June 1, 2015
Sherwood Trust Awards a $195,000 Grant to Sustain Conservation Department
By Tim Copeland, Executive Director
The Donald and Virginia Sherwood Trust awarded our land trust a $195,000 grant on June 4. The grant provides funding for our conservation department for three years beginning in January, 2016.
BMLT’s conservation activities depend heavily on the expertise and hard work of our conservation director. Providing the director with appropriate compensation and financial support for other conservation expenses is critical to the fulfillment of our mission. This award will help us meet this requirement through 2018.
The award provides us an opportunity to make the conservation department sustaining and self-sufficient through the generation of income from its activities. We will explore a number of income-producing opportunities that the conservation department may implement with the goal of making it self-sustaining before 2019.
In awarding the grant, the Sherwood Trust’s representatives noted our innovative conservation department plan, the board’s high level of involvement in the governance of the land trust and the quality of our programs and outreach as reasons for their positive decision.
“This is wonderful news,” said executive director Tim Copeland. “It affirms that we have many great opportunities and encourages us to take innovative actions. We are very thankful to the Sherwood Trust’s trustees for their great diligence in approving our grant request and to Donald and Virginia Sherwood for the creation of this trust which has helped so many organizations in our community.”