by Kayla Cook

On Feb. 25, the Land Trust Accreditation Commission announced that the Northern California Regional Land Trust (NCRLT) has been awarded accreditation status. This makes the organization one of the only four accredited land trusts in the state of California.

“It’s all about credibility and having the trust of the people we work with, as well as the public,” said Jamison Watts, NCRLT’s executive director. “The whole point of this is to let the public know that we have undergone an extensive external review and we’ve met the mark and are deeply committed to permanent land conservation.”

The NCRLT is now the only accredited land trust north of the Sacramento area in California, Watts said.

The land trust assists landowners and public agencies in the voluntary protection of land and other natural and agricultural resources. They do this primarily by acquiring conservation easements and facilitating land exchanges. The organization is dedicated to promoting the conservation and preservation of Northern California’s open spaces, agricultural lands and natural resources with cooperation between the community, private landowners, public agencies and other nonprofit groups. The NCRLT works hard to promote cooperation instead of confrontation.

“We realize there must be a balance between the need for natural resources and agriculture and development, while also maintaining a high quality of life,” Watts said. “We need air, water and food for future generations.”

Conserving land helps ensure clean air and drinking water, food security, scenic landscapes, recreational places and habitats for the various forms of life. NCRLT currently hold 15 conservation easements in Butte and Tehama counties covering 6,400 acres. The smallest easement is less than one acre, while their largest easement, Llano Seco Rancho, protects over 4,200 acres of riparian habitat and working farmland in Butte County.

The organization has developed four conservation programs, including the Farmland Program, Rangeland Program, Wildland Program and Mitigation Program. Each of these represents different resource values that would be protected with the use of a conservation easement. They protect land and conserve natural resources in Butte, Tehama and Glenn counties and have done so since 1990.

This region is distinctive in California because it has a diversity of resources, Watts said. Not only is there pristine wildlife habitats, countless migrating birds and spawning grounds for Chinook salmon, there is also agriculture.

“We really do have the resources at heart,” he said. “That’s what we are here for, to protect those special places that deserve to be protected based on their resource value.”

The NCRLT was one of just 14 land trusts awarded accreditation this February, and there are only 53 accredited land trusts across the country.

“To become one of the only 53 accredited land trusts in the entire country is a real honor and a perfect demonstration of our commitment to land and resource conservation,” Watts said. “It is our hope that this national distinction of excellence will dispel any doubt about this organizations’ business practices, or the ability to effectively conserve land and other natural and agricultural resources, both now and in the future.”

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

For more information on NCRLT, visit their Web Site at www.landconservation.org.