The Trust For Public Land

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The Trust for Public Land
Tpl logo.png
Basic facts
Location:San Francisco, Calif.
Type:501(c)(3)
Top official:William Rogers, President and CEO
Year founded:1972
Website:Official website

The Trust for Public Land (TPL) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that aims, according to its website, to conserve "land for people to enjoy as parks, gardens, and other natural places, ensuring livable communities for generations to come."[1] The TPL aims to ensure access to parks, especially in inner-city areas, and the conservation of farms, ranches, forests, watersheds, and places of perceived historic and cultural significance.[2]

Mission[edit]

According to the organization's website, The Trust for Public Land has the following mission statement:

“ Our mission is to create parks and protect land for people, ensuring healthy, livable communities for generations to come.[1][3] ”

History[edit]

The Trust for Public Land (TPL) was founded in 1972 by a group of real estate professionals, lawyers, and financial experts "with the goal of protecting land in and around cities and pioneering new land conservation techniques." The group's outreach has grown to encompass conservation projects ranging from urban areas to the wilderness.[4]

In 1990, the TPL developed its Conservation Finance service, which seeks to help community organizers fund conservation-focused ballot measure campaigns. The TPL late established its Conservation Vision and GIS service with the goal of assisting communities in locating the most crucial areas in need of conservation.[4]

As of December 2016, the TPL maintained 30 offices across the country. The group is headquartered in San Francisco, California.[1]

Work[edit]

Since its formation, the Trust for Public Land (TPL) has completed over 5,200 park and conservation projects across the nation, covering 3.3 million acres of land. As of December 2016, the organization's work was focused on six main areas:[2]

  • Public lands
    The TPL aims to protect public lands through petition and letter-writing campaigns to elected officials with the goal of preventing the transfer of public lands to private ownership. In addition, the group's Conservation Finance program seeks to help community organizers fund conservation-focused ballot measure campaigns. The TPL also purchases land from private landowners and organizes the transfer of the parcels to public agencies. Moreover, the group helps to organize and implement conservation easements with the goal of limiting future development on working lands, such as farms and ranches.[5][6]
  • "Climate-Smart Cities"
    The TPL seeks to help prepare urban areas for what the group considers to be the potential impacts of climate change through the development of "green infrastructure," including parks and green spaces.[7]
  • Creative placemaking
    Through the group's Parks and People Initiative, the TPL endeavors to create parks with community input and local features.[8]
  • "Fitness Zone" program
    The TPL aims to support community health by outfitting local parks with outdoor fitness equipment.[9]
  • Ackerson Meadow transfer
    The TPL's efforts helped to bring about the inclusion of Ackerson Meadow, a 400-acre park, into the adjacent Yosemite National Park in September 2016.[10]
  • The 606
    The group's 606 project seeks to transform a stretch of unused rail line in Chicago, Illinois, into an elevated trail system that will link six neighborhood parks.[11]

Political activity[edit]

Ballot measure activity[edit]

The Trust for Public Land's (TPL) Conservation Finance service seeks to help community organizers fund conservation-focused ballot measure campaigns. Since its inception in the 1990s, the Conservation Finance program has helped to pass over 486 ballot measures across the country.[12]

In addition to the Conservation Finance service, the TPL has tracked conservation ballot measures nationwide since 1988. According to the group's records dating to 1988, "voters have approved nearly 2,000 ballot measures allocating more $75 billion for parks and open space."[13]

Overview of ballot measure support and opposition[edit]

The following table details The Trust for Public Land’s ballot measure stances available on Ballotpedia:

Ballot measure support and opposition for Erin Bolster
Ballot measure Year Position Status
Florida Water and Land Conservation Initiative, Amendment 1 (2014) 2014 Supported[14] Approveda Approved
California Proposition 21, Vehicle License Fee Increase for State Parks Initiative (2010) 2010 Supported[15] Defeatedd Defeated

Leadership[edit]

As of December 2016, the following individuals held leadership positions with The Trust for Public Land:[16]

  • William Rogers, President and chief executive officer
  • Brenda Schick, Vice president and director of conservation transactions
  • Barbara Smith, Vice president and senior director of human resources
  • Adrian Benepe, Senior vice president and director of city park development
  • D. Malcolm Carson, Senior vice president and general counsel
  • Raymond Christman, Senior vice president, Mid South Division director
  • Ernest Cook, Senior vice president, conservation director
  • Jeff Danter, Senior vice president, Atlantic Seaboard Division director
  • Kathy DeCoster, Vice president and director of federal affairs
  • Margie Kim, Senior vice president and chief philanthropy officer
  • Ann Morgan, Senior vice president, West Division director
  • Cindy Scherer, Senior vice president and chief financial officer
  • Tim Wohlgenant, Senior vice president, chief of staff

Recent news[edit]

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for "Trust for Public Land"

All stories may not be relevant to this organization due to the nature of the search engine.

Trust for Public Land News Feed

External links[edit]

Footnotes[edit]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 The Trust for Public Land, "About TPL," accessed January 10, 2014
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 The Trust for Public Land, "Our Work," accessed January 10, 2014
  3. ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 The Trust for Public Land, "Our History," accessed January 10, 2014
  5. ↑ The Trust for Public Land, "Save our public lands," accessed December 3, 2016
  6. ↑ The Trust for Public Land, "Protect," accessed December 3, 2016
  7. ↑ The Trust for Public Land, "Climate-Smart Cities," accessed December 3, 2016
  8. ↑ The Trust for Public Land, "Creative placemaking," accessed December 3, 2016
  9. ↑ The Trust for Public Land, "Fitness Zone program," accessed December 3, 2016
  10. ↑ The Trust for Public Land, "Yosemite National Park gains a lush mountain meadow," September 7, 2016
  11. ↑ The Trust for Public Land, "The 606," accessed December 3, 2016
  12. ↑ The Trust for Public Land, "Fund," accessed December 3, 2016
  13. ↑ Urban Land, "U.S. Voters Approve Billions for Transit and Green Space," November 28, 2016
  14. ↑ The Miami Herald, "Amendment 1 would ensure funding for environment," October 13, 2014
  15. ↑ The San Francisco Chronicle, "Prop. 21 would aid parks, raise vehicle fees," October 5, 2010
  16. ↑ The Trust for Public Land, "Leadership team," accessed December 2, 2016
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