Land Trust AllianceLand Trust Alliance

Kingsbury Browne Conservation Leadership Award

The Kingsbury Browne Conservation Leadership Award is the Land Trust Alliance’s signature award, given annually to honor outstanding leadership, innovation and creativity in land conservation. The award celebrates individuals whose leadership has enriched the entire conservation community and whose contributions embody the values Kingsbury Browne, a founder of the Alliance, demonstrated in his own life and work on behalf of the land trust movement.

A key attribute of leadership celebrated by this award is that of a generous spirit — the sharing of ideas, experiences and knowledge with others to nurture and mentor the next generation of conservationists and leaders. To enable this sharing of knowledge, the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy provides a Fellowship to the recipient to facilitate a project that builds upon and shares their experience with the broader conservation community. The Alliance will work with the award winner to disseminate their insights to the broader land conservation community.

The recipient of this prestigious award is celebrated each year at Rally: The National Land Conservation Conference.

2018 Nominations

The 2018 award nomination period is open — view the nomination form. All nominations must be submitted by April 30, 2018.

Award Criteria

  • The recipient has demonstrated extraordinary leadership in advancing land conservation through direct involvement with the land trust movement.
  • A great respect for local initiative, bound together by common information, knowledge and standard
  • A conviction that sound legal practices and wise public policies are key to effective land conservation.
  • His or her impact reaches beyond a single community, land transaction, or organization to help the land trust movement reach new levels of maturity, competence and success.
  • The recipient embodies the values that characterized Kingsbury Browne and led to his/her own impact on the land trust movement, especially in the areas of:
    • Innovation: Working to improve the practice of land protection through new approaches, creative initiative and uncommon vision.
    • Collaboration: An active and effective collaborator with other land trusts, community groups and diverse interest groups, unusual alliances, etc., and who explores partnering to leverage the potential.
    • Generous Spirit: Sharing ideas, experiences and knowledge with others to nurture and mentor the next generation of conservationists and leaders.

About Kingsbury Browne

Kingsbury Browne (1922-2005) was one of the founding fathers of the Land Trust Alliance — his wisdom and counsel formed the bedrock of today’s Alliance and the land trust community. In 1980, as a Fellow at the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, Browne first envisioned a national network of land trusts and persuaded the Institute to convene the first-ever gathering of land trust leaders from coast to coast. From that beginning, the Land Trust Alliance was founded in 1982 to lead the growing movement. His wisdom, wit and patient guidance inspired a generation of land conservationists. Now his values and generous spirit live on in the Kingsbury Browne Conservation Leadership Award, including the one-year fellowship at the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy for writing, research and teaching on a subject related to land conservation.

Past Award Recipients

  • 2017: Will Rogers
  • 2016: David Hartwell
  • 2015: Steve Small
  • 2014: Jean Hocker
  • 2013: Larry Kueter
  • 2012: Peter Stein
  • 2011: Audrey Rust
  • 2010: Jay Espy
  • 2009: Jamie Williams
  • 2008: Laurie Wayburn
  • 2007: Mark Ackelson
  • 2006: Darby Bradley

Questions

For additional information on the criteria for the  Kingsbury Browne Conservation Leadership Award, please email awards@lta.org.