2021 Virtual Schedule – Eastern Time

How has the last year impacted your communications tactics? Has your messaging changed? What new mechanisms did you adopt that you plan to continue? We are excited to come together for another Communicators’ Network meeting to discuss all things communications as well as a preview of upcoming resources from the Alliance.

Join the International Land Conservation Network on Monday, October 4th from 8am-9am ET (US & Canada) for our annual breakfast at the Land Trust Alliance Rally. This virtual Meet and Greet will feature remarks from 2020-2021 Kingsbury Browne Fernando Lloveras, who will discuss his recently published Working Paper “The Evolution of a Land Trust: Placing Social Transformation at the Center of the Conservation Effort.” James N. Levitt, Director of the International Land Conservation Network, will share an update on the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy’s forthcoming report on land trusts and conservancies around the world as climate change solution providers. Learn how land trusts can become agents of economic, ecological, and social change, and get to know how land trusts and conservancies are leading the way in tackling the joint climate and biodiversity crises, from the forests of China to the migratory pathways of Africa. Join us to learn and be inspired by initiatives that are addressing the most important challenges of conservation in the 21st century. SIGN UP FOR THE INTERNATIONAL BREAKFAST HERE    

A reception for New Jersey land trusts to explore options for increasing engagement in the statewide Rally and possible formation of a statewide land trust association.

Come learn from the Alliance’s Council on Inclusive Health and Disability how your land trust can be more welcoming to and include people with disabilities in your programming and organization.

Join us to kick-off Rally 2021 with keynote remarks from Land Trust Alliance president and CEO Andrew Bowman. The Kingsbury Browne Conservation Leadership Award will also be presented. This award is presented to an individual whose vision and creativity have resulted in extraordinary accomplishments for land conservation and the land trust community. Kingsbury Browne (1922–2005) shared his wisdom and innate vision for the land trust network and counsel that formed the bedrock of today’s Land Trust Alliance and the land trust community. His values and generous spirit live on in the Kingsbury Browne Conservation Leadership Award. The Lincoln Institute of Land Policy established the Kingsbury Browne Fellowship in association with the Kingsbury Browne Conservation Leadership Award in 2006. This annual fellowship program, administered by the Lincoln Institute’s Department of Planning and Urban Form, supports research, writing and mentoring activities. Visit www.lincolninst.edu.

Sponsored by The Nature Conservancy Learn how to use the Resilient Mapping Tool to identify a network of lands across the United States with unique characteristics that make them resilient to climate change. If conserved, these lands and their connecting corridors can help diverse plant and animal species move away from climate impacts and find safe places to thrive. The tool can be used by land trusts, government agencies, communities, and others to develop effective conservation and land management plans.

Corporate partnerships can play a vital role in supporting land trusts' conservation goals, and land trusts bring unique (and perhaps undersold) value to corporate partners. This session brings together representatives from Vulcan Materials Company and Sierra Foothill Conservancy to discuss the mutual benefits both have found through their multi-faceted partnership, including their work together on conservation easements and mitigation. Each will share their organization's considerations going into a partnership, unexpected opportunities, challenges they had to overcome and their specific advice to other land trusts and to other corporations. We'll provide ample time for questions.

Sponsored by The Nature Conservancy Learn how to use the Resilient Mapping Tool to identify a network of lands across the United States with unique characteristics that make them resilient to climate change. If conserved, these lands and their connecting corridors can help diverse plant and animal species move away from climate impacts and find safe places to thrive. The tool can be used by land trusts, government agencies, communities, and others to develop effective conservation and land management plans.

Join a virtual tour of the Central Lake Erie Basin with Western Reserve Land Conservancy, Chagrin River Watershed Partners and The Nature Conservancy. Participants will virtually visit the beauty of northern Ohio’s grandest rivers and learn about how these organizations worked in collaboration to preserve a beautiful area of Ohio. This tour will highlight the value of partnerships to conserving land and water across the Central Lake Erie Basin. Each organization will showcase their individual projects and discuss the work they have been doing to preserve these natural areas and how these individual efforts led to a collaborative effort to protect and preserve lands and waters. There will be time at the end for questions.

