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WHAT LAND CONSERVANCIES CAN DO FOR YOU |
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WHAT LAND CONSERVANCIES CAN DO FOR YOU |
On the grassroots level a notable response to the increased awareness of the threat to our natural environment has been the rapid growth of land conservancies. Land conservancies, which are not "trusts" in the legal sense, are private, nonprofit 501(c)(3) organizations. They go by a variety of names, such as "land trust," "open-land association," "land foundation," or "land conservancy." Their common goal is land conservation for the benefit of people and nature. Their strength is in their numbers and in the quality of people they attract. Today there are more than 1000 land conservancies throughout the nation with a total membership of more than 1,000,000. On average, a new land conservancy forms somewhere in the United States every week. They are an effective and non-controversial segment of the environmental community.
Land Conservancies Are Pragmatic.
They are formed by members of the community who are motivated by love of the land to preserve special places. Land conservancies provide people with a means to reassert control over the quality of life in their community through a combination of techniques which recognize both political and economic realities.
These qualities make land conservancies ideal as an interface between the private and public sectors in both the acquisition and management of conservation lands.
Land Conservancies Are Cost Effective.
Private, nonprofit land conservancies have proven to be cost effective on both regional and local scales. Studies by the California Coastal Conservancy and the Land Trust Alliance have shown that land conservancies can acquire open space at a cost that is typically 30 percent less than governmental agencies. In San Diego County, the Fallbrook Land Conservancy and the Anza-Borrego Foundation have met or exceeded this cost saving in acquiring conservation land over the past ten years.
Land conservancies can hold, monitor, and maintain the land for less than a public agency's cost because of community involvement. They help to spark and kindle the sense of ownership, responsibility, and imagination that is necessary to form a "regional community."
Land Conservancies, as private non-profit organizations, have a proven track record of cost-effectiveness in acquiring and maintaining conservation land.
The reasons for the land conservancy advantage are:
Non-profit land conservancies can provide the same tax advantages, but are not subject to the same restrictions as public agencies, so they can often act much faster and more efficiently than public agencies;
Land conservancies, as non-political organizations, enjoy and benefit from grass-roots community support;
Local land conservancies know their communities; they have knowledge of land values and are sensitive to landowner's need for fair compensation;
Land conservancies, as private non-profit organizations can successfully compete in the open market in negotiating real estate transactions;
Land conservancies, with the support of the local community, can hold, monitor and maintain land over the long term at a fraction of the cost to a public agency.
One of the primary objectives of the San Diego Land Conservancy Coalition is to represent and coordinate San Diego County land conservancies so they and public agencies can work together more effectively in the acquisition and long-term maintenance of conservation lands.
Our advisory council consists of representatives from the major land conservancies in the county, as well as professionals in real estate, law, landscape architecture, botany, wildlife biology, habitat restoration and natural land management. Members of the coalition have agreed to abide by the strict standards and practices guidelines established by the national Land Trust Alliance.