Allegheny Land Trust

After 12 years of organizational growth and transformative projects, Allegheny Land Trust President and CEO Christopher Beichner is departing the organization at the end of November 2024. Chris has been the longest serving CEO in ALT’s history. Under his leadership, ALT has grown from a small-but-mighty staff into a talented team of leaders advancing innovative and challenging projects to conserve more land, increase the ecological health of streams and habitats, and enhance nature-based learning opportunities. ALT expanded their strategic priorities from two to four, now including land conservation, stewardship, environmental education, and community conservation. The nonprofit’s budget increased from $500,000 in 2012 to $8.8 million for this budget year. Under Chris’ tenure, the organization focused on equity in conservation, having recently completed a diversity, equity, inclusion, justice, and accessibility plan and having launched their community conservation program in 2015. The organization maintained a high standard of excellence, earning national reaccreditation multiple times since 2010. “As I embark on a new professional and personal path, I will never forget and will always value my time at ALT,” Chris stated. “It has been an amazing journey and tremendous privilege to work alongside passionate, unwavering folks who care so much about conservation, and I look forward to learning about the many impressive achievements the ALT team will reach in the months and years ahead.” Chris and his family will be moving to the state of Maine where he will begin as the President and CEO of the Forest Society of Maine (FSM). FSM is a statewide land trust with the purpose of conserving and stewarding the Maine North Woods – a 12-million-acre forest – the largest contiguous forest in the continental United States. Over the past 40 years, FSM has conserved over one million acres, making it the seventh largest land trust in the country by conserved acres. ALT Board Chair Ted Weller expressed his appreciation by saying, “On behalf of Allegheny Land Trust’s Board of Directors, I want to thank Chris for his years of service and collaborative leadership in helping ALT to reach new heights. I am confident with the strong foundation we have achieved together; ALT is poised to have an even greater impact. We wish Chris tremendous success moving forward.” ALT’s Board leadership has formed a CEO Search Committee and plans to launch a nationwide search for the next CEO in the coming weeks with the goal of identifying a new CEO by the first quarter of 2025.

We are excited to welcome Sarah Costlow as our new Vice President of Land Conservation!   Sarah comes to Allegheny Land Trust (ALT) from her role as the Land Protection Director of the Western New York Land Conservancy. In her role with ALT, Sarah will lead ALT’s land conservation efforts, deploying various methods of land protection to help the organization meet its regional conservation goals. As a member of ALT's senior leadership team, she will collaborate with landowners, government agencies, and other stakeholders to identify, secure, and protect green space in southwestern Pennsylvania. “I’m honored to join the team at Allegheny Land Trust and am excited to return to Western PA, where I grew up,” Sarah said. “I look forward to working alongside the team to build on the momentum of the great work they’ve already done and to strategize and implement new ways to protect the region’s natural resources.” Learn more in our press release: https://lnkd.in/eDRw3Caw

Seize the Day! There's still time to double your impact for close-to-home conservation. Why give? Our work has the power to transform our communities by protecting green spaces that enhance scenic beauty, provide close-to-home places for healthy recreation and environmental education, protect wildlife habitat, maintain the health of our air and drinking water, absorb stormwater to mitigate flash-flooding and landslides, and so much more. Together, we can keep conserving local land that is both nice to enjoy and necessary to protect. We need your help! Your gift will be matched dollar-for-dollar by our Board of Directors as part of our #DayofGiving: https://bit.ly/donatetoalt

Today is the day: Our Annual Day of Giving! Since our founding in 1993, we've had the opportunity to collaborate with more than 40 communities across our region to conserve nearly 4,000 acres of green space. Our work has the power to transform communities and our region by protecting green spaces that enhance scenic beauty, provide close-to-home places for healthy recreation and environmental education, protect wildlife habitat, clean our air and water, and absorb stormwater to mitigate flash-flooding and landslides. Together with your support, we can continue conserving our region’s land that is both nice to enjoy and necessary to protect. We need your help! We hope you’ll donate during our September 19, 2024 #DayofGiving to have your gift matched dollar-for-dollar by our Board of Directors. Double Your Impact, Give for Green Space: bit.ly/donatetoalt

