No, not a road rally! Three VtF Board members will be attending the Land Trust Alliance’s annual “Rally” in Portland September 7th through the 9th. Rally is similar to a conference but designed to be more inspiring and fun for land conservationists across the country. This multi-day educational and networking event bringing experts from public and private sectors, as well as academic institutions, to help train staff, board members, volunteers, and others through formal classroom presentations, participatory roundtables, locally hosted field trips and hands-on activities. Rallies have been held by the Land Trust Alliance in various parts of the U.S. each year since 1985, and now attract over 1,000 professionals and volunteers, providing many informal networking opportunities.
The Land Trust Alliance, or LTA, is a non-profit organization based in Washington, D.C., with regional staff, formed in 1982, to serve the growing number of local, regional, and larger land trusts throughout the U.S. and abroad. A land trust is typically a private, non-profit organization whose primary mission is to protect land, whether in agriculture, forest, or other open space uses. Protection is usually achieved through the acquisition of conservation interests, usually held in perpetuity, through outright ownership or through the use of a donated or purchased conservation easement.
VtF’s primary focus is the protection of land in the Yachats region for natural and cultural resource benefits, and we hold conservation easements on several privately owned properties. VtF’s membership application to the national Land Trust Alliance was approved in late June, allowing a discounted conference registration fee, and we were also awarded a scholarship, permitting one of its Board members to attend the two-day conference for free. More information on this “nearby” national conference can be found at https://alliancerally.org/.
