What Portland North Land Trust Collaborative is up to Now

Who We Are
The Portland North Land Trust Collaborative is an administrative partnership between Chebeague & Cumberland Land Trust, Falmouth Land Trust and Oceanside Conservation Trust of Casco Bay. The Collaborative’s objective is to strengthen land conservation by coordinating and integrating the goals of the individual member land trusts and developing synergistic collaboration. The Staff is an Executive Director and the Governance is a Steering Committee comprised of three representatives from each member land trust and the treasurer of the fiscal agent, which is the Falmouth Land Trust. (For more information, read the article in Saving Land, Board Matters, "Collaborating for Conservation", written by Jessica Burton, Executive Director of Portland North Land Trust Collaborative.) (PDF file)

Accreditation Preparation
The Collaborative is supporting the efforts of the three member trusts to attain Accreditation with the Land Trust Accreditation Commission. The Collaborative was accepted into the first year of the Maine Land Trust Excellence Program which will provide financial assistance to the three trusts as they work through the preparation process. The Collaborative will work with the Land Trust Accreditation Commission to develop efficiencies to save overall time, money and energy for the volunteer board members. We hope to share our lessons with other collaborations around the country.

Conservation Planning
Conservation efforts should not and do not stop at town lines. There is a need to plan conservation efforts with an eye to watersheds, river routes and ecosystems. The Portland North Land Trust Collaborative has taken isolated discussions between the three individual trusts’ members and developed them into regional visioning and implementation.

Administrative Effectiveness
The shared office contains files for all three trusts and provides a convenient meeting place. The computer holds documents and data for each of the trusts. An innovative and creative database system contains and organizes membership, event and property information. Newsletters, brochures and mailings can be initiated, developed and completed in the staffed office, supporting the volunteer board members efforts to spend time on the land and in the community.

Funding
In addition to equal financial contributions from each member land trust, the Collaborative is pleased to report that we have received the following grants:
2006, 2007 Davis Conservation Foundation – initial start up grant and operating expenses
2007 Maine Community Foundation – creating a shared database
2007 Maine Coast Protection Initiative – strategic planning and capacity building
2008 Horizon Foundation – operating expenses
2008 Maine Land Trust Excellence Program – Accreditation preparation expenses
2008 L.L.Bean Maine Land Trust Program Grant – conservation planning
2009 Margaret Burnham Charitable Trust – conservation planning
2009 ESRI – GIS software donation
2009 Norcross Wildlife Foundation – computer equipment