Preservation Trust serves landowners who wish to protect the special features of their lands through voluntary private action. They offer the community the opportunity to create a legacy of unique natural areas and open spaces for future generations. They do this by counseling property owners on conservation techniques available to them, and on tax benefits which might be available to them from donations of land or easements. Their mission is to preserve and protect open spaces, scenic views, forests, agricultural lands, habitats, watersheds, riparian corridors, wetlands and shorelines in the San Juan Archipelago.

Taos Land Trust (NM)

Taos Land Trust was founded in 1988 by a group of community volunteers who watched a beautiful tract of open land get sold, just because the owners had no other options available to them but to pay exorbitant inheritance taxes. As the only New Mexico land trust north of Santa Fe, Taos Land Trust has worked to preserve that landscape and the many benefits it provides to the public through permanent land conservation. Today Taos Land Trust is one of the best established and most experienced land trusts in New Mexico, serving nine counties across the northern part of the state. Taos Land Trust conserves open, productive, and natural lands for the benefit of the community and culture of northern New Mexico.

The Wetlands Conservancy (OR)

Founded in 1981, The Wetlands Conservancy is working to conserve, protect, and restore Oregon’s wetlands. Wetlands play a key role in the health of our environment and community, being essential to water quality and supporting fish and wildlife, but Oregon is suffering substantial losses of quantity and diversity of its wetlands, and thereby the functions that they provide. They are the only organization in Oregon dedicated to promoting community and private partnerships to permanently protect and conserve Oregon’s greatest wetlands. For more than 30 years, The Wetlands Conservancy has educated and assisted landowners, neighborhood groups, land trusts, and watershed councils on local stewardship.

Three Valley Conservation Trust (OH)

Since 1994, Three Valley Conservation Trust has been recognized by farmers, landowners, developers, and public officials in southwest Ohio as an important resource for land protection, conservation planning, and environmentally-responsible development. Three Valley Conservation Trust partners with people and communities to conserve the cultural heritage and natural environment of its service area for the benefit of future generations.

Upper Valley Land Trust (NH)

The Upper Valley Land Trust (UVLT) helps people conserve land by engaging people in the vision and process of land conservation and in the stewardship of conserved lands. UVLT provides conservation leadership, tools and expertise to permanently protect the working farms, forested ridges, wildlife habitat, water resources, trails and scenic landscapes that surround residential areas and commercial centers and make the Upper Valley a truly special place to live. Their conservation projects secure the mixture of land uses so critical to the region’s vitality and identity. UVLT focuses its mission in 44 Vermont and New Hampshire towns in the upper Connecticut River valley.

Vinalhaven Land Trust (ME)

Vinalhaven Land Trust was incorporated in 1986, near the beginning of the land trust movement in downeast Maine. In the course of the twenty-five years since, they have succeeded in conserving many “whole places” that have significant natural features and little or no development. Vinalhaven Land Trust promotes the conservation of its island's significant plant and wildlife habitat, its water resources, and scenic or historic spaces in order to preserve the traditional character of the community for generations to come.

Western Pennsylvania Conservancy (PA)

Three years into the Great Depression, ten citizens came together to found a non-profit conservation organization. The organization’s goal was to alleviate widespread unemployment through public works programs that would also create a positive impact on the region’s natural resources. To date, the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy (WPC) has protected more than 232,000 acres of natural lands in Pennsylvania, helped to establish ten state parks, and protected or restored more than 1,500 miles of rivers and streams. In 1963, WPC was entrusted with Fallingwater, Frank Lloyd Wright’s masterwork in Mill Run, Pennsylvania. They also enrich their region’s cities and towns through 140 community gardens and greenspaces that are planted with the help of 13,000 volunteers.

Whidbey Camano Land Trust (WA)

The Whidbey Camano Land Trust has protected thousands of acres in Island County since its founding in 1984. For more than 26 years the Whidbey Camano Land Trust has protected its islands’ most important natural habitats, scenic vistas, and working farms and forests in partnership with landowners and our island communities.

Wyoming Stock Growers Agricultural Land Trust (WY)

Founded by a general membership vote of the Wyoming Stock Growers Association in December 2000, The Wyoming Stock Growers Agricultural Land Trust is dedicated to conserving Wyoming's working family ranches and farms and the wide-open spaces, natural habitats, and rural communities they support. Their objectives are accomplished through conservation easements, increasing awareness of tools to maintain ranchlands, and assisting in research for new opportunities to conserve working agricultural landscapes. The Wyoming Stock Growers Agricultural Land Trust holds 57 conservation easements on 148,703 acres of ranchland.