Patuxent Tidewater Land Trust Inc

“The Form 990 and related Schedules are prepared by the treasurer and distributed to the Executive Committee (the officers) for review and then to the Board of Trustees for final approval prior to submitting to the IRS.”

“At each board meeting the organization renews any expired conflict of interest forms and reiterates the need to reveal any potential conflicts.”

“The organization consulted an independent expert and used the Land Trust Alliance nationwide survey of Executive Director salaries.”

“Policies and processes are made available upon request. The Mission of the organization and a list of Trustees and Officers are on the web site. Input and inquiry are invited through the web site and activities and news items are shared through both the web site and a periodic newsletter published to the organizations Board, volunteers and friends.”

“PTLT is in the business of placing land under conservation easement and connecting people to the land. A conservation easement is a legally binding agreement that protects the land from changes that would adversely affect its conservation value, such as development and subdivision. The owner retains the land while relinquishing specific rights to make changes to it. These deeds limit the number of residences permitted and impose further land protection requirements such as forested buffers along streams, wetlands and shorelines around the Chesapeake Bay; protection of soils through enforcement of soil conservation plans; and limits on impervious coverage. The property may be transferred and sold freely, but subsequent owners are bound by the easement restrictions. Easements can be purchased or donated by land owners who want the property to be protected from development in perpetuity. But our work does not end there. Each easement is closely monitored annually to ensure full compliance. We recognize that people will not protect that which they do not value. So, in addition to our conservation work, we raise awareness among land owners and the general community about the importance of conservation. We are also interested in connecting the community to the land. We provide free presentations of our work and host movies relating to land preservation and sustainability, issue press releases when we have reached a new conservation goal or have an upcoming activity, and we hold public vine removal workshops and workdays with a goal of improving forest value.”