Van Ryn Named Director of Land Trust Accreditation Commission

Washington, DC - The Land Trust Alliance and the Land Trust Accreditation Commission, an independent program of the Land Trust Alliance, proudly announce that Tammara Van Ryn has been selected as the founding director of the new Land Trust Accreditation Commission.

Tammara Van Ryn and Rand Wentworth in the Washington DC office.

Last fall the Land Trust Alliance engaged a national search firm to canvas the country for candidates qualified to lead the new Land Trust Accreditation Commission. Jay Espy (President, Maine Coast Heritage Trust and former Co-chair of the Standards and Practices Program Design Steering Committee), Susan Traylor-Lykes (Chair, Teton Regional Land Trust and Land Trust Alliance board), Larry Kueter (Chair of the Commission, Land Trust Alliance board and Counsel to the Colorado Cattleman's Agricultural Land Trust) and Rand Wentworth (President, Land Trust Alliance) served on the search committee. Last week the search committee made a unanimous recommendation to hire Van Ryn.

Van Ryn brings a deep knowledge of land conservation and Land Trust Standards and Practices to the position and extraordinary skills in managing complex projects, honed through twenty years in the field. She is currently the director of Standards and Research for Land Trust Alliance and previously served as the Policy Director of the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests as well as working as a forester.

In hiring Van Ryn, the Commission will be able to immediately start implementing the accreditation program that was designed through last year's extensive public involvement process. The Commission will incorporate as an independent decision-making subsidiary of Land Trust Alliance in April and hold its first meeting in May. She will start working for the new corporation on May 1 and will establish the Commission's offices in Saratoga Springs, NY.

The Commission is delighted to be able to work with Van Ryn in developing an accreditation program that will build strong land trusts, foster public confidence in land conservation and secure the lasting protection of land.