Land Trust of SCC Earns National Recognition

Group Awarded by the Land Trust Accreditation Commission

SANTA CRUZ — After an extensive evaluation, the Land Trust of Santa Cruz County has been awarded accreditation by the Land Trust Accreditation Commission. Land Trust of Santa Cruz County is now one of 230 land trusts from across the country that has been awarded accreditation since the fall of 2008.

“Land Trust of Santa Cruz County’s accredited status demonstrates our commitment to permanent land conservation,” said Executive Director Terry Corwin. “Our land trust is a stronger organization today having gone through the rigorous accreditation program.”

Each accredited land trust submitted extensive documentation and underwent a rigorous review. “Through accreditation land trusts conduct important planning and make their operations more efficient and strategic,” said Commission Executive Director Tammara Van Ryn. “Accredited organizations have engaged and trained citizen conservation leaders and improved systems for ensuring that their conservation work is permanent.”

The Land Trust of Santa Cruz County is now able to display a seal of accreditation indicating to the public that it meets national standards for excellence, upholds the public trust and ensures that conservation efforts are permanent. The seal is a mark of distinction in land conservation.

“Land trusts are gaining higher profiles with their work on behalf of citizens, and the seal of accreditation from the Land Trust Accreditation Commission is a way to prove to their communities that land trusts are worthy of the significant public and private investment in land conservation,” noted Land Trust Alliance President Rand Wentworth.

Across the country, local citizens and communities have formed land trusts to save the places they love. Community leaders in land trusts throughout the country have worked with willing landowners to save over 47 million acres of farms, forests, parks and places people care about. Strong, well-managed land trusts provide local communities with effective champions and caretakers of their critical land resources for future generations.

Local residents concerned about protecting the lands that make Santa Cruz County special formed The Land Trust of Santa Cruz County in 1978. Since then, the Land Trust has protected more than 13,000 acres by working with willing landowners and conservation partners. The trust protects both working lands, like farms and timberland, and natural lands with high conservation value – thus protecting water supplies, wildlife habitats and open space.

The Land Trust Accreditation Commission, an independent program of the Land Trust Alliance, awards the accreditation seal to community institutions that meet national quality standards for protecting important natural places and working lands forever. More information is available on the Commission’s website, www.landtrustaccreditation.org.

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The Land Trust Alliance, based in Washington D.C., is a national conservation group that works to save the places people love by strengthening conservation throughout America. It works to increase the pace and quality of conservation by advocating favorable tax policies, training land trusts in best practices and working to ensure the permanence of conservation in the face of continuing threats. It has established an endowment to help ensure the success of the accreditation program and keep it affordable for land trusts of all sizes to participate in accreditation. More information can be found at www.landtrustalliance.org and www.landtrustsantacruz.org