Oregon Land Conservation Circuit Rider Program
Background
The Land Trust Alliance is providing a sustained investment in the Oregon land trust community with the goal of strengthening their effectiveness and capacity. In 2012, the Northwest office began the Oregon Advancing Conservation Excellence (ACE) Program with funding from the Yarg foundation. Through our work, Alliance staff regularly survey land trust staff and board to identify priority training and support needs. Targeted services focused on land transactions havebeen identified as key areas in need of support. This type of work has not typically been funded in the first five years of the ACE Program.
Program Summary
The Circuit Rider Program provided by the Western Program will provide direct project support to the Oregon land trust community. The intent of the program is to build on the demonstrated success of the ACE Program by offering the technical assistance to implement on the ground conservation, build capacity around land conservation, and demonstrate success to funders.
Three circuit riders with extensive experience in land protection with land trusts will be available to answer questions and guide land trusts through land protection projects. Support will primarily be provided through email and phone but may include onsite work. Although it is critical to help land trusts understand the perpetuity of conservation projects, circuit rider support will focus on the acquisition process and generally not continue after the close of the project.
Examples of support provided:
●Evaluating and selecting conservation projects
●Technical assistance acquiring land and conservation easements
●Conservation easement drafting and documentation
●Selling and transferring conservation easements
●Due diligence best practices
●Working with landowners
●Working directly with agency staff, including OWEB
●Funding strategies for acquisitions
●Transferring properties to other entities
●Determining long-term requirements, such as stewardship and legal defense funding needs and funding strategies, management plan requirements, etc.
●Advising on policies and procedures within Land Trust Alliance Standards & Practices framework
The Circuit Rider Program is not intended to replace services already offered centrally through the Land Trust Alliance or the Coalition of Oregon Land Trusts, including COLT’s pro bono legal service. Circuit Riders will direct land trusts to Alliance resources and work in partnership with COLT’s legal services when necessary.The Alliance will continue to encourage peer to peer learning in the Oregon land trust community.
Program Design
The Circuit Rider Program will be managed by Brad Paymar, Land Trust Alliance Northwest Senior Program Manager with support from Catherine Waterston, Western Program Associate.
Eligibility: The Circuit Rider Program will be available to land trusts that have received a grant through the Oregon ACE program. Land trusts participating in this program are members of the Land Trust Alliance and the Coalition of Oregon Land Trusts and have completed an Organizational Needs Assessment.
Applying for Project Support: Due to the project specific nature of the Program, requests will be evaluated by the Northwest Senior Program Manager on an ongoing basis throughout the calendar year.
Small requests will be emailed to the Western Program Associate, who will connect the land trust with the appropriate circuit rider. Small requests are those that can be addressed with a scheduled phone call or through email exchange, typically under 5 hours of support. Examples include specific transaction questions and review of draft documents.
Project level requests will be made by submitting a brief application form to the Western Program Associate. Project level signifies requests that will require the circuit rider’s services for more than 5 hours or for the duration of a specified project. For example, a land trust may have built a relationship with a landowner but require assistance in all aspects of the acquisition until the transaction has closed. Another land trust has only completed conservation easements, but now has the opportunity to purchase a property in fee. The circuit rider would advise on the variations of fee transactions.
Requests will be evaluated and selected to receive support by the NorthwestSenior Program Manager. Projects will be reviewed on a set of criteria that determines the organization’s capacity to complete the project, the strategic importance of the project, and the amount of circuit rider hours required. At the initiation of project level requests, Brad Paymar, the land trust, and the circuit rider will discuss the scope and estimated hours to complete the project.
In order to build land trust engagement with the circuit rider program, land trusts will be responsible for the consultant’s mileage, travel expenses, and materials related to initial and subsequent site visits.
Program Review
At the close of the project, the land trust will be required to submit a final report describing the impact of the circuit rider program. This will be an opportunity for the land trust to provide feedback and offer improvements to the program. At the completion of the first year, a survey will be sent to participating land trusts to evaluate the program. Because this is a pilot program, we will take an adaptive approach and adjust the strategy based on participant feedback.
Questions on the Program?
Contact Brad Paymar, Northwest Senior Program Manager at the Land Trust Alliance,, or 971-202-1483.