What the Land Trust's General Fund Does for You, Part II

Exploring Land Trust lands with the next generation, Lower Carpenter Valley

As we wrote last month, we get a lot of questions from our wonderful supporters on where to direct their generous gifts - whether to a specific project or to our general fund.

And as we detailed in that last article, the general fund does a lot for our lands, from forest health and fire safety projects to trail maintenance and historic preservation.

While we routinely have capital campaigns where supporters can donate directly to the latest acquisition - those general fund dollars are critical to getting the Land Trust to the starting gate on a new deal before those earmarked gifts can even start coming in the door.

Whether looking at our latest project - a Downtown Truckee Riverfront Park - or one of our many past conservation wins, it starts with a down payment to the seller, taking the land off the market and protecting it from development. Your unrestricted gift gives us the ability to act swiftly on new acquisition projects.

The Land Trust will even pay for a critical piece of land in its entirety with our general fund when the situation calls for it - as with a new 80-acre parcel we just went under contract to purchase in Coldstream Canyon, building on the thousands of acres we’ve preserved in that area expanding on Donner Memorial State Park.

This is a critical time of year for general fund giving too - end-of-year gifts make up the majority of that fund for the Land Trust.

So with your continued support, we look forward to building on our track record of success, responding quickly to conservation opportunities, protecting tens of thousands of new acres of open space, and stewarding our land for future generations to enjoy.