Meeting Challenges
Today, as we face new and continuing uncertainties during the health pandemic, the Land Trust Alliance is more essential than ever. As land trusts struggle with the impacts to their organizations, we are working hard to address these tremendous challenges.
We see at least one significant opportunity emerging from the pandemic: growing acknowledgement that outdoor spaces are lifelines to our health and wellness. As more Americans seek local open spaces for recreation and sustenance, land trusts have an opportunity to demonstrate how they — more than any other entities or sectors of the economy — can satisfy those needs.
Jamey French
Historically, land has shaped us as a people. Today, it is the key to a healthy future for all Americans. It provides pure drinking water, healthy food, clean air, and respite and recreation. Conserved, well-managed land also provides protection from natural disasters, such as floods and drought, while absorbing carbon and keeping it from the earth’s atmosphere.
The Land Trust Alliance shares its land trust members’ passion for the land. As the voice of the land trust community, the Alliance is the national leader in policy, standards and education, working to strengthen and support land trusts so they can conserve and steward more land now and for future generations.
Andrew Bowman
Everyone needs land, yet many do not understand the vital role that land trusts play in their daily lives. Today, as the COVID-19 crisis continues to unfold, land trusts are pivoting to meet the needs of their communities, just as the Land Trust Alliance is adjusting its services to address land trusts’ evolving needs.
Land trusts are looking to the Alliance for leadership and guidance in today’s unsettled world. I look forward to working with all of our members as we collectively create the necessary tools and curricula to enable the learning and self-reflection that will allow us to become the agents of change this pivotal moment in our nation’s history demands.
Our board and staff voted the Land Trust Alliance our most valued nonprofit partner over the last 30 years! We really feel the work of the Alliance... has had the biggest impact on our success.
Federal Policy Wins Achieved With Bipartisan Support
In 2019, the Alliance celebrated the permanent reauthorization of the Land and Water Conservation Fund as part of the Natural Resources Management Act. The 50-year-old LWCF program, which takes a portion of revenues from offshore oil drilling, protects millions of acres of land and contributes $1.06 trillion annually to the national economy. A second victory came on August 4, 2020, when the Great American Outdoors Act was signed into law, establishing full and dedicated funding for the LWCF.
Ending Abusive Tax Shelters
In 2019, the Land Trust Alliance continued to make progress toward shutting down abuse of the federal tax deduction for conservation easement donations, which threatens the good work of our community. Early in the year, we reintroduced the Charitable Conservation Easement Program Integrity Act — narrowly crafted legislation that targets abusive practices without impacting genuine conservation — with bipartisan support in the House and Senate.
Unique Partnership for Resilient Landscapes
The Land Trust Alliance’s Land and Climate Program continued to help land trusts respond effectively to climate change. In 2019, the Alliance, along with the Oregon Community Foundation, Seattle Foundation and Idaho Community Foundation, unveiled the Pacific Northwest Resilient Landscapes Initiative. Launched with support from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, the initiative will help to ensure nature thrives in a changing climate. By supporting land trusts — and the communities they serve — we will strategically identify and permanently protect thousands of acres of climate-resilient natural lands across Idaho, Washington and Oregon.
Learn more about the Pacific Northwest Resilient Landscapes Initiative
Helping the Next Generation of Leaders
In partnership with the USDA Forest Service, the Alliance launched the Scholars for Conservation Leadership Program to expand opportunities for underrepresented minority students so they can more readily pursue careers in natural resource management and conservation. Launched at Rally 2019, the pilot program benefited 10 undergraduate students from across the United States and created pathways for an early career boost. Out of the initial cohort, Lillian Dinkins and Papa Gueye were selected to participate in a paid, year-long fellowship with a land trust, Conservation Florida, to gain on-the-job experience following graduation.
Common Ground Highlights New Voices
In 2019, the Alliance conducted Common Ground: Creating a Shared Vision for Conservation, an initiative designed for the Alliance to listen to an array of individuals, organizations and sectors representing diverse communities. From these conversations, the Alliance learned how partnerships involving access to and engagement with land may present possibilities that can help these communities thrive. A final internal report was presented in February 2020, with input from the 671 stakeholders, which will inform our next steps as we work with our land trust members and new partners to develop, strengthen, elevate and expand efforts to engage and center conservation in support of people and communities.