Holden Forests & Gardens connects people with the wonder, beauty and value of trees and plants, to inspire action for healthy communities. Join this virtual tour of our gardens and natural areas to learn about best management practices in research and conservation. We will discuss how this information is used to inform both the public and professionals on how they can improve stewardship of their land and community. This tour will provide a tour of our collections and see a few of northeast Ohio’s favorite attractions, the Canopy Walk and Emergent Tower. We will then go to our Working Woods Learning Forest, a 67-acre living laboratory and demonstration site, where landowners and professionals alike can see what good forest-care looks like and how to implement it on their land. Lastly, enjoy a behind-the-scenes look at Holden’s “hidden gems” and the conservation and preservation methods employed to ensure biodiversity.

Cleveland was hit hard by the housing crisis and the great recession. Tens of thousands of abandoned and vacant properties filled neighborhoods. These vacant buildings lowered nearby property values and increased crime and predominantly Black neighborhoods were hit hardest. Western Reserve Land Conservancy’s innovative Thriving Communities program works with local partners to identify and remove blighted properties, replacing them with side yards, green spaces and publicly accessible parks that improve the quality of life for those living in the area. This tour will visit sites in Cleveland’s Mt. Pleasant neighborhood that have been turned from vacant houses into bustling community spaces. We will interview local business owners, foundations, community development corporations and others who are committed to rebuilding Cleveland. Racial equity and environmental justice are two guiding principles for the work of Western Reserve Land Conservancy and will be demonstrated in the stories of these urban projects.

Conservationists of Color invites you to join us for a virtual Happy Hour. Together, we will connect, build community and grow. This year's happy hour will include a fun cocktail/mocktail mixology demo, where you can craft your own drink with the help of a mixologist. We'll also hear from leading BIPOC conservationists about their work and how we can work together to create a richer and more diverse movement. All are welcome to join.

Click here to register (eventbrite link will go live on September 1). We hope to see you there! Contact conservationistsofcolor@gmail.com to learn more.

Join us for an informal gathering for LGBTQ+ Rally attendees and allies. We hope to continue to build community with fellow conservationists, network, and get to know each other.

We are excited to partner with Daybreak Yoga to help us incorporate additional health, wellness and balance into the conference. Chair yoga is a gentle form of yoga that can be done sitting on a chair or standing on the ground while using the chair for support. It is beneficial for people with limited mobility and for those who want to practice while at their desk.  

Our Wednesday Plenary will feature a celebration of Accredited Land Trusts and recognition of this year's Land Trust Excellence Award recipient for an All Volunteer Land Trust. Our keynote speaker is Dr. Dorceta Taylor*. Dr. Dorceta Taylor is a professor at the Yale School for the Environment, as well as adjunct faculty at the University of Michigan’s School for Environment and Sustainability.  Dr. Taylor’s most recent book, The Rise of the American Conservation Movement:  Power, Privilege, and Environmental Protection (Durham:  Duke University Press), examines how race, class and gender influenced the movement. Her 2014 book, Toxic Communities: Environmental Racism, Industrial Pollution, and Residential Mobility (New York University Press), examines the connections among residential segregation, zoning and exposure to environmental hazards. Dr. Taylor is also the author of The Environment and the People in American Cities: 1600s-1900s. Disorder, Inequality, and Social Change (Duke University Press). The book received the Allan Schnaiberg Outstanding Publication Award given by the Environment and Technology Section of the American Sociological Association in 2010. *Live access only - not available on demand post-Rally. 

Sponsored by The Nature Conservancy Learn how to use the Resilient Mapping Tool to identify a network of lands across the United States with unique characteristics that make them resilient to climate change. If conserved, these lands and their connecting corridors can help diverse plant and animal species move away from climate impacts and find safe places to thrive. The tool can be used by land trusts, government agencies, communities, and others to develop effective conservation and land management plans.

Sponsored by USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service. Join NRCS Easement Program Division staff for a collaborative discussion on engaging Historically Underserved landowners in federal land conservation programs. During the session, you’ll hear an update on NRCS efforts, along with land trust examples, and discuss ways that Farm Bill conservation programs can assist landowners with maintaining or increasing agricultural land ownership across the country.

Sponsored by The Nature Conservancy Learn how to use the Resilient Mapping Tool to identify a network of lands across the United States with unique characteristics that make them resilient to climate change. If conserved, these lands and their connecting corridors can help diverse plant and animal species move away from climate impacts and find safe places to thrive. The tool can be used by land trusts, government agencies, communities, and others to develop effective conservation and land management plans.

