The Rensselaer Land Trust has purchased lands along the Hoosic River that is a mile long near Eagle Bridge on the Rensselaer County side consisting of approximately 39 acres of agricultural lands. The Department of Environmental Conservation plans to install a boat and fishing access at one end of the property to be opened in early 2010.

The Rensselaer Land Trust has begun a new era of resource protection for our county as a modern land trust. We are initiating a $3 Million Capital Campaign to expand and accelerate our efforts to place conservation easements on critical lands. Our efforts need to be proactive in watershed protection before our water quality suffers. Rensselaer County residents have the privilege of drinking clean water from local sources at a very modest cost. Some neighboring counties are obtaining their water from the Hudson River. Protecting watersheds that feed the Hudson can also help the Hudson become a cleaner river. Let's keep our water clean!

There are three key areas our $3 million campaign will underwrite:

$600,000 for Professional Staff

The benefit of professional staff is evidenced by the great success our neighboring land trusts have achieved in their respective counties: Columbia Land Conservancy, Saratoga PLAN and Washington County's ASA. As a starting point, Rensselaer Land Trust needs to hire three full-time staff: an executive director, a director of land stewardship and a development officer.

$400,000 for Stewardship and Legal Defense

As we have researched the best practices of land trusts across the nation, we have found the need to shore up our funds for stewardship and legal defense. So far, we have been fortunate to deal with first generation property owners who truly care about our natural resources. In the future, we must have secure funding to protect the land against legal challenges and steward the land "in perpetuity" in the face of a changing landscape.

$2,000,000 for Land Acquisition

The amount of land we steward is a very small percentage of what needs to be protected. Rensselaer Land Trust needs to step up the pace by identifying larger areas of interest and partnering with others to secure our future.

New "Watershed Circle" Donors Step Up

Significant conservation efforts require significant funding! Some of our members are joining our new "Watershed Circle" by giving $3,000 or more each year, though every donation makes a difference. They are forming the backbone of a growing campaign.

Show Your Support Today

For more information about our capital campaign and how you can be a "Watershed Circle" donor, please contact us at renstrust@renstrust.org.

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.