Natural Lands Trust Awarded National Accreditation

The Land Trust Accreditation Commission, an independent program of the Land Trust Alliance, announced today that Natural Lands Trust, the region’s largest conservation organization, 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."

"We are very pleased to receive accreditation," noted Molly Morrison, president of Natural Lands Trust. "It serves not only as affirmation of our organization’s commitment to excellence but as an important reinforcement of the trust that so many landowners and partners have placed in us over the years."

Natural Lands Trust is a non-profit conservation organization serving eastern Pennsylvania and southern New Jersey. Founded in 1953 to preserve what is now the John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge in Philadelphia, the organization has grown into the largest land trust in the region. Each year, Natural Land Trust partners with landowners, public officials and others to preserve thousands of acres of forests, fields, wetlands and farms. Its network of over 40 nature preserves spans more than 20,000 acres and includes some of the region’s largest privately-owned natural areas.

Recently, Natural Lands Trust was involved in the successful preservation of the 450-acre Erdenheim Farm located in Montgomery County just outside Philadelphia. Other notable recent projects include the establishment of the 1,200-acre ChesLen Preserve near Unionville, Chester County; preservation of more than 2,000 acres in the Unami Forest area of northern Montgomery and western Bucks Counties; and creating the 3,400-acre Bear Creek Preserve near Wilkes-Barre.

Andy Pitz, Natural Lands Trust’s Vice President of Policy and Planning, oversaw the accreditation application process and said that it was both rigorous and beneficial. "Imagine reviewing and documenting fifty-five years worth of an organization’s work," Pitz explained. "It was well worth the effort, though. Applying for Accreditation gave us the opportunity to reflect on our current management and ensure that we were operating at the very highest level."

Natural Lands Trust was founded near the beginning of the land trust movement. Land trusts are nonprofit organizations that, as all or part of their mission, actively work to conserve land and/or care for preserved lands. Today, there are about 1,700 land trusts working in communities across the United States that have saved over 37 million acres of open space.

Natural Lands Trust is one of only 78 land trusts from around the country to be awarded accreditation since the assessment process began last year. Accredited land trusts are able to display a seal indicating to the public that they meet national standards for excellence, uphold the public trust and ensure that conservation efforts are permanent. The seal is a mark of distinction in land conservation.

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. The Commission, an independent program of the Land Trust Alliance established in 2006, is governed by a volunteer board of diverse land conservation and nonprofit management experts from around the country. The Alliance, of which Natural Lands Trust is a member, is a national conservation group based in Washington, D.C. that works to save the places people love by strengthening conservation throughout America. More information on the accreditation program is available on the Commission’s website, www.landtrustaccreditation.org. More information on the Alliance is available at www.landtrustalliance.org.