![Sierra Club members on a hike through the Tejon Conservancy lands during June of 2009 enjoyed discovering birds and flowers with their cameras, taking the opportunity to capture the wide angle vista as well as the up-close-and-personal views that surrounded them along the way. [photo by Patric Hedlund]](https://mountainenterprise.com/wp-content/uploads/SierraClubpaparazzi-cmyk170-324x197.jpg)
Sierra Club members on a hike through the Tejon Conservancy lands during June of 2009 enjoyed discovering birds and flowers with their cameras, taking the opportunity to capture the wide angle vista as well as the up-close-and-personal views that surrounded them along the way. [photo by Patric Hedlund]
By Patric Hedlund
A public comment period has now opened about the application of the Tejon Ranch Conservancy for accreditation as a land trust. The birth of the Conservancy was announced on May 8, 2008 to broad fanfare (including a visit by then-Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger) as part of an effort by Tejon Ranch Company to move forward with land development plans without interference by environmental organizations.
The Land Trust Accreditation Commission is an independent program of the Land Trust Alliance. Standards of the Alliance cover ethical and technical operation issues such as conflicts of interest, board accountability, asset and financial management, stewardship of conservation easements and fee lands, tax benefits and selection of conservation projects.
Signed, written comments from the public about how Tejon Ranch Conservancy complies with these national quality standards for land conservation trusts are due by Friday, Oct. 25, 2013.
The commission promises to conduct an extensive review of each applicant’s policies and programs.
“Accreditation recognizes land conservation organizations that meet the national quality standards for protecting important natural places and working lands forever,” according to a press release last week from Tejon Ranch Conservancy operations manager Jennifer Browne.
Executive Director Tom Maloney said in the release that becoming an accredited land trust “has been a goal for the Conservancy since the signing of the Tejon Ranch Conservation and Land Use Agreement….”
To submit a comment, visit www.landtrustaccreditation.org or email your comment to info@landtrustaccreditation.org. Comments may also be faxed or mailed to the Land Trust Accreditation Commission, Public Comments: (fax) 518-587-3183; (mail) 36 Phila Street, Suite 2, Saratoga Springs, NY 12866.
See www.landtrustaccreditation.org for details about the process. For questions about the Tejon Ranch Conservancy, contact Jennifer Browne at jbrowne@tejonranchconservancy.org or visit www.tejonranchconservancy.org.
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This is part of the August 23, 2013 online edition of The Mountain Enterprise.
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