NORTHWEST ARKANSAS LAND TRUST

1. Permanently protect priority natural landscapes in Northwest Arkansas for wildlife, water quality, and people.\r\n2. Carry out best practices for land stewardship that protect regional biodiversity and increase opportunities for citizens to enjoy natural areas.\r\n3. Increase the involvement and enjoyment of the community in the work and mission of the land trust through regular field outings, volunteer opportunities and outdoor classroom offerings.\r\n4. Meet or exceed annual fundraising needs to continue growing the capacity of the land trust to meet regional conservation needs.\r\n5. Continue to meet the highest professional standards as an accredited land trust.

1. Outreach to landowners in high priority conservation areas, host conservation "win-win" workshop for regional decision-makers and leverage strong partnerships to find win-win solutions for growth and preservation.\r\n2. Land management planning, biological monitoring, habitat restoration and regular monitoring of conservation properties.\r\n3. Provide citizen-science opportunities, outdoor classroom programs, guided family-friendly field trips, and strengthened volunteer program.\r\n4. Tell our story and the story of the places we protect through our communications, highlighting the impact of our work, sharing our successes and our appreciation for the people who support land conservation. Continue cultivating and growing a broad base of support.\r\n5. Strong governance systems and operational excellence starts with maintaining a dedicated and skilled board of directors and retaining quality staff, a core value of the land trust.

The Northwest Arkansas Land Trust is an accredited land trust through the Land Trust Accreditation Commission. Accreditation is a mark of distinction which ensures our supporters that we meet national standards for excellence, trust and permanence. Our staff includes highly skilled individuals who are passionate about land conservation and committed to their work. Our board of directors are equally committed individuals who represent a broad range of professional expertise, from financial management, law, environmental consultation, communications, engineering and business development. They are a working board who contribute invaluable knowledge and oversight, often working side by side with staff to achieve key goals. In addition, strong regional partnerships from water quality to open space preservation, strengthen our capacity through collaboration, achieving shared conservation outcomes for our growing region. As the local land trust for Northwest Arkansas, we are dedicated to our region, and committed to continuous quality improvement in all that we do.

The land trust was founded in 2003, and in 2011 an executive director was hired. Since then, the organization has grown to a staff of 9, with regular volunteers, interns and legal externs. In February 2015, the land trust achieved accreditation, the first and only accredited local land trust in the state of Arkansas, and in the greater Ozark region. Also in 2015 the land trust launched it's signature "LandWise" Initiative, an effort that includes strong regional partnerships to increase the pace of land conservation in NWA, coordinating with regional decision-makers to encourage thoughtful growth and find "win-win" outcomes for growth and preservation.\r\nIn 2016 alone, the Northwest Arkansas Land Trust added 560 acres into conservation and engaged over 2,350 people in the meaningful and urgent work of land conservation, including over 940 students through outdoor educational programs. Eight endangered, threatened or tracked species of plants and animals were protected, helping preserve our local biodiversity, and 8,102 linear feet of stream protected to safeguard water quality and aquatic habitat. The number of individual contributors to the land trust increased by 115% in 2016, and in total we raised over $366,000 to support our work, including over $158,000 specifically set aside to help steward and defend conservation lands in perpetuity.