GET INVOLVED
“About 19 percent of the town’s land is protected from development, said Kathy Orlando, executive director for land protection of the Sheffield Land Trust. Given its location and attractions, Ms. Orlando said, “Sheffield is incredibly fortunate to have retained its rural flavor.””
Sheffield Land Trust accomplishes its work through the efforts of its Board of Directors and many volunteers, supplemented by our small staff. They are local residents who contribute their time and skills to manage the land trust and carry out its many activities. Volunteers and staff work together through four standing committees to achieve SLT's goals.
JOIN US
Become a member. Contribute any amount to the Sheffield Land Trust, including to projects, to become a member.
Get on our mailing list and hear about upcoming events like walks on privately conserved land, lectures, and other programs.
DONATE
Make a donation. Make a one-time gift or multi-year pledge, set up monthly giving, a challenge grant, or a bequest to support the Land Trust’s work. Gifts can be unrestricted or earmarked for a specific project. Any amount is appreciated!
Donate property. Some can donate development rights or land to be conserved. Or you might have non-conservation land or a home that could be donated to be sold to benefit our work.
Link HERE to donate!
VOLUNTEER
Volunteer. Three committees do much of the work of the Land Trust—land protection, funding and financial management, and outreach and education. Volunteers assist with projects of interest to them (events, monitoring land, tree plantings, writing, food, land stewardship, etc.) Volunteers can also serve on sub-committees or committees and attend those meetings, but are not required to; new volunteers may be recruited and added as volunteers by any committee member.
Join a committee (they meet every other month) or volunteer for a specific program or project.
HOW THE BOARD AND OUR COMMITTEES WORK
Board members attend bi-monthly board meetings and serve on at least one committee; committee chairs represent their committees on the Executive committee; new board members are often recruited from among committee members and volunteers who have served for at least six months.
Committee members attend committee meetings every other month to participate in project planning and policy development; new committee members are nominated and approved by the committees.
Executive Committee: Set Board meeting agendas, make Board nominations, develop Board and staff training opportunities, update by-laws and policies, coordinate strategic planning, recruit executive directors and evaluate performance.
Land Protection Committee: Identify and review land conservation projects, to work with staff to provide information for property owners, plan land protection projects, review conservation restrictions, and maps, monitor protected properties.
Funding and Financial Management Committee: Plan annual membership campaign, review grant opportunities, prepare annual budget and review financial reports, develop funding for land protection projects, develop endowment and planned giving programs.
Outreach and Public Relations Committee: Organize special events such as property walks and lectures, develop educational programs in the schools and for the public, review public policy and advocacy initiatives, review public outreach materials and mailings, manage media and public relations.
GIFTS | BEQUESTS | CHALLENGE GRANTS | PLEDGES
Leave an Enduring Legacy for the Sheffield you love through a Planned Gift. Join the Sheffield Land Trust Legacy Circle - view PDF file brochure!
The Legacy Circle Fund is a board-restricted reserve fund—not an endowment—that will allow the Land Trust to strategically take advantage of conservation opportunities in our community and be good stewards of land we have already helped families to protect.
Supporters of the fund become members of our Legacy Circle. By doing so, they help give the Land Trust a secure foundation to protect land in our community and take care of it for all generations to come. There remain thousands of acres of beloved land—farms, forests, fields, wetlands—that Sheffield families may someday want to protect. We want to be ready to help them.
Additionally, we want to build on the strong conservation spirit you have helped nurture in Sheffield. Since the Land Trust was founded in 1989, your and other members’ generous contributions have enabled us to help families conserve more than 5,000 acres of Sheffield’s 31,000-plus acres of land, including more than a dozen family farms. Most of that land remains in private ownership and on Sheffield’s tax rolls. (All the land that we own also remains on the tax rolls.)
You can reach out to Kathy Orlando, Sheffield Land Trust’s executive director for land protection, by emailing her at shefland@bcn.net.
“What the Sheffield Land Trust has accomplished is truly amazing. The working farmland and other open space make Sheffield a healthy and pleasant place to live. I have included the Land Trust in my will to help preserve this quality of life, especially for the children, well into the future.”