March 17, 2010

Stowe Land Trust is proud to announce that it has been accredited by the Land Trust Accrediation Commission, an independent program of the Land Trust Alliance.

During the nearly 2-year process, SLT submitted reams of material and underwent an extensive external review of it's governance, management policies and systems it uses to protect land.  "Stowe Land Trust's accredited status means that we have met national quality standards for protecting important natural places and working lands in our community," says Heather Furman, SLT's Executive Director.  "While SLT has established itself as a leader in local land protection, our land trust is stronger today having gone through the rigorous accreditation program.  Being accredited is a true meaning of success for our organization."

Stowe Land Trust was founded in 1987 and works to protect scenic, recreational, and productive farm and forest lands in the greater Stowe area.  With its Board of 20 and staff of 3, SLT has conserved over 3,200 acres of land in Stowe, Morristown, and Waterbury.  Stowe Land Trust was awarded accreditation this March along with other land trusts from across the country.  These land trusts join 82 land trusts that have been awarded accreditation since the fall of 2008.  Accredited land trusts are able to display the Accreditation Seal indicating to the public that they meet national standards for excellence, uphold the public trust, and ensure that conservation efforts are permanent.  The seal is a mark of distinction in land conservation.

Land is America's most important and valuable resource.  Conserving land helps ensure clean air and drinking water, food security, scenic landscapes and views, recreational places, and habitat for the diversity of life on earth.  Across the country, local citizens and communities have come together to form land trusts to save the places they love.  Community leaders in land trusts throughout the country have worked with willing landowners to save over 37 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, and safeguard the land through the generations.

The Land Trust Accreditation Commission, based in Saratoga Springs, NY, is governed by a volunteer Board of diverse land conservation and nonprofit management experts from around the country.  The Alliance, of which Stowe Land Trust is a member, is a national conservation group based in Washington, D.C. that works to strengthen conservation throughout America.