Agricultural Stewardship Association Inc

Filing Period

Apr 1, 2011 to Mar 31, 2012

Signed

Oct 12, 2012

Return Version

2011v1.3

Gross Receipts

$1,579,468

Mission

Major Activities

Activity 2

Easement Stewardship and Management: The Organization successfully completed stewardship visits to 79 properties in order to fulfill its on-going responsibility to uphold the terms of its easements and protect the conservation values of the conserved land. The Organization undertook a series of initiatives to improve its stewardship program, including investigating collective easement defense insurance to protect its organizational assets in case of easement litigation. The Organization responded to several landowner questions and permission requests regarding their easements and created an Easement Violation and Resolution Policy. The Organization continues to improve communication with landowners of easement protected land and actively meets with new owners to establish a relationship and discuss the easement. It also holds workshops geared towards easement landowners. The Organization began preparing for land trust accreditation and instituting off-site archiving to protect easement documents. The Organization continues to improve its stewardship program by participating in meetings with land trusts in the region and attends training sessions on stewardship and easement management issues.

Activity 3

Education and Outreach: Educating people about conservation tools and the importance of local farms and the need to protect farmland is an integral part of the Organization's mission. The Organization holds outreach sessions and regularly talks with service and business associations, schools, municipalities and private landowners about the importance of farmland conservation and ways to keep farmers on the land. The Organization received a grant to hire a staff person to expand its program that connects the people to the land. The program offers educational opportunities on conserved farms for families and individuals, such as sessions on Farm Animal Photography for Kids, Mushroom Walks, Nature Walks, Bird Walks and farm tours.

Filer

EIN

22-3084628