Do you know of an exciting open space project, program, or initiative in Montgomery County deserving of recognition? Then we want to hear from you! Click and download the nomination form for the fourth annual Montgomery County Green Futures Achievement Awards. Please note: the deadline for receiving nominations is July 22, 2010.

The Montgomery County Green Futures program is in its fifth year of offering a multifaceted approach to training and education for local municipal officials and their advisors. This dynamic series of workshops has reached over 1,100 people throughout the county, offering in-depth analyses of land conservation issues in a variety of venues. In creating an energizing and fun environment for the exchange of ideas, Green Futures provides local leaders with the open space tools to deliver what the citizens of Montgomery County want: enhanced quality of life through land conservation and greener communities.

Click here for spring 2010 workshop resources

Check out our video on transferable development rights

Click here to see the 2009 Green Futures Achievement Award Winners

Green Futures is generously supported by the Montgomery County Foundation, Montgomery County, PA’s Department of Community and Economic Development, PECO, PPL  Corporation, and Univest National Bank and Trust. Collaborative partners include Natural Lands Trust and the Montgomery County Planning Commission.

Growing Greener has transformed Pennsylvania by empowering communities to protect working farms and special places, clean up rivers and streams, create and improve parks, and revitalize cities and towns. After a decade of success, the funding sources to support Growing Greener are nearly gone. You can help ensure that our communities and citizens continue to gain the benefits of this vital program. Click here to learn why the Commonwealth should renew Growing Greener.  Click here to see the PA Legislative Budget and Finance Committee Report on the impact of past Growing Greener funding. These community projects in counties across the state benefited from the last round of Growing Greener funding.

Montgomery County Lands Trust thanks the generous corporations, municipalities, and foundations in our region who provided valuable support in 2009.

Are you a municipal official, planner, or conservationist looking for just the right conservation tools? Look no further. www.conservationtools.org sponsored by the Pennsylvania Land Trust Association provides in-depth guidance and a wide array of tools sure to be a top resource for you and your community.

Pennsylvania rests on one of the largest gas deposits in the world. The Marcellus shale formation could hold enough recoverable gas to fuel the nation’s needs for 13 years. What’s not to like? What Pennsylvanians need to know is that natural gas extraction could impose heavy costs on our communities: air pollution; pipelines, drilling pads and wastewater pits scarring our landscapes; heavy rigs damaging our roads; billions of gallons of water taken from our streams; and operational errors contaminating our land and water. Extraction can be done in a way to reduce this impact and tax revenues from natural gas extraction can and should go toward protecting our environment.  

Let’s not miss an historic opportunity to ensure that our descendants receive a natural wealth equal to our own. As the push for natural gas drilling and extraction intensifies, let’s take the time to invest in our communities so they can prosper --both during extraction activities and after the gas is gone. For more information and to see policy proposals related to natural gas drilling, visit landandwater.org.

Interested in preserving a piece of your land? The Trust can help you ensure that your land is protected, now and in the future. The Trust can help you design a conservation easement that fulfills your wishes for the future of your land. If the conservation easement is donated to the Trust, the Trust will monitor your easement yearly and ensure that the land remains as you wish. For more information, see our Landowner Conservation Options brochure, and our Conservation Easement Fact Sheet.

Montgomery County Lands Trust is working with land owners and local officials to identify effective ways to protect the Swamp Creek watershed – a 55.4 mile area in Western Montgomery County and Southeastern Berks. This link will take you to the extensive Swamp Creek Riparian Corridor Conservation Plan . MCLT’s new brochure, Protect and Preserve the Swamp Creek Greenway , provides compelling information, resources, and practical tips for caring for this valuable watershed. To obtain a free print copy, please make your request on our contact page .

Montgomery County Lands Trust is pleased to announce that it is seeking accreditation through the nationally recognized land trust accreditation program. This program provides accreditation to organizations that meet national quality standards for permanently protecting important natural places and working lands. The Land Trust Accreditation Commission, an independent program of the Land Trust Alliance, conducts an extensive review of each applicant’s policies and programs. For Montgomery County Lands Trust, having accreditation will add yet another layer of professionalism to the land conservation work that we do and will further assure landowners and other key stakeholders that we abide by strict national guidelines and conform to procedures and rules that ensure our organization is ethically and fiscally responsible. Click here for details.

• New for 2009! Protect and Preserve the Swamp Creek Greenway provides compelling information, resources, and a call to action for the valuable Swamp Creek watershed – a 55.4 square-mile area of special focus for Montgomery County Lands Trust in Western Montgomery County and Southeastern Berks County.
• Buy the Best, Zone the Rest: Building a Green Future presents an
  overview of conservation choices available to municipalities, nonprofits
  and the citizens of Montgomery County.
• Landowner Conservation Options incorporates stories from landowners working with us to preserve their land and outlines the assortment of preservation techniques available to any landowner newly considering preservation.
• Open Space Success Stories is a 36-page booklet highlighting the
  wide array of innovative projects emerging from Montgomery County’s
  first open space program.

To obtain a free print copy of any of these booklets, please make your request on our contact page. And while you’re at it, become a member. Joining is a great way to make a difference.

Don’t write off farming in Montgomery County just yet. Check out these impressive farm figures collected from a recent growing season.

The recharged Montgomery County Open Space program – Green Fields/Green Towns has energized planning in Montgomery County communities. This ten-year, $150 million program was approved by the Montgomery County citizens in November 2003. The Green Fields/Green Towns Program is made up of three basic components: municipal grants ($67 million), private organization grants ($8 million), and county open space expenditures ($75 million).

The program established an allocation of funding for each municipality in Montgomery County based on population. As of November, 2009 all of Montgomery County’s 62 municipalities have submitted grant applications for open space projects tailored to the unique needs of their communities. Click here to see how your municipality participated in Green Field/Green Towns.

Learn about important natural resources and key conservation landscapes identified in our county through Montgomery County Planning Commission’s Natural Areas Inventory study
completed in 2007. To gain an overview of the study, you can view a narrated power point presentation.

One of the most effective ways we increase the pace of land conservation, is through federal and state tax incentives that help landowners choose conservation over development. Find out how some land owners donating conservation easements could benefit from a potentially extended federal tax incentive. Find out more about this issue through information provided by the Land Trust Alliance.

Montgomery County Lands Trust partners with groups throughout Southeastern Pennsylvania such as GreenSpace Alliance to implement strategies that keep our region vibrant, encourage smart growth, and protect our valuable natural assets. Click here to access the Regional Open Space Priorities Report produced by the
Green Space Alliance of Southeastern Pennsylvania. To see conservation plans for some of the important resources in Montgomery County, visit our Working Together page.