Accreditation

Accreditation Status Awarded to BLC

We are delighted to announce that after nearly two years of preparation and rigorous review, the Bedminster Land Conservancy was awarded accreditation status by the national Land Trust Accreditation Commission! This very important recognition certifies that the Bedminster Land Conservancy meets national quality standards for excellence in our policies and practices, upholding the public trust and ensuring that conservation efforts are permanent.

At the national conservation conference held in September, 2008, the BLC was honored in an inaugural ceremony as one of the first land trusts in PA, and one of just 39 nationally to receive this "seal of approval”. Currently, there are over 1700 land trusts in the United States. Accreditation Commission Executive Director Tammara Van Ryn stated, “The accreditation seal lets the public know that the accredited land trust has undergone an extensive, independent review of the governance and management of its organization and the systems and policies it uses to protect land.”

The accreditation process started with the BLC being selected in the winter of 2007 to be one of the very first 22 land trusts in the nation to participate in the accreditation pilot program. By being selected to participate in the pilot, the BLC agreed to provide feedback on the process and assist other land trusts that prepare an application in the future.

The application and review process benefitted the conservancy by ensuring we had strong policies in place, and further strengthened our organization by giving us the opportunity to refine other policies. The BLC Board and our Director of Conservation recognized that the preparation of the application, public comment period, subsequent interviews, and submittals would be a big undertaking for our small land trust, but we all knew it was the right thing to do - to make sure we were, in fact, doing the "right thing" for land preservation in our area, and in turn, for land preservation efforts across the country.

The Land Trust Accreditation Commission is an independent program of the national Land Trust Alliance. It was established in 2006 and is governed by a volunteer board of diverse land conservation and nonprofit management experts from around the country. More information is available on the Commission’s website, www.landtrustaccreditation.org.

Having the accreditation status demonstrates our commitment to permanent land conservation and recognizes that we are actively following processes that meet national standards. We will continue to uphold the highest standards in our operations and transactions with landowners and the several area municipalities.

Our accreditation status was achieved due to the diligent work of the founding board of directors, notably Wendy and Gib Battisti, and Sandi Cowperthwaite who continue to serve on the board and Sue Delin, who recently transitioned off the board after 11 years of service as our Treasurer. We also extend our appreciation to all the board members, volunteers and our staff who helped us over the years to become the strong and effective - and accredited - organization we are today.

The Board of Directors