Gerald Adelmann is president and CEO of Openlands, an accredited land trust serving the greater Chicago region. He has worked in conservation for over 30 years. His is the first in a series of interviews with land trust people that will run intermittently.

With blue skies and wind blowing wisps of black hair into her eyes, her small hands searched the rocky ground for a link to her past: a small, edible root connecting her to both past and future as she assumes her rightful place as a Nez Perce child belonging to the land known as the Wallowa Valley.

When I first joined the Conservation Foundation of the Gulf Coast in Florida, I was unsure that an archaeologist-become-environmental educator would be a good fit for a field that seemed filled with highly educated biologists and ecologists.

"Can you go under the house to find my wedding ring?"

After 18 years at the Land Trust Alliance, Rob Aldrich is stepping down Dec. 21 to move onward and upward in his career. I write this with deep appreciation for his many years at this organization and for his devotion to the people and the work of land trusts.

I was 8 months pregnant when I was hired as executive director. At the time I didn't realize how extraordinary that was. When I look back now I can see the moment through experienced eyes.

If you do advocacy, you know why it is important. If you don't, please consider getting in the game.

My message is simple: Recognize the place, the community, where you belong — then do all you can to protect all its members, human and otherwise.

I am here representing an ancient culture of conservation, balance and the interconnectedness of all things.

The "Addressing Gender Bias in Conservation Organizations" article in Saving Land made me think about my daughter Annika's experience with gender bias in her young life.

Actions we can take to work toward equality and inclusion.

"We are helping to educate and inspire the new generation of land conservation stewards!"

Andrea Foster has suffered from anxiety and depression her whole life.

As I reflect on my career in conservation, I can say definitively that I would not be where I am without the mentorship that I received from exceptional women.

When Christina Soto, the editor of Saving Land, contacted me about helping to organize a photo shoot in Chicago for the cover of the magazine, I was particularly thrilled because what Chris wanted was a representation of women in conservation.

As I worked on the Saving Land article "Addressing Gender Bias in Conservation Organizations" with writer Elisabeth Ptak, we didn't have enough room for all the material we received.

Growing up in Alabama's rural St. Clair County, Wendy Jackson connected to the land and the outdoors at an early age.

"What I did over summer vacation" is a story I cannot wait to share with you, because this year my family hosted a Fresh Air Fund child for a week of fun and adventure.

As editor of Saving Land I receive emails from across the country from people who have written books and would like the Land Trust Alliance to share the news.

Do you believe in the value of open spaces? Are you an excellent team player? Can you help us help 1,000 land trusts? If so, you may be the very person we need. The Land Trust Alliance is filling four open positions.

I do not fit the profile of the traditional land trust supporter.

Becoming a dad has been a wild, joyous, terrifying thing. Something nobody could've prepared me for.

High school students in Trees Atlanta's summer job program learned landscaping and leadership skills while beautifying Atlanta by watering trees and pulling invasive weeds.

"What's a conservation nerd doing at South by Southwest?" It's a question I asked myself many times earlier this month as I prepared to attend the hippest conference in the country.

Do you believe in the value of open spaces? Are you an excellent team player? Can you help us help 1,000 land trusts? If so, you may be the very person we need. The Land Trust Alliance is filling two open positions.

Do you believe in the value of open spaces? Are you an excellent team player? Can you help us help 1,000 land trusts? If so, you may be the very person we need. The Land Trust Alliance is filling four open positions.

The Land Trust Alliance has gained four new board members over the past several months, as well as a new chair in February, Jamey French.

Members of the Coalition of Oregon Land Trusts hosted the first Walk the Land Day on June 24, 2017, promoting it as a day to explore, discover, celebrate and fall in love with Oregon lands that are protected forever.

Do you believe in the value of open spaces? Are you an excellent team player? Can you help us help 1,000 land trusts? If so, you may be the very person we need. The Land Trust Alliance is filling two open positions.

Terri Lane of the accredited Northwest Arkansas Land Trust tells us a phone call six years ago from the regional Land Trust Alliance staff set the tone and trajectory of her rapidly growing land trust.

Don Gerber of the accredited Lyme Land Conservation Trust in Connecticut tells us why he paid it forward (with a $60,000 check!) to the Land Trust Alliance to support its legal defense services. 

Sara Creech started farming to heal herself, but today, Blue Yonder Farm is a place where other veterans come to heal and connect, as well.

