Dear , The Obama administration is pushing renewable energy and has included funding in the stimulus package. Now, Congress is moving on a climate change bill, and green energy appears to be the wave of the future. This is all good news, but the land trust community should be alert to the ways that new electric transmission lines, wind farms and solar arrays might conflict with their conservation goals. A Nature Conservancy study predicts that energy production will occupy an additional 79,000 square miles of land by 2030, and a recent article in The Washington Post details the underestimated impact of alternative energy projects (“Renewable Energy’s Environmental Paradox”). We are investigating how this trend will affect land trusts and have created a new page on our website to track these issues and to provide a place for discussion. We’ll also have workshops on conservation and green energy at Rally this year. Rand Wentworth President, Land Trust Alliance

WEBINARS

Free Accreditation Webinars If you want to better understand the accreditation process, or see if it’s right for your land trust to apply, register for one of the new FREE webinars hosted by the Land Trust Accreditation Commission. Introduction to Land Trust Accreditation – June 2, 1pm EST Demystifying the Accreditation Process – July 16, 12pm and again July 21, 3pm EST You can also use The Learning Center to help prepare for accreditation. It offers experts to answer your questions online as well as curriculum courses, downloadable PDFs of course books, and sample documents to get things started. More information

Fundraising in Turbulent Times – An Online Roundtable Join the discussion on different fundraising approaches that work well during tough economic times. Led by experts in the field, Fundraising in Turbulent Times Online Roundtable will show you how land trusts can maintain and even grow their base of support now. Held on June 8, this 90-minute workshop is a bargain at $50 per connection. Only 25 connections are available so sign up now! See our other online training offerings, including Drafting Baseline Documentation for Perpetuity on June 3. Back to Top

HELP SPREAD THE WORD

IRS Reminder: All Nonprofits Must File Taxes by May 15 This is the second year of a new requirement for small tax-exempt organizations. Land trusts with annual gross receipts of $25,000 or less must file a Form 990-N e-postcard with the IRS by May 15. The e-postcard is a much abbreviated version of the Form 990 or 990-EZ that larger organizations must file by that same deadline. Learn more about filing requirements for land trusts.

Sharing the Stories: Inspiring Places, Inspired People Stories abound across this country from people who are inspired to act on their visions to protect their family farms and ranches, local waterways, open spaces and cherished ways of life. Their stories, and yours, are what inspire the Alliance to support your land conservation work. Take a moment to read seven distinct conservation tales in our 2008 Annual Report, and see why last year was an incredible one for the Alliance and conservation.

Can’t Wait to See You in Portland Registration for Rally is set to open at the end of May. You can make your room reservation today though, as the hotel room blocks are now available. Two exceptional Rally keynoters just announced! Michael Shellenberger, president of the Breakthrough Institute, is a leading advocate for the U.S. to make large, public-private investments in clean energy and decarbonization technologies. Gary Ferguson, is a writer and adventurer who chronicles the impact of the natural world on human lives, and has explored thousands of miles among the remotest corners of the earth. Back to Top

CONSERVATION DEFENSE

Vermont Conservation Organizations Obtain Felony Conviction for Easement Violation In what may be the first felony conviction in America for violation of a conservation easement and cutting trees on state-owned land, two Vermont men received suspended sentences for illegally cutting a backcountry ski trail measuring 20- to 60-feet wide and more than 2,000-feet long on Big Jay mountain in Vermont. The damage provoked outrage in the backcountry skiing and hiking community after the two men were caught with chainsaws in the Jay State Forest. The two pleaded no contest to felony unlawful mischief on the morning of their trial last month. More

Conservation Defense Insurance Increases Donor Confidence Winston Bowen of the Mendocino Land Trust in California said that the possible “insurance program could not have come at a better time.” Just last month he was in a long conversation with a landowner who is beginning to negotiate with the land trust to conserve his ranch. “One of his key questions was how a small land trust like ours could assure that future landowners would abide by the terms of an established easement.” More Back to Top

LET US KNOW

Climate Change and You Natural Lands Trust, Yale University and the Land Trust Alliance want to know the current state of land trust activity related to climate change and the needs of land trusts in this area. Please take 15 minutes to provide us with information about your climate change activities. The information you provide will inform the creation of resources land trusts can use to address climate change. Take the survey now. The last climate change survey was completed in 2007. See the results here (PPT 531KB). Back to Top

eNews is edited and produced by Francesca Dalleo, Communications Specialist at the Alliance.

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IN THIS ISSUE

>> Free Accreditation Webinars >> Fundraising in Turbulent Times – An Online Roundtable >> IRS Reminder: All Nonprofits Must File Taxes by May 15 >> Sharing the Stories: Inspiring Places, Inspired People >> Can’t Wait to See You in Portland >> Vermont Conservation Organizations Obtain Felony Conviction for Easement Violation >> Conservation Defense Insurance Increases Donor Confidence >> Climate Change and You

UPCOMING EVENTS Rally 2009 | October 11-14 | Portland, OR >>Save the Date Online Trainings Drafting Baseline Documentation for Perpetuity: June 3. MORE>> Fundraising in Turbulent Times, an Online Roundtable: June 8. MORE >> Demystifying the Farm Bill - Tapping the Nation's Largest Source of Conservation Funding: July 8. MORE >> Climate Change and Land Trusts: August 26. MORE >> Events Calendar >>

UPDATED COSPONSORS MAP Ten Virginia Reps. have co-sponsored H.R. 1831! Check your state (PDF, 5MB) More >>

AMERICAN "IDYLL" Help the Trustees of Reservations' Crane Estate win $100,000 for preservation by voting for it in the National Trust for Historic Preservation's funding contest, Partners in Preservation. Vote Now >>

MINNESOTA CAMPAIGN FOR CONSERVATION Learn about how Alliance Board Member David Hartwell spearheaded a multimillion dollar campaign featured in Ducks Unlimited's latest magazine. More >>