About the Commission

In its actions and in its goals for the land trust community, the Commission aspires to the following values.

• Integrity. To be clear and honest in our communications with land trusts, the public and others; to build trust in, and respect for, the accreditation program; to respect the confidentiality of data provided to us.

• Accountability. To operate an accreditation program that is fair and makes consistent decisions; to learn from and respond to the land conservation community, the public and other stakeholders.

• Service. To manage an accreditation program that is efficient and makes productive use of participants' time; to work cooperatively with land trusts of all types and sizes as they go through the accreditation process.

• Inclusion. The Commission is committed to recognizing land trust organizations of all types, sizes, geographies, and missions that meet rigorous quality standards and strive for continuous improvement.

• 2004: The Program Design Steering Committee, formed by the Alliance, gathered input from land trusts via interviews, surveys, focus groups, conference calls, web dialogues, and other venues and used this input to inform the design of the program.

• 2005: The Steering Committee’s makes a recommendation to create a voluntary land trust accreditation program to be managed by a Commission incorporated as a subsidiary of the Alliance.

• 2006: The Land Trust Accreditation Commission was incorporated.

• 2008: The first 39 land trusts are accredited.

• 2012: The first Requirements Manual was published in 2012.

• 2013: The first renewal applicants are accepted through an online application and review system.

• 2018: The Requirements Manual and application was significantly updated to reflect the Alliance’s 2017 Standards and Practices.

• 2019: An updated version of the Accreditation Management System (AMS), the Commission’s online application and review system, is implemented. The Commission decides to implement an Extended Term after third renewal (for the land trust’s fourth accredited term).

• 2020: The first-time application process becomes paperless.

• 2024: The first applicants for eligible for the Extended Term (a seven-year term) apply for their third renewal.  

• Today, there are over 478 accredited land trusts across the country.

The Commission is an independent nonprofit that serves as a supporting organization of the Alliance. The Commission is governed by a board of diverse land conservation and nonprofit management experts from around the country who serve as commissioners.

Commissioners volunteer their expertise to verify that a land trust is implementing specific accreditation indicator elements from Land Trust Standards and Practices. The Alliance selects the accreditation indicator elements and the Commission establishes the requirements used to verify the indicator elements are met. Commissioners use their breadth of experience with large and small and staffed and unstaffed land trusts to ensure the requirements are flexibility enough to apply to all land trusts.

The Commission follows best practices in accreditation.

• It has a comprehensive conflict of interest policy and manages conflicts to ensure fair and consistent decisions.

• It makes decisions that are independent and are not influenced by political or donor concerns.

• It maintains a help desk and instructional materials to support land trusts through the accreditation process, but does not provide training or mentoring in how to meet the requirements.

• It keeps all material provided by applicants confidential. It shares aggregate data about challenges facing land trusts to help inform the Alliance’s training and technical assistance program. A strict confidentiality policy governs how information is shared between the two organizations.

The Alliance is a national conservation organization working to save the places people love by strengthening land conservation across America. The Alliance publishes Land Trust Standards and Practices and selects the accreditation indicators; only its board can make changes to them.

The Alliance provides training and technical assistance to help land trusts achieve and maintain accreditation. It elects commissioners to serve on the Commission’s independent board, manages an endowment to keep the program affordable for land trusts, and provides administrative services to the Commission.

To learn more about Alliance resources pertaining to the accreditation process, please visit our Alliance Resources page.

Special places exist in every neighborhood, city and town – the family farm, the urban park, the mountain view. Accredited land trusts are making sure that the places we love today will be loved by generations to come. Public accountability is a key component of the accreditation program; the public is invited to provide information in accordance with the Commission's "Feedback, Comments and Complaints" policy.