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Wilmington NC – The Land Trust Accreditation Commission, an independent program of the Land Trust Alliance, announced that North Carolina Coastal Land Trust has been awarded accredited status.
“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.”
“Being accredited is an exciting affirmation of the North Carolina Coastal Land Trust’s record of accomplishments—enriching coastal communities through conservation of almost 50,000 acres of open space and natural areas, conservation education, good land stewardship, and operating in a fiscally sound and ethically responsible way.” – said Linda Murchison, President of the Board of Directors, Linda Murchison
The Coastal Land Trust is celebrating its 20th anniversary of saving special coastal lands in North Carolina. The organization has protected nearly 50,000 acres by working with landowners who wish to conserve lands with scenic, recreational, historic and ecological value. North Carolina Coastal Land Trust has saved beaches that became state parks, streams that provide clean water, forests that are havens for wildlife, working farms that provide local food, and nature parks that everyone can enjoy.
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 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, and safeguard the land through the generations.
The Coastal Land Trust was awarded accreditation this August and is one of only 158 land trusts from across the country that has been awarded accreditation since the fall of 2008. 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. More information on the accreditation program is available on the Commission’s website.
“Saving coastal lands is vitally important—for clean water, nature parks, and for all life that depends on the health of the coastal region’s lands and waters. But like any non-profit, North Carolina Coastal Land Trust depends on public confidence and support. So we’re proud to be among the top 10% of land trusts in the nation that are accredited,” said the Coastal Land Trust’s Founder and Executive Director, Camilla Herlevich
More information about the Coastal Land Trust is available at www.coastallandtrust.org.
Submitted by: Nancy Preston, Outreach Coordinator, NC Coastal Land Trust, 131 Racine Drive, Suite 202, Wilmington, NC 28403