2008 will go down as a watershed year for the Rensselaer Land Trust, both in focus and in institutional development. It marks the transition of the old Rensselaer-Taconic Land Conservancy to the new Rensselaer Land Trust. This transition is more than a new name and logo, it is the culmination of two years of hard work by the Board, staff and advisors in analyzing, refining and redefining every aspect of this organization and its purpose.

The Rensselaer Land Trust Board put in hundreds of hours of effort to accomplish this task with the goal of submitting a national accreditation application to the Land Trust Alliance to become one of the first of the 1,800 land trusts in the United States to achieve this highest recognition by the national land trust community. Their dedication and commitment to this objective paid off. In August of 2008, the Land Trust Alliance's Accreditation Commission informed Rensselaer Land Trust that they, along with 37 other land trusts, were awarded the first-ever national accreditation award.

Executive Director John Middlebrooks accepted this award on behalf of the Rensselaer Land Trust Board in November at the Land Trust Alliance's national conference in Pittsburgh. Rensselaer Land Trust was further recognized as being the smallest land trust to receive accreditation and, together with much larger and nationally recognized land trusts, now proudly displays the accreditation seal of approval. Rensselaer Land Trust has earned the respect and trust of every land trust in the United States for this effort and recognition.