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Orange County Land Trust Receives
Conservation Capacity and Excellence Grant
From NYSDEC and Land Trust Alliance
Middletown, NY —
April 22, 2008
The Orange County Land Trust was awarded a $10,000 Conservation Partnership Grant from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and the Land Trust Alliance to help the nonprofit land trust increase its capacity to preserve more land in what continues to be New York State's fastest growing county.
Forty community-based land trusts across the state were awarded grants this year administered through the New York State Conservation Partnership Program, a unique public-private initiative administered by the Land Trust Alliance and overseen by the DEC. According to the Land Trust Alliance, at a press event last week in Albany, this year's grant awards represent an unprecedented investment in New York's land trusts that will help make New York's communities better places to live and work.
"We are very pleased to be awarded this Conservation Partnership Grant," said James Delaune, executive director of the Orange County Land Trust. "These funds will enable us to move forward in preserving more farmland and more of the special places that we want to ensure will be there for future generations to enjoy."
The Orange County Land Trust's Capacity and Excellence Grant award will assist the Land Trust in the development of a multi-year strategic plan focusing on marketing, communications and capacity building strategies to meet new land preservation challenges.
"Land trusts are an invaluable partner to state and local governments in the implementation of smart growth principles," said DEC Commissioner Pete Grannis. "The success of this partnership is reflected by the record $1.575 million set aside for the program in this year's state budget. Further, the growth shows that the conservation program strikes a chord with communities around the state."
The Orange County Land Trust is a nonprofit organization founded in 1993 by former county executive, Louis V. Mills. It is the only county-wide land trust and to date, has preserved over 3,000 acres of land and working farms in the county. Working with landowners, the land trust's area of expertise is preserving land through the placement and monitoring of conservation easements, working with individuals and municipalities to secure funding for the purchase of development rights (PDR), accepting donations of land, and purchasing land for open space. The land trust operates eight preserves in the county which are open to the public, free of charge, for hiking, birding and other forms of passive recreation.
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