Our Strategy
The work that we do at the Land Trust Alliance flows out to land trusts and the broader land conservation community until it reaches into every American’s life. We all need and love special places, but only together can we save them. Find a land trust near you.
Jamey French
In 2017 we wished the Land Trust Alliance “Happy 35th Anniversary!” And it was a year of other important anniversaries: 30 years of Rally, our premier annual conservation conference; 10 years of the Land Trust Accreditation Commission accrediting land trusts; and five years of Terrafirma ensuring that protected lands stay that way.
Our members and supporters have been with us all along the journey. We thank you for partnering with the Alliance to save the places we all need and love. Going forward, the Alliance will continue to strengthen the land trust community to meet the challenges ahead.
Here’s to the next 35 years!
Andrew Bowman
Land is the key to a healthy and secure future for all Americans, providing water, food, clean air and natural, cost-efficient carbon storage.
No one knows this better than the land trust community. But we have a big challenge to overcome: Most Americans have never heard of land trusts. The Land Trust Alliance intends to change that.
Our new strategic plan sets forth a vision for a “relevance campaign” to engage nontraditional conservation partners and audiences around our shared interest in protecting special places. As we connect more people to land through land trusts, more places will be saved, and the future of land conservation will be secure.
"The Alliance should articulate a new vision for land conservation in America; be a leader in what a new era of conservation looks like and define the end game for conservation."
Thank You
“The Texas Agricultural Land Trust is grateful to the Land Trust Alliance for shepherding us through so many important milestones in our 10 years. Accreditation, Terrafirma and constant support and training for our staff and board lend us profound credibility with our partners. The Alliance truly is the anchor for private land conservation in the nation.”
– Blair Fitzsimons, TALT, former Alliance board member and current donor
Land & Community
“Community conservation continues to transform our organization, relationships and conservation impact,” says Dave Clutter, executive director of the accredited Driftless Area Land Conservancy in Wisconsin. “Our goal is to focus on serving those who haven’t had the chance to connect to nature and farms — like Head Start kids, elders or others who lack access to nature.”
Clutter learned about community conservation through Land Trust Alliance trainings. “We continue to build a more inclusive sense of community through direct experiences with lands and waters. And people seem to agree — our support, membership and opportunities continue to grow.”
Mitigation & Adaptation
Given that forests, grasslands, wetlands and other natural lands can absorb carbon and keep it out of the atmosphere, land conservation and stewardship are more important than ever. New research shows that natural climate solutions can meet one-third of the world’s emissions reduction goal.
In 2017 the Land Trust Alliance launched its Land and Climate Program to help land trusts maximize the land’s ability to mitigate climate change or adapt to it. Read about natural climate solutions and visit our website for resources and case studies.
An Invaluable Hand
When attorney Ken Mauer, a board member of the all-volunteer West Central Ohio Land Conservancy was searching for answers to a complex stewardship question, he turned to Alliance Conservation Defense Director Leslie Ratley-Beach for help.
This was only one of 1,635 information and technical assistance requests Ratley-Beach and the Conservation Defense team handled in 2017.
“Thanks so much for the excellent guidance,” said Mauer. “Clearly, there are questions still to be answered, but there may be a light at the end of the tunnel. The Land Trust Alliance is an invaluable resource!”
Accreditation Boost
When Bob Stokes, president of the accredited Galveston Bay Foundation in Texas, reviewed a chart that showed what happened when GBF earned accreditation, he was pleased but not surprised. “As you can see, our ‘acres conserved’ line headed sky high after we were accredited. This speaks to the virtues of accreditation. And of course, the Land Trust Alliance’s Excellence training has helped reinforce these efforts in a big way.”
Powerful Allies
In 2017 the Washington Association of Land Trusts and the Coalition of Oregon Land Trusts helped their members host tours of conservation properties for elected officials, something the Land Trust Alliance supports through training, resources and its Ambassador Program.
“When you engage your elected officials, it’s about their recognizing who you are and how you benefit the community,” says Curt Soper, executive director of the accredited Chelan-Douglas Land Trust, who hiked with state Senator Brad Hawkins on protected land. “Outdoor recreation. Kids in nature. These are things that cross the political aisle.” When it comes to advocating for federal priorities for the entire land trust community, these relationships are vital.
Excellence at Work
The Alliance’s national Excellence Program has worked intensively with 70 land trusts across the country to significantly increase their capacity to conserve land, including investments to help these land trusts pursue training in a wide range of topics related to land trust management, community engagement and strategic conservation planning.
“The Excellence Program was transformative for me as a new executive director,” says Brenda Costa of the accredited French Creek Valley Conservancy in Pennsylvania. “I learned valuable skills but more important was the immersive experience with a wide variety of other conservation leaders from different parts of the country and varied levels of experience.”
