Standards and Practices
The Whidbey Camano Land Trust is a member of the Land Trust Alliance (LTA), a national organization that works on behalf of land trusts to increase the pace and quality of land conservation by advocating favorable tax policies, training land trusts in best practices and working to ensure the permanence of conservation in the face of continuing threats.
The Land Trust follows the LTA’s Land Trust Standards and Practices, which provide comprehensive guidelines for the responsible operation of a land trust. These guidelines are organized into two categories: Organizational Strength and Land Transactions. Our policies and procedures conform to these guidelines, as summarized below.
Organizational Strength
- Mission: We have a clear mission that serves a public interest, and all programs support that mission.
- Compliance with Laws: We fulfill our legal requirements as a nonprofit tax-exempt organization and comply with all laws.
- Board Accountability: Our board acts ethically in conducting the affairs of the organization and carries out the board’s legal and financial responsibilities as required by law.
- Conflicts of Interest: We have policies and procedures to avoid or manage real or perceived conflicts of interest.
- Fundraising: We conduct fundraising activities in an ethical and responsible manner.
- Financial and Asset Management: We manage our finances and assets in a responsible and accountable way.
- Volunteers, Staff, and Consultants: We have volunteers, staff, and/or consultants with appropriate skills and in sufficient numbers to effectively carry out our programs.
Land Transactions
- Evaluating and Selecting Conservation Projects: We carefully evaluate and select our conservation projects to ensure we work on the highest priority projects.
- Ensuring Sound Transactions: We work to ensure that every land and conservation easement transaction we undertake is legally, ethically, and technically sound.
- Tax Benefits: We work to verify that all charitable gifts of land or conservation easements meet federal and state tax law requirements.
- Conservation Easement Stewardship: We have a program of responsible stewardship for our easements.
- Fee Land Stewardship: We have a program of responsible stewardship for the lands we own.
Accreditation – The Next Step in Maintaining Quality
In 2008, the Land Trust Accreditation Commission, an independent program of the Land Trust Alliance, began accrediting land conservation organizations that meet national standards for excellence, uphold the public trust, and ensure that conservation efforts are permanent. Accreditation is voluntary and the process helps organizations review and improve how they protect land. Applicants must demonstrate that they comply with the indicator practices selected by the Land Trust Accreditation Commission from Land Trust Standards and Practices as described above. These indicator practices were chosen by the Commission based on the criteria below.
- Responsible governance of the organization
- Protection of the public interest with sound and sustainable land transactions and stewardship
- Ethical operations
- Accountability to donors and the public
- Compliance with all laws
Since the accreditation program began in 2006, 82 of the 1,700 land trusts across the country have been awarded accreditation. In 2010, the Accreditation Commission will be able to review at least 44 more applications.
In 2010, the Land Trust will update existing policies and adopt new policies required for accreditation. In late 2010, the Land Trust will apply for accreditation. During the application process, we more information will be posted about our adopted policies, including a public comment period for these policies and procedures.
