ALTA Projects
ALTA Virtual Service Centre
The Alliance's website, www.landtrusts-alberta.ca, is being built to become a one stop shop virtual service centre for all those who work or are interested in land trust initiatives in Alberta. Keep checking back periodically for regular updates.
The Virtual Service Centre will include information on training opportunities (e.g. ALTA annual conference) and in the future will include downloadable training modules one of which includes templates and guidelines for baseline and monitoring reports.
ALTA Communications Plan
The ALTA completed a communications plan with the help of a consultant. The consultant interviewed 12 representatives from Alberta's land trusts as well as 6 others connected to land trust work in Alberta to determine what types of communication are desired from the ALTA.
ALTA is currently implementing its Communication Plan by offering training opportunities (conference and information session), creating a bi-annual newsletter and distributing ALTA's Case Statement and a series of Fact Sheets (in grey area to the right).
ALTA Fund Development Plan
ALTA hired a consultant to help create its fund development plan. ALTA's Fund Development Committee is currently implementing the plan.
ALTA Training Development Plan
ALTA created a training development plan to guide its programs/services for its members. In order to develop the plan, ALTA staff reviewed what other Alliances were doing (Land Trust Alliance in United States, Land Trust Alliance of British Columbia, Ontario Land Trust Alliance and the Canadian Land Trust Alliance) to develop the plan.
ALTA Training Development Plan
ALTA Capacity Building Grant Program for Alberta's Land Trusts
ALTA submitted a grant program proposal in January 2008 to Alberta Environment and Alberta Sustainable Resource Development requesting 1.5 million dollars in funding (over 3 years) for land trust capacity building activities. If successful these monies were to be distributed to Alberta's land trusts for specific capacity building activities. This grant program request was not approved.
The ALTA Government Policy Recommendations Committee is working with the Institute on Agriculture, Forestry and the Environment as well as the Land Use Framework Secretariat and other Alberta Government representatives to show how the work of land trusts positively contributes to the conservation and stewardship goals of the Land Use Framework. This Committee wrote a letter to Minister Morton in July 2009 and will continue to work with the LUF Secretariat and other GOA representatives and departments in an attempt to obtain capacity building funding for Alberta's land trusts.
Letter to Minister Morton July 2, 2009
ALTA Conservation Priority Maps and Conservation Projects
With the help of the Nature Conservancy of Canada and Environment Canada, the ALTA has maps showing where land trusts work in Alberta and where their projects are. You can have access to these maps if you are an ALTA Member.
If you wish to become a member of the ALTA or would like to see these maps, please e-mail info@landtrusts-alberta.ca.
ALTA Stewardship Training Module
This Stewardship Training Module that will include guidelines and templates for preparing baseline reports, for monitoring properties and creating monitoring reports (for CE and owned lands), a best land conservation management tool kit including the maintenance of CE and owned lands and how to set up an endowment. An information session is being planned for Spring 2010 to give an overview of the Stewardship Training Module.
ALTA Landowner Referral Service
ALTA has received several landowner calls since 2008. Landowners express their desire to conserve their land and ALTA connects the landowner up with a land trust (s) that may be able to help them.
In addition to working provincially we keep informed of what is happening in Canada by collaborating with the Canadian Land Trust Alliance, the Ontario Land Trust Alliance, and Land Trust Alliance of British Columbia