Accreditation Awarded by the Land Trust Accreditation Commission

(Pocatello, Idaho) — After an extensive evaluation, Sagebrush Steppe Land Trust has been awarded accreditation by the Land Trust Accreditation Commission. Sagebrush Steppe Land Trust is one of 238 land trusts from across the country that has been awarded accreditation since 2008.

Board President Garry Ratzlaff noted, “We are a much stronger organization for having gone through the accreditation process- it has brought a focused rigor to our work and provides us a road map and guide to successful conservation on behalf of our community. We cover all of Southeast Idaho and take great pride in preserving what we think is the best region in the state!”

Each accredited land trust submitted extensive documentation and underwent a rigorous review. “Through accreditation, land trusts conduct important planning and make their operations more efficient and strategic,” said Tammara Van Ryn, Executive Director of the Land Trust Accreditation Commission. “Accredited organizations have engaged and trained citizen conservation leaders and improved systems for ensuring that their conservation work is permanent.”

Sagebrush Steppe Land Trust is now able to display a seal of accreditation indicating to the public that it meets national standards for excellence, upholds the public trust and ensures that conservation efforts are permanent. The seal is a mark of distinction in land conservation.

“Receiving accreditation is but one of our goals as we strive to conduct a legally and ethically sound program. More than anything it has helped us recognize the challenge of stewardship and the obligations we have to future generations. As we begin our tenth year in 2014, we look forward to continuing to protect our shared landscapes.” stated Jerry DeBacker, Executive Director of Sagebrush Steppe Land Trust (SSLT).

Land is America’s most important and valuable resource. Conserving land helps ensure clean air and drinking water, food security, scenic landscapes and views, recreational places, and habitat for the diversity of life on earth. Across the country, local citizens and communities have come together to form land trusts to save the places they love. Community leaders in land trusts throughout the country have worked with willing landowners to save over 47 million acres of farms, forests, parks and places people care about. Strong, well-managed land trusts provide local communities with effective champions and caretakers of their critical land resources, and safeguard the land through the generations.

“Land trusts are gaining higher profiles with their work on behalf of citizens and the seal of accreditation from the Land Trust Accreditation Commission is a way to prove to their communities that land trusts are worthy of the significant public and private investment in land conservation,” noted Land Trust Alliance President Rand Wentworth.