Wildlands Conservancy Earns National Recognition
One thing that unites us as a nation is land: Americans strongly support saving the open spaces they love. Since 1973, Wildlands Conservancy, has been doing just that for the people of the Lehigh Valley and Lehigh River watershed. The regional land trust has permanently protected more than 55,000 acres to date, and now it announced it has achieved national recognition — joining a network of over 400 accredited land trusts across the nation that have demonstrated their commitment to professional excellence and to maintaining the public’s trust in their work.
Wildlands provided extensive documentation and was subject to a comprehensive third-party evaluation prior to achieving this distinction. The Land Trust Accreditation Commission awarded accreditation, signifying its confidence that Wildlands Conservancy’s lands will be protected forever. Accredited land trusts steward approximately 20 million acres of land — the size of Denali, Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, Glacier, Everglades and Yosemite National Parks combined.
In the past year alone, Wildlands has permanently protected more than 1,000 acres of land, from the headwaters of the Lehigh River to the last continuous gap in preservation on Blue Mountain. In addition to its nine nature preserves totaling 2,600 acres, Wildlands has protected property that has gone on to become state game lands, state forests, state parks, county and township recreational areas, as well as national wildlife refuges.
Wildlands Conservancy is one of 1,363 land trusts across the United States according to the Land Trust Alliance’s most recent National Land Trust Census. A complete list of accredited land trusts and more information about the process and benefits can be found at www.landtrustaccreditation.org.