The Land Trust Alliance Has Our Back

On March 7, Andrew Bowman, president and CEO of the Land Trust Alliance, spoke by invitation at an event hosted by Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation in Washington, D.C.

Founded in 1982, the Land Trust Alliance is a national land conservation organization that represents us and 1,000 other land trusts. The Alliance, which is based in Washington, D.C. and operates several regional offices, is the voice of the land trust community. As the national leader in policy, standards, education and training, it works passionately to support land trusts like ours so we can secure more lands now and for future generations.

The Alliance makes major investments in our community each year to increase the rate of land conservation, defend the land trust community from threats and build healthy, high-performing land trusts. This includes representing land trusts’ interests on Capitol Hill. For example, the Alliance was instrumental in passing the 2015 legislation that made permanent the enhanced federal tax deduction for conservation easement donations.

The Alliance is also a critical partner in conservation defense. For example, our organization is a member of Terrafirma, which was developed and launched by the Alliance and which provides insurance coverage to offset the costs of legal action to defend conservation easement violations.

The Alliance also identifies national trends, threats and opportunities for the land trust community and then introduces programs to help land trusts capitalize or address them. For example, in 2017, the Alliance launched a Land and Climate Program to provide land trusts with the strategies, training and tools they need to both adapt to and mitigate climate change in their land conservation work.

We were honored to invite Andrew to share his perspective on issues of importance to land trusts across the country, and we’re proud to support the Alliance’s efforts – especially since those efforts make us stronger and more effective in our work.

We’re a member of the Alliance because it connects us to other land trusts across the country. That peer network is invaluable. Moreover, it offers opportunities for us to share our expertise and lend our support when called upon, such as joining the annual Land Trust Alliance Advocacy Days on Capitol Hill.

And just like you do, the Alliance and its members inspire us. Together, we will continue to help people find common ground as they get outside and see, touch, smell and protect what is real and what is beautiful. We commit to both serving communities and building communities, planting the seeds for a nation to come back together, starting with a steadfast love of the land.

You can learn more about the Land Trust Alliance and how you can support its critical work as a 501(c)(3) organization at www.landtrustalliance.org.