Practice Element 6A5: Funding for Stewardship and Defense

Land Trust Standards and Practices, Practice 6A. Fiscal Health, includes five elements. This module addresses Practice 6A5: Build and maintain dedicated or restricted funds sufficient to cover the long-term costs of stewarding and defending the land trust's land and conservation easements.

This guidance covers Practice Element 6A4: Build and maintain sufficient operating reserves to sustain operations.

This guidance covers Practice Element 6A1: Develop an annual budget that reflects the land trust’s annual programs and activities.

A sample stewardship and legal defense fund calculation from the accredited Hill Country Conservancy.

The key to achieving lasting conservation outcomes is to ensure that sufficient funding is available for long-term stewardship. This calculator can be used by land managers to estimate the long-term stewardship costs associated with voluntary conservation projects.

Eventually, every land trust will face some form of legal action and it is very difficult or even impossible to know ahead of time when a land trust will be involved in a legal action (regardless of whether the land trust is initiating or responding to a legal action) so planning ahead is essential.

This guidance covers Practice 6A: Fiscal Health.

This is a sample fee land stewardship policy from the accredited Hudson Highlands Land Trust.