Dear ,
 Federal law requires every land trust holding conservation
easements to have the financial resources to monitor and defend those easements.
With litigation costs in some cases exceeding $300,000, many land trusts have
asked the Alliance to investigate the availability of insurance to cover those
costs. We listened to your concerns and hired an independent insurance consultant
to evaluate alternatives.
See the blurb below for more information on
conservation defense insurance, and if you are coming to Rally you can learn more
and give us your feedback. 
Rand Wentworth
President,
Land Trust Alliance
|
|
| Think You Missed
The Boat? | Thank you
to all who have registered for Rally! We are excited to see you in Pittsburgh
next week for an incredible four days packed with learning, networking and fun!
If you missed the boat for pre-registration, grab our life preserver...onsite
registrations will be accepted! We still have a place for you on a few of the
field trips, at several of the seminars and all of the workshops. Please come
by the registration desk on the 3rd floor of the David L. Lawrence Convention
Center and we'll be glad to register you for the greatest land conservation education
and training event in the nation! More
|
|
| Help Set Alliance
Policy Priorities for 2009 |
Each year, the Land Trust Alliance's Policy Advisory Council has an open meeting
at Rally to discuss which public policy issues we should prioritize for next year.
Please see
a memo describing the issues we could focus on in the year ahead. We look
forward to hearing from you at Rally workshop D24, 10:30 a.m. on Sunday, or e-mail
your comments to policy@lta.org
by September 16. Back to Top |
|
|
| Don't Miss Out!
Be One of the First Registrants for a Free Board Governance Course! | Participate in a new, interactive
online course, Preparing
for Perpetuity: Building Your Board, led by Marc Smiley. A mix of weekly online
presentations and discussion, this course will focus on building and sustaining
an effective board of directors. Participants will have the opportunity to create
board development plans and have them reviewed by Marc. It will be held on Wednesdays
from October 8-29.
Free to the first 20 board members, staff and volunteers
of Alliance member organizations who register! Contact learn@lta.org.
More
|
|
| Using a Crystal
Ball to Determine Stewardship Costs? | Are you wondering how much it will cost to care for your easements
or fee lands for the long haul? Learn how to forecast instead of speculate and
receive an overview of investing and managing your funds! Try our new online Curriculum
course – anytime, anywhere – at The Learning Center, "Determining
Stewardship Costs and Managing Dedicated Funds."
This self-paced course
will help you calculate realistic figures, including anticipated future staff
costs, as well as the potential enforcement/defense costs for conservation easement
holdings, including any necessary legal or technical advice. If you have questions,
course author Brenda
Lind is on the discussion forums with the answers. Back to Top |
|
|
|
|
| Development
Threatens Nebraska; Landowners Fight Back |  The Schramm Bluffs region between Omaha and Lincoln
borders the Platte River and is home to several threatened and endangered species,
as well as numerous Native American archaeological sites.
Development
in this fastest growing county in Nebraska could fragment this historically and
ecologically valuable land, but the Nebraska Environmental Trust, Nebraska Land
Trust, and a group of landowners are doing their part to make sure this land stays
intact. More
Back to Top |
|
|
| IRS Releases
New Form 990 Instructions |
The IRS has released revised instructions for the redesigned Form 990 for the
2008 tax year, along with additional background documents to help nonprofits make
the transition to the new form. Adjustments were made in several areas, including
narrowing the definition of "key employee" and the standard for determining independence
of board members. The new form consists of an 11-page, 11-part core form and related
schedules. Schedule D contains revised reporting requirements for conservation
easements. More
Back to Top |
|
| Report Released
on Feasibility of Conservation Defense Insurance | The consulting firm hired to evaluate conservation defense
insurance has issued a report concluding that insurance might be viable if at
least 12,000 conservation easements are enrolled in a group program within the
first four years. The report is based on the findings of a statistical survey
of a representative cross-section of Alliance members that hold land or easements.
Attend Rally workshop C15, Upholding Conservation Permanence, at 8:30
a.m. Sunday, Sept. 21 to learn more, ask questions and comment. In the meantime
find
out more about conservation defense insurance on our website, including:
|
|
eNews is edited and produced by Francesca Dalleo, Communications
Specialist at the Alliance. This issue was sent to: archive_email@informz.net Land
Trust Alliance
1660 L St NW, Suite 1100, Washington, DC 20036
p:
(202) 638-4725 | f: (202) 638-4730
www.landtrustalliance.org | eNews@lta.org If you wish to opt-out from receiving the eNews e-mails, click here. If
you prefer to unsubscribe from all Land
Trust Alliance e-mails, click here. To subscribe, send
an e-mail to eNews@lta.org with 'subscribe
- eNews' in the subject line. Include your name and e-mail address in the message. |
| UPCOMING EVENTS | 
September 18-21 | Pittsburgh, PA
>> | | >> |
|
free tech clinic at rally
|  Sign up for an hour's free
advice at Rally in Pittsburgh from top GIS experts. | | >> |
|
new curriculum book!
| Learn about strategic plans,
evaluating your programs and determining the human resources needed to accomplish
these tasks in .
| | >> |
|
join the learning center
| By now you've probably
heard about our new online resource, The Learning Center.
If you've wanted
to join but weren't sure how, !
The Learning Center is a service
offered to Alliance member land trusts, partners, and individual members at the
$250 level and above.
| | >> |
|
|
