Land Trust Alliance Awards Grant to The Land Conservancy of McHenry County

10-11-2002

The Land Conservancy of McHenry County recently received a grant for $5,000 from the Land Trust Alliance to help build the Land Conservancy’s capacity to protect more of the county’s important natural lands and open space resources.

The grant will be used to develop a three-year fundraising and membership development plan and for training and other technical assistance to support implementation of the fundraising plan.

"As the pace of development in the County continues, the Land Conservancy needs to increase our efforts to work collaboratively with private landowners, communities and developers to preserve open space resources for the benefit of future generations. The Land Trust Alliance grant will help us build our capacity to reach more people and protect more land," commented Land Conservancy President, Bill Howenstine.

The Land Conservancy works with private landowners, communities and developers to protect natural habitat and open space across the County. The Land Conservancy holds 12 conservation easements which protect 151 acres in perpetuity.

The Land Trust Alliance is a national organization that promotes voluntary Land Conservancy and strengthens the land trust movement by providing leadership, information, skills and resources land trusts need to conserve land for the benefit of communities and natural systems.

Two land trusts received grants totaling $10,000 through the Northeast Illinois Land Trust Matching Grants Program that is funded by the Grand Victoria Foundation and the Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation and administered by the Land Trust Alliance Midwest Program.

The Northeast Illinois Land Trust Matching Grants Program provides grants of up to $5,000 to help increase the organizational capacity of land trusts in the Northeast Illinois region and to encourage new an innovative methods for protecting the region’s threatened natural resources. For more information about the program, contact the Land Trust Alliance Midwest Program at 269/324-1683.