The Trail Conference is a small land trust. This
means that we occasionally buy properties to preserve them. More
often we work
with partners who are larger land trusts or state agencies where
we jump in quickly, securing options, paying for surveys, pay
back
taxes
and
insurance on easements to keep the process moving.
Most of the funding for open space comes from our Outdoor Fund
which is a board restricted fund. We conduct annual appeals for
donations to this fund to keep it viable as a quick source of
money. The fund is usually reimbursed for some of our expenses
in our part of buying properties when the state buys out the
land trust who is holding the deed until state funds become available.
Other than directly preserving lands, we have numerous programs
that address different aspects of conservation issues:
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The Trail Conference advocates at the local, state and federal level to build support for our hiking trails and open space conservation.
The Trail Conference often advocates independently, but sometimes starts or joins coalitions to address particular issues.
Some examples of coalitions include:
Many of our partners have
advocacy agendas of their own that are important to us, particularly
at the state or national level.
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