It's PA Trails Month, and we're excited to showcase another beautiful trail in Allegheny County! This one is brought to you by our Director of Land Stewardship, Thomas; this trail—owned and managed by the Allegheny Land Trust—holds a special place for us, as we've had the honor of working here in the past. Nestled in McKeesport, PA, Dead Man's Hollow Conservation Area offers a breathtaking landscape to immerse yourself fully in nature. Swipe through the photos above to experience this hidden gem's captivating charm! #PATrailsMonth #AlleghenyCountyTrails #DeadMansHollow #McKeesportPA #ConservationArea #LandStewardship

We're proud to be made up of a team of leaders. Earlier this year, Julia (Julie) Travaglini became President of Pennsylvania Association of Environmental Educators where she is leading their team of volunteer Board members in advancing environmental education and literacy across the state. You can learn more about the outdoors from Julie at many of our upcoming events (https://lnkd.in/eSgGpSuX) ; you can also hear her talk on Episode 120 of the Outdoor Classrooms Podcast (https://lnkd.in/g6X2Rg4T). #outdooreducation #environmentaleducation #landconservation #naturebasededucation #continuingeducation

We are honored to partner with Allegheny County Conservation District (ACCD), Tree Pittsburgh, Sustainable Pittsburgh, and Green Building Alliance hosting workshops for municipalities and neighbors to promote sustainability as a framework for building climate resilient, vibrant communities and supporting community health. This five-part series is supported by a $30,000 Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection Grant received by ACCD for the Development Patterns and Municipal Engagement for Optimal Natural Resource Outcomes. Learn how to secure funding, promote sustainability, and enhance community health to build vibrant communities. Workshops run between September 2024 - April 2025. Register now: https://lnkd.in/e-aTPGCS

Would you like to direct & execute strategies to help save local land? Apply to join our team as Allegheny Land Trust's Vice President of Land Conservation by July 22 at 5 pm! Through leading our efforts in conserving critical local lands, this role will help address our region's resiliency challenges while fostering a better quality of life for our communities today and for generations to come. Learn More, Apply, & Share: https://lnkd.in/eqsFu_u hashtag #hiring #conservationjobs #environmentaljobs #nonprofitjobs #landconservation #landtrust #environmentalresiliency

#OnThisDay in 1865, General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, TX, to read Order No. 3, which affirmed the end of slavery in the states of the former Confederacy. This momentous occasion has been celebrated as #Juneteenth — a combination of "June" and "19th" — for over 150 years. Though President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, issued on January 1st, 1863, freed all enslaved people in the Confederacy, its announcement and enforcement relied upon the presence of Union troops, including members of the United States Colored Troops. Although some were aware of the implementation of the Emancipation Proclamation, it wasn't enforced by the Union Army in Galveston, TX, until June 19th, 1865. Juneteenth is the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of ending slavery in the United States. Today, annual Juneteenth celebrations include family reunions, religious sermons, barbecues, and much more. Two years ago, President Joe Biden opened the signing of Juneteenth into law as a federal holiday with these words: "Juneteenth marks both the long, hard night of slavery and subjugation, and a promise of a brighter morning to come." Learn more: https://s.si.edu/45lahgn 📸 1. Emancipation Day Celebration, June 19, 1900. Courtesy of Austin History Center, Austin Public Library 2. Emancipation Day, Richmond, Va. Courtesy of Detroit Publishing Company photograph collection, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division 3. Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, © Douglas Keister.

Happy #Juneteenth family! 🖤 Today we celebrate freedom while also acknowledging that the fight for true justice and equity must continue #ForCultureForCommunity. https://bit.ly/3Nd9iEF