The Land Trust Alliance, a national land conservation organization working to save the places people need and love by strengthening land conservation across America, has honored The Land Conservancy of New Jersey with the 2024 National Land Trust Excellence Award.
The National Land Trust Excellence Award recognized The Land Conservancy of New Jersey for its work in multiple areas, including our landback project with the Ramapo Munsee people. The project was a multi-year effort involving parties in multiple states to purchase the Ramapo Munsee Lenape Nation’s most sacred site, help the tribe establish a land trust, and the donate the land to the tribe in perpetuity—an act of restorative justice, of equity and of empowerment of marginalized communities.
“The Land Conservancy of New Jersey has been a leader, conserving nearly 30,000 acres of farmland, trails and wildlife corridors, all the while connecting and educating people about the natural landscapes and diverse communities that surround them,” said Jennifer Miller Herzog, interim president and CEO of the Land Trust Alliance. “Perhaps most significantly, the Conservancy has been a model for combining land conservation with restorative justice.”
The Conservancy completed its 500th land acquisition project in 2023, helping landowners to protect and conserve their land in perpetuity—work that in the last ten years alone has provided community landowners with more than $232 million thanks to projects completed with our assistance. We aid municipalities all over New Jersey in protecting natural resources and accessing funding to create parks and preserve farmland. The Land Conservancy is building future environmental leaders through education as well. Our scholarship program will award $70,000 in college scholarships in 2025, and our Outdoor Ambassador Program provides inner city children with opportunities to explore and learn about the organization’s natural area preserves. TLCNJ also is an active land steward and community supporter through our push for equitable access to healthy food for all, land and stream restoration, and more.
“The Land Conservancy of New Jersey is honored to have our dedication to preserving and restoring imperiled forests, farms, and tribal lands acknowledged with the 2024 National Land Trust Excellence Award,” said David Epstein, president of The Land Conservancy of New Jersey. “This recognition by our peers will energize our organization and serve as a catalyst to expand our efforts to empower future generations of conservation leaders and connect people back to the land, and for that we are deeply grateful.”
On October 15, we celebrated this award with a small gathering of key stakeholders and partners at South Branch Preserve. We are profoundly grateful to everyone who shared this special evening: The Artist Baker for the marvelous food, City Green Farms for growing it, and Man Skirt Brewing for creating a very special juniper Fall Forest ale for the occasion. And of course, much gratitude to the Land Trust Alliance for bestowing the award and giving us the opportunity to celebrate. Our community is everything.
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