Land Trust Standards and Practices

Applicant Handbook: Companion to the Application for Land Trust Accreditation

2016
Organizations/Sources: Land Trust Accreditation Commission
A guide to help land trusts organizations through the accreditation process.
Last Modified
Mar 01, 2017
Viewed
4320 times

Are You Ready for Land Trust Accreditation Factsheet

A publication of the Land Trust Accreditation Commission.
Last Modified
Oct 18, 2017
Viewed
2402 times

Assessing Your Organization

2008
Organizations/Sources: Land Trust Alliance
This publication is designed to complement the 2004 Land Trust Standards and Practices. General information on Land Trust Standards and Practices and on Land Trust Alliance publications and training programs related to the standards and practices can be found at www. landtrustalliance.org. The two-volume Land Trust Standards and Practices Guidebook contains more detailed information about each practice and how land trusts can meet them. Alliance member land trusts and partners can find this informa- tion, sample documents and more online at The Learning Center (http://learningcenter.lta.org).
Last Modified
Jul 18, 2012
Viewed
4719 times

Benefits of Accreditation

2007
Organizations/Sources: Land Trust Accreditation Commission
Fact sheet illustrating the benefits of accreditation.
Last Modified
Oct 17, 2009
Viewed
3428 times

Conservation Capacity and Enforcement Capability

Organizations/Sources: Land Trust Alliance
How well are you meeting your commitment to protect in perpetuity the conservation values of your fee lands and easement holdings? Is your stewardship fund adequate? What should you be doing regarding enforcement funds? Download LTA’s newest report.
Last Modified
Oct 20, 2009
Viewed
5172 times

Conservation Curriculum

Organizations/Sources: Land Trust Alliance
The 15 courses that make up the Standards and Practices Curriculum are written by top conservation experts. In addition, each course goes through a rigorous review and pilot process to ensure land trusts have an authoritative resource on private land conservation.
Last Modified
Jul 18, 2012
Viewed
4693 times

Ensuring Sound Transactions (Standard 9 of S&P)

2009
Authors: Teddy Price and Estelle Dolan
Organizations/Sources: Brandywine Conservancy
This presentation focuses on easement recordkeeping and, more specifically, the six accreditation indicator practices of Standard 9: Ensuring Sound Transactions from Land Trust Standards and Practices. This presentation is beneficial for land trusts that are undergoing self-assessment or reviewing their recordkeeping practices. Session 3h of 2009 PA Land Conservation Conference
Last Modified
Aug 21, 2018
Viewed
4573 times

Find an Accredited Land Trust

2009
Organizations/Sources: Land Trust Accreditation Commission
Online search mechanism for accredited land trusts
Last Modified
Aug 15, 2011
Viewed
4957 times

Good Governance Practices for 501c3 Organizations

Organizations/Sources: Internal Revenue Service
The Internal Revenue Service suggests that organizations review and consider the following to help ensure that directors understand their roles and responsibilities and actively promote good governance practices.
Last Modified
Jul 18, 2012
Viewed
4669 times

IRS letter ruling 201110020

2011
Organizations/Sources: Internal Revenue Service
This 2011 IRS private letter ruling illustrates a rare instance of a land trust losing its tax-exempt status. It exhibits the consequences of flagrant disregard for legal and ethical standards and the process of fact-finding that may result in an adverse IRS action. The factors supporting the IRS determination that the land trust was operating for private (as opposed to public) benefit included: • an abject failure to maintain corporate records; • failure to report compensation paid to its founder/president; • dubious business relationships between the founder/president's for-profit company and the land trust; • receipt of payment from a landowner, and payment by the land trust of "consulting fees" to the founder/president, in connection with an easement amendment that doubled the building right with no reciprocal conservation benefits to the land trust; • the making of direct political campaign contributions; • a lack of resources or staff to monitor or enforce its easements; and • the founder/president entering private consulting contracts with prospective land donors.
Last Modified
Apr 16, 2024
Viewed
488 times

