Fast Facts<\/b> <\/p>
"; landFactsEnd = "<\/p>"; landFactsBody = new Array(); landFactsBody.push("Each year America loses two million acres of farms, forests and open spaces. "); landFactsBody.push("More than 100,000 acres of wetlands are destroyed each year."); landFactsBody.push("A land trust is a nonprofit organization that, as all or part of its mission, actively works to conserve land by undertaking or assisting in land or conservation easement acquisition, or by its stewardship of such land or easements."); landFactsBody.push("Total acreage conserved through private means is 37 million acres, a 54% increase from 24 million acres in 2000. This includes both land protected by local and state land trusts, and the largest national land conservation groups, including The Nature Conservancy, Ducks Unlimited, The Conservation Fund, and The Trust for Public Land."); landFactsBody.push("The pace of private land conservation has tripled by local and state land trusts. From 1995-2000, land trusts conserved an average of 337,937 acres per year. That pace soared to 1,166,697 million acres conserved per year, on average, from 2000 to 2005."); landFactsBody.push("America's land trusts have markedly enhanced their professionalism and increased their ranks to 1,667 in 2005 from 1,263 in 2000."); landFactsBody.push("Acres conserved by local and state land trusts doubled. 11.9 million acres were conserved by these groups through 2005 -- an area twice the size of the state of New Hampshire. This is an increase of 5.8 million acres since 2000."); landFactsBody.push("The states with the highest total acres conserved are California, Maine, Colorado, Montana, Virginia, New York, Vermont, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts. Notably, Colorado and Virginia are two of the few states offering a state tax incentive for conservation, operating in tandem with the federal incentive -- a likely factor in the rankings."); landFactsBody.push("Local and state land trusts increased the acres protected by conservation easements by 148%. These private, voluntary agreements saved 6,245,969 acres as of 2005, versus 2,514,566 just five years ago. "); landFactsBody.push("The land type reported as being the primary focus of land trust efforts is protecting natural areas and wildlife habitat (39%), followed by open space (38%) and water resources (26%), especially wetlands. "); landFactsBody.push("The American West is the fastest-growing region in both the number of acres saved and the number of land trusts. Protection of rangeland is increasing in many Western states. The second-fastest growing region, by percentage of acres conserved, is the Southeast, an area that historically has had fewer land trusts. The Northeast gained the most acreage under conservation easement, nearly tripling the acres held under easement in the past five years."); landFactsBody.push("The highest number of land trusts is found in California (198), followed by Massachusetts, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, New York, and Maine. The preponderance of land trusts in the Northeast reflects the birth of land trusts there more than 100 years ago."); landFactsBody.push("Land trusts' numbers, fiduciary status and organizational management are strong. The number of land trusts grew 32%, to 1,667, during the five-year period. Over $1 billion in endowments have been established for long term stewardship of protected land; and the average annual operating budget increased 63% as of 2005. Nearly 1,000 land trusts have adopted the 2004 Revised Land Trust Standards and Practices."); landFactsBody.push("In 2006, $6.7 billion in state and local conservation funding passed in 133 measures, including California, Georgia, New Jersey, South Carolina and Texas. In 2005, $1.6 billion in public funding was approved overwhelmingly in 111 ballot measures across the country, including Pennsylvania, Colorado and Massachusetts."); landFactsBody.push("Funding from government agencies for land acquisition has significantly diminished in recent years."); landFactsBody.push("The number of land trust volunteers climbed dramatically to 90,871, a 63% increase from 55,597 in 2000. Meanwhile, the number of dedicated board members rose significantly, by 2,767 in two years to 14,906. The number of board members was not tabulated in 2000, but was first counted in 2003."); landFactsBody.push("Nonprofit organizations classified as 501(c)(3) are strictly prohibited from engaging in electoral politics (any activity supporting or opposing candidates for office). "); landFactsBody.push("The IRS suggests tax-exempt organizations hold a minimum of three in-person meetings per year."); landFactsBody.push("Besides serving as the organization's archives, minutes are a reliable reference in the event a dispute arises as to board actions. "); landFactsBody.push("Incorporation helps shield individual board members, officers and others associated with the land trust from any financial liability resulting from the land trust's actions or decisions."); landFactsBody.push("By definition, corporate documents create and define a nonprofit corporation. The organization does not exist except through these documents, and it cannot act outside the authority given to it by them."); landFactsBody.push("The vast majority of land trusts acquire public charity status by qualifying as publicly supported organizations."); landFactsBody.push("A public charity must always operate with public benefit at the core of its mission and programs."); landFactsBody.push("A 501(c)(3) charity must be operated for charitable purposes and no part of the net earnings inures to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual."); landFactsBody.push("The IRS has interpreted the 501(c)(3) political campaign prohibition very broadly and closely scrutinizes even permitted activities for any bias."); landFactsBody.push("A letter of opinion may be used instead of a qualified independent appraisal when the economic value of the property is so low as to negate concerns about private inurement or private benefit or when a full appraisal is not feasible before a public auction. A letter of opinion is not sufficient in the case of transactions with insiders. "); landFactsBody.push("Follow the example of America's first land trust! When faced with its first gift of property, The Trustees for Reservations wisely foresaw that they needed to secure funding to cover the ongoing costs of maintaining the property. The Trustees raised money to create a stewardship fund. The land trust community continues to use this model today."); random = Math.floor(Math.random() * landFactsBody.length); document.getElementById("landfacts").innerHTML = landFactsHead + landFactsBody[random] + landFactsEnd;