Sample Renewal Additional Information Request February 25, 2015 Jim Smith Green Acres Land Trust 123 Main Street Anywhere, NY 12345 Dear Jim: Thank you for submitting your organization s application for renewal to the Land Trust Accreditation Commission. Your organization s commitment to accreditation is important to the land trust community s efforts to build strong land trusts, foster public trust in land conservation, and ensure the long-term protection of land. Your organization s application was reviewed by a team of Commissioner Tom Duffus and Commission Review Specialist Greg Good. The attached Additional Information Request (AIR) outlines the additional information required by the review team to complete its review of your organization s application. You will find that the AIR is quite detailed in items or actions requested. We encourage you to contact Greg Good at 360-797-1292 or ggood@landtrustaccreditation.org at any point in the process with questions about the additional information requested. Staff will be able to describe why a particular request is being made and help you understand what documentation might help show compliance with the requirement. Response Deadline: Please upload the items outlined in the attached AIR to the Additional Documents tab of your organization s online application (refer to the User Manual for instructions) by May 26, 2015. Meeting this deadline will enable the review team to present its findings to the Commission for its decision by August 2015. Sincerely, The Land Trust Accreditation Commission 1
Additional Information Request Information Due May 26, 2015 When preparing your organization s response we encourage you to review the Requirements Manual, which outlines the elements the Commission evaluates for each indicator practice and provides helpful references. The text of the relevant indicator practices is provided below as a preface to each section. 2B. Nonprofit Incorporation and Bylaws The land trust has incorporated according to the requirements of state law and maintains its corporate status. It operates under bylaws based on its corporate charter or articles of incorporation. The board periodically reviews the bylaws. 1. The application materials did not appear to indicate that the organization reviews its bylaws (or equivalent document) at least once every five years. a. Please provide documentation of a review of the organization s bylaws completed within the last five years. (If the organization has not completed a review of its bylaws, please do so prior to its response to this letter). b. If the review above results in changes to the bylaws, provide revised bylaws or, if the revisions have not been approved as of the deadline to respond, draft revisions. 3F. Board Approval of Land Transactions The board reviews and approves every land and easement transaction, and the land trust provides the board with timely and adequate information prior to final approval. However, the board may delegate decision-making authority on transactions if it establishes policies defining the limits to that authority, the criteria for transactions, the procedures for managing conflicts of interest, and the timely notification of the full board of any completed transactions, and if the board periodically evaluates the effectiveness of these policies. The application materials did not clearly indicate that the board approves all land transactions prior to closing. Specifically, in the Jones transaction the executive director signed the deed December 12, 2013, prior to the board vote on December 17, 2013. Please provide one of the following: a. Documentation of the vote to approve the Jones transaction prior to closing. b. If there is no documentation of the vote to approve the Jones transaction prior to closing: a statement from the board chair (or other officer), a policy, or a procedure that documents how the organization will contemporaneously document board approval of all land transactions prior to closing in the future. 5A. Legal and Ethical Practices The land trust complies with all charitable solicitation laws, does not engage in commission-based fundraising, and limits fundraising costs to a reasonable percentage of overall expenses. 2
2. The application materials did not clearly indicate that the organization s contemporaneous written gift acknowledgement letters for donations of land and/or conservation easements meet the Treasury Regulations by containing a description of payments that the organization and/or a partner(s) provided as part of a bargain sale. a. Please provide a template written gift acknowledgement letter for bargain sale donations of land or conservation easements that meets the requirements. 9E. Easement Drafting Every easement is tailored for the property according to project planning (see 8G) and: identifies the important conservation values protected and public benefit served; allows only permitted uses and/or reserved rights that will not significantly impair the important conservation values; contains only restrictions that the land trust is capable of monitoring; and is enforceable. 3. The organization s most recently completed conservation easement did not appear to contain the required basic easement elements as specified in the Commission s Requirements Manual. a. Please provide template language the organization will use to ensure that, when the easement requires prior notice to enter a property for monitoring, the organization has the ability to enter the property without notice in the event of an emergency or when the organization suspects a potential violation is occurring. 9H. Title Investigation and Subordination The land trust investigates title to each property for which it intends to acquire title or an easement to be sure that it is negotiating with the legal owner(s) and to uncover liens, mortgages, mineral or other leases, water rights and/or other encumbrances or matters of record that may affect the transaction. Mortgages, liens and other encumbrances that could result in extinguishment of the easement or significantly undermine the important conservation values on the property are discharged or properly subordinated to the easement. 