WHEREAS Alberta’s Land-use Framework provides a comprehensive approach for managing lands and natural resources to achieve Alberta’s long-term economic, environmental and social goals; and

WHEREAS a key objective in the Land-use Framework is to develop a strategy for conservation and stewardship on private and public lands; and

WHEREAS the Government of Alberta initiated and funded the creation of the Alberta Land Trust Alliance with a mission to represent the land trust community and build capacity in land trusts to conserve diverse and ecologically important landscapes in Alberta; and

WHEREAS the Alberta Land Trust Alliance and local land trusts can play a vital role in municipal efforts to conserve and steward land;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Alberta Association of Municipal Districts and Counties urge the Government of Alberta to provide ongoing operating funds to the Alberta Land Trust Alliance thereby ensuring its future vitality.

The Alberta Land Trust Alliance (ALTA) is a registered charity formed in 2006 with a mandate to help conserve and protect Alberta’s environmental heritage and landscapes of natural and cultural significance. The organization aims to help maintain biodiversity and ecological integrity of those landscapes for public benefit.

Assistance to Municipalities

• Increase awareness and education about conservation options including easements.
• Advise on where conservation easements currently exist within a municipality.
• Link municipalities with local land trusts to assist with acquiring and managing conserved lands, researching open space needs and priorities, and developing community open space plans.
• Provide resources including start up of a proposed new land trust where a local land trust may not currently exist;
• Provide resources and assistance to municipalities with regards to execution of policies related to land use and preservation.

Alberta Land Trust Alliance Priorities

1. Increasing public awareness of the value of land conservation and land stewardship;
2. Advancing environmentally sound stewardship among landowners and increasing their understanding of environmental issues pertaining to specific areas of land in Alberta;
3. Educating potential stakeholders about the role that local land trusts can play in preserving land in perpetuity;
4. Fostering relationships and building linkages within the land trust community in order to advance the work of local land trusts;
5. Working with all levels of government to influence positive land conservation policies;
6. Increasing the number of acres of conserved lands in Alberta by building capacity in local land trusts;
7. Identifying where gaps may exist in specific areas of the province and assisting with the formation of new land trusts at the grassroots level.
8. Speaking as a unified voice on behalf of our member organizations.

The AAMDC has no active resolutions pertaining to this issue.