TRLT Earns National Recognition

"Accredited land trusts meet national quality standards for protecting important natural places and working lands forever," said Commission Executive Director Tammara Van Ryn. "The accreditation seal lets the public know that the accredited land trust has undergone an extensive, external review of the governance and management of its organization and the systems and policies it uses to protect land."

"Teton Regional Land Trust accredited status demonstrates our commitment to permanent land conservation," says Conrad Kramer, Executive Director "Our land trust is a stronger organization today having gone through the rigorous accreditation program."

The Teton Regional Land Trust’s mission is to conserve agricultural and natural lands and to encourage land stewardship in the Upper Snake River Watershed for the benefit of today’s communities and as a legacy for future generations. Founded in 1990, the Land Trust strategically conserves lands that protect and enhance community values, water quality, working farms and ranches, wildlife habitat, native plants and biodiversity. Additionally we work to thoroughly and effectively steward protected lands, to uphold easement terms and to enhance conservation values through restoration projects.

Teton Regional Land Trust’s service area focuses on six counties in Eastern Idaho (Bonneville, Clark, Fremont, Jefferson Madison and Teton), and includes portions of four other counties in Idaho and one in Wyoming (Teton County, WY). Most of the lands protected by the Teton Regional Land Trust, and private landowner partners, are centered along important riparian corridors within the southwestern portion of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Within these priority areas, to date, the Teton Regional Land Trust has worked with 86 families to protect over 25,000 acres.

Teton Regional Land Trust was awarded accreditation this August along with other land trusts from across the country. These land trusts join 59 other land trusts from across the country that have been awarded accreditation since the fall of 2008. Accredited land trusts are able to display a 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.

The Land Trust Accreditation Commission, based in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., awards the accreditation seal to community institutions that meet national quality standards for protecting important natural places and working lands forever. The Commission, an independent program of the Land Trust Alliance established in 2006, is governed by a volunteer board of diverse land conservation and nonprofit management experts from around the country. The Alliance, of which Teton Regional Land Trust is a member, is a national conservation group based in Washington, D.C. that works to save the places people love by strengthening conservation throughout America.

"The accreditation process has helped to ensure that we are doing things to the national standards. By requiring us to rigorously review all of our practices and policies, it has made us a stronger organization. We feel we owe this to our board, our staff, our donors and our landowners. We are proud to display the accreditation seal," said Bonnie Self, Accreditation Coordinator.

More information on the accreditation program is available on the Commission’s website, www.landtrustaccreditation.org. More information about the Alliance is available at www.landtrustalliance.org. ■