Admittedly, my upbringing was unique. I was the fifth generation to grow up on my family's cattle ranch in Southern Arizona.

Do you believe in the value of open spaces? Are you an excellent team player? Can you help us help 1,000 land trusts? If so, you may be the very person we need. The Land Trust Alliance is filling four open positions.

Imagine summer as a kid on the islands in Lake Champlain. Freedom from school, biking through lush green farms and ripening orchards and the lake water beckoning — but for too many children in Vermont, summer is a time of hunger.

Do you believe in the value of open spaces? Are you an excellent team player? Can you help us help 1,000 land trusts? If so, you may be the very person we need.

After 10 years at our current location, the Land Trust Alliance is packing up and preparing to relocate within Washington, D.C.

Do you believe in the value of open spaces? Are you an excellent team player? Can you help us help 1,000 land trusts? If so, you may be the very person we need.

Is your land trust looking to stand out, inspire people and increase your fundraising success?

Do you know someone who would make an excellent climate change program manager? Is there someone in your network who would excel at being a foundation and corporate relations manager?

Do you believe in the value of open spaces? Are you an excellent team player? Can you help us help 1,000 land trusts?

As the senior U.S. senator from New York, member of the Senate Finance Committee and the next leader of the Democratic caucus, Sen. Chuck Schumer faces many demands on his time.

After 20 years working for two Idaho congressmen as an aide, Laurel Sayer brings an intimate understanding of the legislative process to her current role as executive director of the Idaho Coalition of Land Trusts.

It is with great sadness that I report that Leonard Wilson recently passed away.

This land trust aims to connect land owners with young farmers that may have had trouble securing the capital to start a productive food-farming operation.

Do you believe in the value of open spaces? Are you an excellent team player? Can you help us help 1,100 land trusts? If so, you may be the very person we need.

As I survey an empty desk on my final day at the Land Trust Alliance, my thoughts drift back to when I joined this team nearly nine years ago.

When I set out to hire the Land Trust Alliance’s next executive vice president, my priority was to find a recognized leader from within the land trust community.

When Lori Olson took the helm of the Texas Land Trust Council in 2011, she sensed the absence of a concerted voice for conservation in the state.

Do you believe in the value of open spaces? Are you an excellent team player? Can you help us help 1,100 land trusts? If so, you may be the very person we need.

The natural world has always been my comfort zone.

Early in her tenure as executive director of the Delaware Highlands Conservancy, Sue Currier realized that partnerships with community groups, landowners and municipalities would provide the key to accomplishing environmental and land preservation goals in her region.

Do you believe in the value of open spaces? Are you an excellent team player? Can you help us help 1,100 land trusts? If so, you may be the very person we need.

Today was a hard day at the Land Trust Alliance. Daniel Greeley, our good friend and a shining light on the Alliance’s development team, is no longer with us.

“This is your area of expertise, so I trust you and I’ll support you if you think this is a good idea.”

Early in my life, I was fortunate to learn what it meant to have a love of place.

I’m excited to announce that Andrew Bowman has been named the next president of the Land Trust Alliance. He embodies the drive, innovation and collaborative spirit to lead the Land Trust Alliance and the land trust community to dramatically increase the impact of conservation in America.

Taking community conservation from theory to practice means embracing pliability. It’s a process that takes on different meanings and tactics for every undertaking.

The Amah Mutsun Tribe in Northern California is not federally recognized and receives no assistance from either the federal or state governments. In spite of this, our Tribe is determined to find a path that will allow us to fulfill our mandate from Creator and follow the path of our ancestors.

As Labor Day approaches, we at Scenic Hudson are thinking about Klara Sauer, a true conservation leader we lost earlier this summer.

What do skateboarding, sourdough and air quality standards for pollution have in common? In the United States, these and many other popular trends all started in California.

On a business trip to Los Angeles in 1972, Tommy Wyche was shocked to see development covering the mountains surrounding the city. He returned from the trip and told his son, Brad, “We’ve got to make sure that doesn’t happen to the South Carolina mountains.”

When I began as the education and outreach director for Lowcountry Open Land Trust, one of my first tasks was to involve the broader community in our conservation visioning process. My friends and contacts came out in droves to help.

Leave it better than you found it. That’s a golden rule we all live by, but it is an understatement of the way Rand Wentworth will leave the Land Trust Alliance when he steps down as president at the end of this year.