Natural Land Institute is pleased to announce it has achieved national recognition as an accredited land trust. Staff and board members have gone through a rigorous multi-year process to ensure that policies, procedures and practices meet the highest standards as set by the Land Trust Accreditation Commission. “As a newly accredited land trust, we must renew every five years, confirming our compliance with national quality standards and providing continued assurance to donors and landowners of our commitment to forever care for our land and easements”, said Kerry Leigh, Executive Director of NLI.
“The accreditation seal awarded by the Commission indicates these groups demonstrate sound finances, ethical conduct, responsible governance and lasting stewardship of the lands they protect,” according to the Land Trust Accreditation Commission, a program that promotes national quality standards for ensuring permanence in conservation lands throughout the United States. The Commission is an independent program of the Land Trust Alliance, a national land conservation organization working to save the places people need and love by strengthening land conservation across America.
The Natural Land Institute is celebrating 60 years of preserving natural land during 2018. NLI is a 501(c)3, non-profit land trust and conservation organization based in Rockford, Illinois, which has protected more than 17,300 acres of natural land in Illinois since 1958. NLI’s current service area covers twelve counties: Winnebago, Boone, northern DeKalb, Ogle, Lee, Bureau, Henry, Rock Island, Whiteside, Carroll, Jo Daviess and Stephenson Counties. NLI’s mission is to create an enduring legacy of natural land in northern Illinois for people, plants and animals. The President of the Board of Trustees is Mark Maffei. For more information and to donate: www.NaturalLand.org.
The Land Trust Accreditation Commission, a program promoting national quality standards for ensuring permanence in the conservation of American lands, announced on February 28, 2018 that 34 land trusts were recognized for having completed the rigorous process to achieve first-time or renewed accreditation.
“These land trusts have earned the highest mark of national recognition and now display a seal you can trust,” said Tammara Van Ryn, executive director of the Commission. “These community-based organizations are saving land people care about, town-by-town, across America.” Accredited land trusts have conserved nearly 20 million acres of farmland, forests, wildlife habitat and important water supplies.
Read More Here: https://www.landtrustalliance.org/34-land-trusts-achieve-national-recognition