Land Trust Accreditation

2024
Authors: Nate Lotze and Andrew M. Loza
The Land Trust Accreditation Commission offers outside verification that a land trust conforms with a key set of practices within Land Trust Standards and Practices. Accreditation is voluntary. A land trust should weigh the advantages of rigorous, external review against the opportunity costs of obtaining and maintaining accredited status. WeConservePA guide, 7 pages.
Last Modified
Feb 27, 2024
Viewed
4666 times

Land Trust Accreditation Application Toolkit

2009
Organizations/Sources: Land Trust Accreditation Commission
A collection of materials and resources that are needed to apply for accreditation.
Last Modified
Aug 15, 2011
Viewed
4076 times

Land Trust Accreditation Guidance Documents

Organizations/Sources: Land Trust Accreditation Commission
The Land Trust Accreditation Commission occasionally publishes Guidance Documents to help applicants interpret specific indicator practices drawn from Land Trust Standards and Practices. These documents may be amended from time to time. Guidance Documents are intended as just that – guidance for applicants. They complement information provided by the Land Trust Alliance on how to implement the practices that can be found at http://learningcenter.lta.org.
Last Modified
Jul 18, 2012
Viewed
4337 times

Land Trust Boards Preparign for Perpetuity

Authors: Marc Smiley
Organizations/Sources: Land Trust Alliance
This student guide is part of the Land Trust Alliance's Standards & Practices Curriculum and is designed to provided guidance and tools to implement practices 2B, 3B, 3C and 3F.
Last Modified
Sep 24, 2012
Viewed
4303 times

Land Trust Standards and Practices

2017
Organizations/Sources: Land Trust Alliance
Land Trust Standards and Practices are the ethical and technical guidelines for the responsible operation of a land trust. First published in 1989, they were updated in 1993, 2001, 2004, and 2017. They are a collective product of the land trust community; more than 1,600 comments were received from conservationists during preparation of the 2017 edition.
Last Modified
Sep 02, 2022
Viewed
17728 times

Land Trust Standards and Practices: Guidelines for the Responsible Operation of a Land Trust

2023
Authors: Nate Lotze and Andrew M. Loza
The Land Trust Standards and Practices are widely accepted ethical and technical guidelines for the responsible operation of land trusts. WeConservePA guide. 3 pages.
Last Modified
Apr 06, 2023
Viewed
4059 times

Managing Conservation Easements in Perpetuity

2009
Have you ever received a request to amend an easement and weren’t sure of the right course of action? Unsure about how to decline a request without alienating the landowner? Have you been confronted with a new landowner who is unaware of or reluctant to abide by the terms of the easement? If so, this book can help.
Last Modified
Sep 14, 2017
Viewed
3534 times

Nonprofit Law and Recordkeeping Volume II

2008
This book describes the legal requirements for operating a land trust and keeping good organizational and transaction records. It teaches readers how to develop and implement policies to guide how a land trust creates, collects, retains, stores, protects, and disposes of these types of records. It also covers the issue of tax exemption, including the major requirements for maintaining charitable tax-exempt status and an overview of IRS Form 990.
Last Modified
Sep 14, 2017
Viewed
3329 times

PALTA Comment on Land Trust Standards and Practices, 9/13/2016

2016
The board of directors of the Pennsylvania Land Trust Association, acting on the unanimous recommendation of PALTA’s 29-member policy advisory committee, directly addressed the following question in an open communication to the land trust community dated September 13, 2016: How does a board's exercise of judgment intersect with the Standards?
Last Modified
Mar 02, 2017
Viewed
4085 times

Should Your Land Trust Apply for Accreditation?

2007
Organizations/Sources: Land Trust Alliance
Early lessons from the pilot program
Last Modified
Oct 16, 2009
Viewed
3893 times

Top 5 Tips for Preparing Your Application

2007
Organizations/Sources: Land Trust Accreditation Commission
Lessons learned from 2007 pilot program
Last Modified
Aug 15, 2011
Viewed
3881 times