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About Land Trust Partner
Land For The People (LFTP) founders decided to work with an existing and reputable land trust rather than creating their own non-profit. We were impressed with the work and reputation of Trust for Public Land (TPL), and were pleased to find they agreed to work with us. They are recognized for their low cost ratio and for adhering to their mission. Forbes, Money, and The Wall Street Journal's SmartMoney magazine have given TPL high ratings for a charitable institution for keeping fundraising and operation costs low. They have a range of initiatives and programs that conserve a large amount of land each year. They also prove they work well with others by lining up public and private support for each project and turning conserved land over to the appropriate organization or agency that can sustain it in perpetuity.
Following is information about the land trust from their website (copyright 2007, Trust For Public Lands) describing a few of their initiatives that are most aligned with the goals of Land for the People.
About TPL
The Trust for Public Land (TPL) is a national, nonprofit, land conservation organization that conserves land for people to enjoy as parks, community gardens, historic sites, rural lands, and other natural places, ensuring livable communities for generations to come.
- Natural Lands: conserving wilderness, wildlife habitat, and places of natural beauty for our children's children to explore.
- Land & Water: preserving land to ensure clean drinking water and to protect the natural beauty of our coasts and waterways.
Natural Lands Initiative
The American conservation movement was born of the impulse to preserve natural lands. Early park visionaries believed that lands should be set aside to protect wildlife and to conserve forests and other natural resources. They also understood that as population and cities grew, people needed places to make contact with nature-and that providing these places was one measure of a great nation.
Americans continue to seek out nature for the opportunity to see wildlife or just to sit in a sunny glade far from the screech of city streets. But as our population grows, and more land gets developed, natural lands near the cities and expanding suburbs where most of us live are increasingly hard to find and important to protect. It's estimated that over two million acres of land are lost to development each year.
The Trust for Public Land's Natural Lands initiative works with agencies and communities to conserve natural lands for all Americans to enjoy. TPL purchases undeveloped lands from willing landowners and conveys them to fed-eral, state, and local agencies for use as public places of recreation and renewal. These include not only huge untouched landscapes where you can put on a backpack and disappear for a week, but local landscapes as well-places near civilization but where civilization does not rule, where parents can take children to explore and learn the lessons of nature on a sunny afternoon.
Land & Water Initiative
Few things are as important to the health of humans and the environment as fresh, pure water. America's lakes, rivers, streams, and coastal waters are also important recreational resources, supporting swimming, fishing, canoeing, kayaking, sailing-or simply lolling the surf on a warm day. And water has a powerful aesthetic pull for most people, making beaches, rocky coasts, and riverbanks favorite places for a long walk or a picnic, not to mention popular subjects for artistic inspiration. The Trust for Public Land's Land&Water initiative is helping to lead the way in the use of land conservation to protect water quality.
Many communities find it far more economical to prevent pollution by protecting watersheds than to build water treatment plants. A study by TPL and the American Water Works Association revealed that a 10 percent increase in forest cover in a watershed reduces treatment and chemical costs by 20 percent.
TPL uses Geographic Information System (GIS) technology to help communities identify the most important watershed lands for preservation. TPL helps communities raise funds for watershed acquisition and helps them acquire watershed land. And TPL's publishes reports, handbooks, and guides on watershed conservation strategies.
Please Join Us to Conserve Land Now
This button will take you directly to TPL's donation page. When you donate through our link, TPL will be able to report back so we know how much we've helped raise through the Land For The People website--and we want to reiterate--LFTP receives no portion of the funds. Please give generously to the Earth:
