November 2007 eNewsletter

In the midst of this year’s Thanksgiving season, we at the Commission extend our thanks to the organizations in the 2007 pilot program. Their applications will help us modify the program to make it more efficient and effective to better serve the land trust community. The Commission will complete its evaluation of the pilot program in mid-February 2008, but the two substantive changes described below have already been announced for next year.

Changes to the Indicator Practices
Accreditation applicants must demonstrate compliance with a set of accreditation indicator practices selected from Land Trust Standards and Practices. These practices were designated by the Land Trust Alliance and indicate a land trust’s ability to operate in an ethical, legal and technically sound manner and ensure the long-term protection of land in the public interest.

Given the information gained from the pilots, the Commission recommended to the Alliance that the number of indicator practices be reduced from 42 to 37. The Alliance board reviewed the recommendations and approved the removal of the following practices from the list of indicator practices, effective January 1, 2008.

2D. Records Policy
5B. Accountability to Donors
8E. Site Inspection
9L. Transfers and Exchanges of Land
12E. Land Stewardship Administration

Pre-Application
Many groups in the pilots indicated that submitting the application and project documentation at the same time would be a positive change to the process. In response, pre-application data about the land trust and its conservation holdings will be used by the Commission to select projects for which additional documentation will be requested. This will enable land trusts to submit the complete application and project documentation at the same time.

The Commission will adapt the application for accreditation to reflect lessons learned from the pilot program – including the changes listed above – by March 7, 2008. More information on these changes can be found on our website.

Mapledell Farm,Walpole, New Hampshire / Deb Hinman, Monadnock Conservancy

‘Benefits Already Paying Off’
Land trusts in the pilot program, while acknowledging the hard work that went into their applications, have said over and over that their organizations are stronger having gone through the process.

"Completing our application package was truly a monumental task, but the benefits are already paying off, even before the Commission's decision,” says Ryan Owens of the Monadnock Conservancy in New Hampshire. “Reviewing and organizing our policies, procedures, and files made us a stronger organization than ever before, and that achievement alone made our efforts worthwhile."