Land Trust Alliance Programs

The Land Trust Alliance (LTA) promotes voluntary land conservation and strengthens the land trust movement by providing the leadership, information, skills and resources that land trusts need to conserve land for the benefit of communities and natural systems.

Founded as a nonprofit organization in 1982, LTA has a membership of approximately 900 land trusts and is supported by more than 1,000 individuals. With its headquarters in Washington, D.C. and regional programs across the country, LTA is the nation's leading resource for land trusts and those interested in voluntary land conservation. Among LTA's services to land trusts are:

• Technical Assistance: LTA answers hundreds of requests annually from member land trusts and others who seek the most current information on scores of technical questions affecting the increasingly complex issue of land conservation. Member land trusts with Internet access can now search for information themselves at www.LTAnet.org.

• Public Policy: LTA is the land trust movement's voice on Capitol Hill, working to promote federal policies that support voluntary land conservation, foster public-private partnerships that conserve America's great and small vistas, and increase the resources and incentives that will ensure the permanent protection of important lands.

• Training: LTA's Land Trust Alliance Rally is the nation's largest conference for land conservationists, offering more than 125 educational workshops, day-long seminars and field trips to illuminate current land protection issues. LTA also offers a range of additional training opportunities, from intensive multi-day workshops under the Land Conservation Leadership Program, co-sponsored by The Conservation Fund, to local training sessions and regional conferences.

• Funding: LTA provides more than $500,000 annually in grants and training scholarships to help land trusts work effectively and efficiently in protecting critical and beloved open lands in local communities across the nation.

• Regional Programs: LTA provides direct services on behalf of land conservation through regional programs that help land trusts do the best possible job of conserving open spaces. LTA's regional programs serve the Northeast (office in Saratoga Springs, NY); Midwest (office in Portage, MI); and Southeast (office in Durham, NC).

• Getting The Word Out: From Exchange, a peer-written magazine with essential "how-to" articles, to its library of authoritative books, LTA provides essential information for those protecting open spaces.

• Standards and Practices: LTA's Standards and Practices Guidebook provides land trusts with step-by-step information and recommendations to ensure that both land trusts and their land transactions are fundamentally sound.