Openlands receives National Land Trust Excellence Award

Openlands received a National Land Trust Excellence Award for its many accomplishments over the years at the Land Trust Alliance annual conference in October.

“We find inspiration in the good works of our peers in land conservation,” said Rand Wentworth, Alliance president. “And the inspiration we find in these award winners gives us renewed motivation and purpose.”

Honorees recognized at Rally 2015: The National Land Conservation Conference include:

• Steve Small, a leading authority on private land protection, with the Kingsbury Browne Conservation Leadership Award & Fellowship. As the originating author of the federal Income Tax Regulations on Conservation Easements, Small set a national standard for donations he continues to facilitate to this day.
• Kent Land Trust of Kent, Conn., with a National Land Trust Excellence Award. By collaborating with local supporters, Kent Land Trust helped make land conservation a community priority. Its crowning achievement was the timely preservation of Camp Francis, a decommissioned Girl Scouts campground.
• Openlands of Chicago, Ill., with a National Land Trust Excellence Award. For its collective accomplishments across more than 50 years — including creating the Hackmatack National Wildlife Refuge and transforming public school play yards — Openlands exemplifies how land trusts benefit their communities.
• Alicia Reban, Nevada Land Trust’s co-executive director, with the Ambassador Award. Through her extraordinary work in political advocacy in her state and within the halls of Congress, Reban has tirelessly advanced efforts to make permanent an enhanced federal incentive for conservation easement donations.

Awards to Small, Kent Land Trust and Openlands were bestowed Oct. 8 during a welcoming dinner. Reban received her award Oct. 9 at the opening session of Rally 2015, the nation’s premier gathering for conservation leadership and training. For more information about Rally 2015, visit www.lta.org/rally.

In conjunction with his award, Small was named to serve in the Kingsbury Browne Fellowship at the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy for 2015-2016. For the fellowship, Small will engage in research, writing and mentoring with the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, a think tank focusing on land policy that’s based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The fellowship and award are named after the land conservationist who inspired the Alliance’s founding.

The Land Trust Alliance is a national land conservation organization working to save the places people love by strengthening land conservation across America.