Northern Ohio boasts nearly 200 miles of Lake Erie shoreline, but only 17 percent of that land is publicly accessible. From Conneaut to Toledo, Ohioans define themselves by this Great Lake. Western Reserve Land Conservancy has been working along Ohio’s entire coastline to permanently protect properties that showcase the beauty and wonder of Lake Erie. This virtual field trip will travel from east to west along Ohio’s northern coast, highlighting properties in Eastlake, Euclid, Cleveland, Vermilion and more. We will guide viewers through the process of identifying and prioritizing projects that will permanently conserve our dwindling coastline, as well as discuss how our work is mitigating the effects of a warming Lake Erie – the result of climate change – and shoring up some areas of eroding coastline.

In northeast Ohio and across the country, members of the Conservation Burial Alliance (CBA) are responding to growing demands for more environmentally responsible and meaningful end-of-life options. Through conservation burial, these organizations and their land trust partners have been able to build deep and lasting relationships with potential donors and their heirs, restore and protect acres of wildlife habitat while producing income for further acquisition, expand their reach beyond the communities they traditionally serve and provide a space for families to create an intimate connection with the land. This virtual tour will offer participants the opportunity to visit conservation burial grounds operating in a variety of regions and habitats. Through the act of burial, these conserved lands become part of the final chapter in the life stories of those they serve. CBA members will share some of these stories which offer a glimpse into their daily challenges and successes.

Cleveland was once nicknamed The Forest City, but the city has lost about half its tree canopy since the 1950s. Currently the tree canopy cover is 19% and each year an estimated 97 acres of tree canopy is lost. Cleveland is in the midst of a citywide neighborhood revitalization to improve the quality of life for all citizens and improving tree canopy is an important element in that transformation. Trees are a critical piece of our community: trees make us healthier and safer, add economic value to our homes and businesses, help us meet environmental challenges and provide critical wildlife habitat. Working hard to make this happen is the Cleveland Tree Coalition – a collaborative group of public, private and community stakeholders (such as Western Reserve Land Conservancy and Holden Forest and Gardens) that have partnered with the City of Cleveland to rebuild our urban forest. The coalition is striving to create a healthy, vibrant, sustainable and equitable urban forest by working collaboratively to implement the Cleveland Tree Plan. The Cleveland Tree Plan analyzes the tree canopy data and outlines a roadmap for rebuilding Cleveland’s urban forest to help Cleveland reclaim its identity as “The Forest City”. For this virtual tour, we will highlight the imperative work of the Cleveland Tree Coalition and tour sites that have brought CTC partners like Rid-All Green Partnership – an organization working to grow food within the community, in turn creating jobs and building healthy, green neighborhoods – and the community together to plant trees and bring the benefits to their neighborhood.

Join us for a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Gallery Talk followed by an interactive trivia session. Participants will need two screens to play - a laptop or tablet to watch the live stream gallery talk and a phone to participate in the trivia. Points will be awarded and prizes will be available. Long Live Rock!

During our Thursday Plenary, we will recognize this year's Land Trust Excellence Award recipient for a Staffed Land Trust. We will also hear remarks from keynote speaker Mark Anderson. Mark directs The Nature Conservancy’s Center for Resilient Conservation Science which provides science leadership, ecological analysis, and landscape assessments for conservation efforts across 50 states. Over the last decade, Mark led the effort to identify and map climate resilient lands and waters across the continental US and has published widely on climate resilience, large landscape conservation, biodiversity conservation, and forest dynamics.  One of the original authors of the National Vegetation Classification, his current research focuses on the intersection between biodiversity, ecological services, and climate change in terrestrial and aquatic systems.

Sponsored by The Nature Conservancy Learn how to use the Resilient Mapping Tool to identify a network of lands across the United States with unique characteristics that make them resilient to climate change. If conserved, these lands and their connecting corridors can help diverse plant and animal species move away from climate impacts and find safe places to thrive. The tool can be used by land trusts, government agencies, communities, and others to develop effective conservation and land management plans.

Sponsored by USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service. Join NRCS Easement Program Division staff for a collaborative discussion on strategies to identify and protect Urban Agricultural resources. During the session, you’ll hear an update on NRCS efforts in this space, along with land trust examples of urban agricultural projects, and discuss ways that easement programs can bolster urban agriculture across the country.

Sponsored by The Nature Conservancy Learn how to use the Resilient Mapping Tool to identify a network of lands across the United States with unique characteristics that make them resilient to climate change. If conserved, these lands and their connecting corridors can help diverse plant and animal species move away from climate impacts and find safe places to thrive. The tool can be used by land trusts, government agencies, communities, and others to develop effective conservation and land management plans.

Join us to close out another successful Rally. Land Trust Alliance president and CEO Andrew Bowman will offer remarks.