4. The application materials did not appear to indicate that the organization investigated title, prior to closing, for each fee property and conservation easement it acquired. a. Please provide documentation of title investigation for the Smith and Jones projects. b. If the organization did not obtain title investigation for these projects at the time of acquisition, please complete the following: i. Review all transactions completed since accreditation was last awarded to determine how many fee properties and/or conservation easements were acquired without completing a title investigation at or before acquisition. ii. For all of the projects missing title investigations, complete a retroactive title investigation identifying the legal owner and mortgages, mineral leases or other elements specified in the practice 9H as shown above. iii. Provide the retroactive title investigations for the Smith and Jones projects. 3
iv. Provide a list of the other projects that were missing documentation of title investigation at or before acquisition, along with the date that title was subsequently completed. v. If, during the retroactive title investigations, title issues are identified that might impair the ability of the organization to enforce a conservation easement or to protect the conservation values of a conservation easement or fee property, then also provide documentation that the organization examined the risk the title issues pose to the conservation values on the specific properties and that it determined whether any corrective action could or should be taken. vi. Provide a policy or procedure that documents how the organization will ensure compliance with the requirement in the future. 11E. Enforcement of Easements The land trust has a written policy and/or procedure detailing how it will respond to a potential violation of an easement, including the role of all parties involved (such as board members, volunteers, staff and partners) in any enforcement action. The land trust takes necessary and consistent steps to see that violations are resolved and has available, or has a strategy to secure, the financial and legal resources for enforcement and defense. (See 6G and 11A.) 5. The application response indicated that the land trust had no violations of its conservation easements since its last application; however the monitoring reports provided indicated that there may have been a violation on the Smith easement. a. Please provide a statement explaining whether the on-site dumping was managed as a potential violation. If determined to be a violation, please also provide a statement describing how the organization has managed or plans to manage the violation. 12C. Land Management The land trust inventories the natural and cultural features of each property prior to developing a management plan that identifies its conservation goals for the property and how it plans to achieve them. Permitted activities are compatible with the conservation goals, stewardship principles and public benefit mission of the organization. Permitted activities occur only when the activity poses no significant threat to the important conservation values, reduces threats or restores ecological processes, and/or advances learning and demonstration opportunities. 6. The application materials did not clearly indicate that the organization updates its land management plans to reflect parcel additions. Specifically, the Brown preserve management plan does not appear to reflect the addition of the Black parcel. a. Please provide a management plan completed prior to the application for the Brown preserve that includes the additional of the Black parcel. b. If the management plan completed prior to the application does not contain information on the additional parcel, please complete the following: 4
i. Provide an upgraded management plan, addendum, or other documentation for Brown preserve that includes the Black addition. ii. Provide a statement, policy, or procedure that documents how the organization will ensure compliance with the requirement in the future. 12D. Monitoring Land Trust Properties The land trust marks its boundaries and regularly monitors its properties for potential management problems (such as trespass, misuse or overuse, vandalism or safety hazards) and takes action to rectify such problems. 7. The application materials did not appear to indicate that the organization documents inspection of its fee properties as specified in the Commission s Requirements Manual. a. Please provide documentation of the 2014 inspection of the Brown preserve. b. If the organization does not have documentation of its 2014 inspection of the Brown preserve as specified, provide the following: i. Documentation of inspection conducted in response to this letter. ii. Documentation of how the organization will ensure compliance with the requirement in the future, such as a template monitoring/inspection form, policy or procedures for fee land monitors. General The Commission requests that organizations track the time they spend on the application process. This helps the Commission provide guidance to future applicants. If your organization kept track of its time please provide a completed time tracking form. Data can be provided as a tally of each individual s time or as an aggregate of time spent by the organization. Document Requested 8. A completed time tracking form, if available (visit http://www.landtrustaccreditation.org/storage/downloads/timetrackingform-renewal.xls for the electronic version). Thank you for being part of the accreditation program. If you need information on how to implement the accreditation indicator practices or sample documents, we encourage you to visit the Land Trust Alliance s online Learning Center at http://learningcenter.lta.org. 5