Hudson Highlands Land Trust Earns National Recognition Accreditation Awarded by the Land Trust Accreditation Commission

The Land Trust Accreditation Commission, an independent program of the Land Trust Alliance, announced on September 19, 2008 that Hudson Highlands Land Trust (HHLT) 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."

"Hudson Highlands Land Trust's accredited status demonstrates our commitment to permanent land conservation," says Andy Chmar, HHLT Executive Director. "Our land trust is a stronger organization today having gone through the rigorous accreditation program."

Hudson Highlands Land Trust protects the natural resources, rural character and scenic beauty of the Hudson Highlands through land conservation, public advocacy, community outreach, and the promotion of sound long-term planning. Founded in 1989, HHLT holds 57 conservation easements and owns two properties.

Land is America's most important and valuable resource. Conserving our 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 across 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.

HHLT is one of 38 land trusts that were awarded accreditation at a special ceremony at Rally: The National Land Conservation Conference in Pittsburgh, PA in September. Rally, hosted by The Land Trust Alliance, is the largest gathering of land conservationists in the country. 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.

"We are proud to display the accreditation seal and to be one of the five land trusts in New York State to receive this distinction in the first year it is offered," commented Chmar.

The Land Trust Accreditation Commission 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. More information is available on the Commission's website, www.landtrustaccreditation.org.