Legacy of leadership

This year, the Land Trust Alliance is celebrating a legacy of leadership on behalf of the land trust community.

Terrafirma is starting its fifth year of helping land trusts defend their conserved lands from legal challenges, and the Conservation Defense Initiative is celebrating its 10th anniversary.

Six years have passed since our policy team first led a contingent of conservationists onto Capitol Hill for Land Trust Advocacy Days. The annual event has helped us win significant gains for land trusts, such as Congress making permanent the enhanced tax incentive for conservation easement donations. Members of Congress now better understand and value the work of land trusts, which will be important as we turn to other pressing issues, including reauthorization of the Farm Bill and the Land and Water Conservation Fund.

It’s been 10 years since the Land Trust Accreditation Commission began recognizing land trusts that meet the rigorous qualifications for accreditation. As evidence of this program’s impact, a recent review found that 77 percent of the total acres owned and under easement are held by accredited land trusts.

Additionally, 2017 marks our 30th Rally: The National Land Conservation Conference. Consider all we’ve accomplished across three decades of helping our peers network with their colleagues, advance their skills and work to solve some of their greatest professional challenges.

Perhaps most important, though, is what we celebrate Feb. 22: the Alliance’s 35th anniversary. As an essential player in the success of land trusts, the Alliance has been there, in some form, in each project that has saved land since 1982. Land trusts and land conservation would not be where they are today without the Alliance.

Individually, each of these accomplishments is inspiring; collectively, they are amazing.

You can support our next 35 years with a donation now. With your generosity, we stand ready to tackle the challenges and create opportunities in the years ahead. Together, we can do more to strengthen land conservation across America. Thank you for supporting the Land Trust Alliance.

Andrew Bowman is president of the Land Trust Alliance.