Accreditation Awarded by the Land Trust Accreditation Commission
(Colorado Springs, CO) – The Land Trust Accreditation Commission, an independent
program of the Land Trust Alliance, announced that Palmer Land Trust has been awarded
accredited status.

“Accredited land trusts meet national quality standards for protecting important natural places
and working lands forever,” said Commission Executive Director Tammara Van Ryn. “The
accreditation seal lets the public know that the accredited land trust has undergone an
extensive, external review of the governance and management of its organization and the
systems and policies it uses to protect land.”

“Palmer Land Trust’s accredited status demonstrates our commitment to permanent land
conservation,” says Scott Campbell, Palmer Land Trust Executive Director. “Our land trust is
a stronger organization today having gone through the rigorous accreditation program.”

Palmer Land Trust’s mission is to guarantee that open lands remain a part of southeastern
Colorado’s heritage. Since 1977, Palmer Land Trust has protected over 70,000 acres of farms
and ranches, important wildlife habitat, beautiful scenic corridors, and cherished public open
spaces. Today, the organization is the largest local land trust in the United States based on
conserved acreage and one of the twenty largest land trusts overall.

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 37
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.

Palmer Land Trust was awarded accreditation this December and is one of 113 land trusts
from across the country that has been awarded accreditation since the fall of 2008. Accredited
land trusts are able to display a seal indicating to the public that they meet national standards

for excellence, uphold the public trust and ensure that conservation efforts are permanent.
The seal is a mark of distinction in land conservation.

The Land Trust Accreditation Commission, based in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., awards the
accreditation seal to community institutions that meet national quality standards for protecting
important natural places and working lands forever. The Commission, an independent
program of the Land Trust Alliance established in 2006, is governed by a volunteer board of
diverse land conservation and nonprofit management experts from around the country. The
Alliance, of which Palmer Land Trust is a member, is a national conservation group based in
Washington, D.C. that works to save the places people love by strengthening conservation
throughout America. More information on the accreditation program is available on the
Commission’s website, www.landtrustaccreditation.org. More information on the Alliance is
available at www.landtrustalliance.org. More information on Palmer Land Trust can be found
at www.palmerlandtrust.org.

“Now that Palmer Land Trust is accredited, it will continue to strive to meet the top industry
standards and practices. The accreditation seal provides our partners, landowners, and the
general community the utmost confidence in the work that the Palmer Land Trust performs.
Use of the accreditation seal is not taken lightly, because all land trusts – across the country –
are impacted by the actions and integrity of other land trusts, especially accredited land
trusts,” said Josh Tenneson, Palmer Land Trust Programs Director.