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Dear Friend,
Today the Land Trust Alliance released a new report entitled Amending Conservation Easements: Evolving Practices and Legal Principles , a compilation of months of research and dialogue among experts on the issues of how, when and if conservation easements should be amended. Participants represented all areas of the country and land trusts with both longstanding and relatively new easement programs.
The report identifies seven guiding principles to evaluate conservation easement amendment questions, provides screening tests, and presents case studies that together will help land trusts frame the issues and fully analyze the risks and benefits of a proposed amendment.
We are also happy to announce the hiring of Wendy Ninteman as our new Western Director, and I’m sure she will be talking with many of you in the West very soon.
Rand Wentworth
President, Land Trust Alliance |
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| We are delighted to announce that Wendy Ninteman, a conservation veteran who has served as executive director of the Five Valleys Land Trust in Missoula, Montana for a decade, has been hired as the Alliance’s new Western Director. This position will lead the design, delivery and management of all Alliance programs in the West. Working from Missoula, Wendy joins Lynne Sherrod, Pam Nicholls and Deana Metz, all working out of Grand Junction, Colorado. Wendy will work closely with western land trusts in developing new programs. More |
Read one of the most popular Exchange articles ever, “Livable Places: How Protecting Land Benefits Us All.” Evidence from a Trust for Public Land report suggests that parks and natural areas are an investment yielding important benefits, such as:
- Economic,
- Improved public health,
- Strengthened neighborhoods,
- Environmental protection, and
- Preservation of natural beauty.
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| You can help permanently extend the new tax incentive for donations of conservation easements! Hard work by land trusts to win support from Senators and Representatives makes us confident the Congress will extend the new incentive – but whether they will be able to do so before the end of the year is unknown. If they can’t, we believe they will try to do so early in 2008. Make sure your Congressperson has cosponsored HR 1576! More |
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Photo by Francesca Dalleo | Read our latest land trust success story. Glen Deven Ranch, 860 acres above Highway 1 in the hills of Big Sur in California, is a striking example of the beauty, simplicity and raw power of the area. The property, a bequest to the land trust in 2001, is also a valuable community resource – serving residents in times of emergencies or natural disasters, and being available for other nonprofits to help reconnect at-risk and underserved kids with nature. |
Receive an hour's free advice at Rally from top GIS experts - whether you are a complete novice or an experienced user. Sign up by e-mailing strategicconservation@lta.org or stop by Booth #35 and sign up onsite. At the Land Trust Technology Clinic, learn about:
- GIS tools being used by land trusts
- How these tools can help your land trust be more effective
- Raising money for projects with GIS
- Solving specific GIS problems you are experiencing
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| A temporary provision in the Pension Protection Act allows people over 70 ½ year of age to make charitable distributions from their IRA this year only. We encourage land trusts to publicize this with your supporters to take advantage of it before it expires in December! Learn more and see sample language you can adapt for your own fundraising. |
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