Mapping the Future
What is Mapping the Future
In 2023, the Peconic Land Trust celebrates a milestone – forty years of protecting and stewarding Long Island’s working farms, natural lands, and heritage. Since 1983, the Trust has worked with public and private partners to protect nearly 14,000 acres of land that define the region’s character, including woodland trails, productive farms, spectacular shorelines, sacred indigenous sites, and scenic vistas.
During 2022, the Trust engaged its board, staff, donors and stakeholders in a comprehensive strategic planning process to map its future. Mapping the Future sets forth a bold set of goals and objectives that will focus and guide the Peconic Land Trust as it continues to conserve what we know and love on Long Island.
Vision: A Long Island where farms, nature, and communities thrive.
There are the four strategic pillars that are the foundation of Mapping the Future:
- Sense of Place: Conserving and Stewarding Long Island’s Natural, Agricultural, and Cultural Resources
- Food, Farms, and Farmers: Advancing Agricultural Viability and Access to Healthy Food
- Land and People: Connecting and Growing a Diverse Conservation Community
- Built to Last: Ensuring a Strong and Enduring Organization
How it Works
Sense of Place:
Conserving and Stewarding Long Island’s Natural, Agricultural, and Cultural Resources
The Peconic Land Trust will continue to conserve Long Island’s working farms, natural lands, and cultural resources. Protecting these resources allows us to do what we do best - foster ecosystem health and climate resiliency, expand the availability of fresh food and other local agricultural products, and advance the community’s ability to experience the region’s outdoor spaces, natural beauty, and history.
On our protected lands we will advance effective and innovative stewardship practices by improving the management, monitoring, and enhancement of natural lands for native species, water quality, and climate resilience. We will initiate and expand public access and interpretation, providing greater opportunities for communities with limited access to nature and the outdoors, and provide education, guidance, and resources to support stewardship best practices in the region.
We will continue to work with landowners, partner organizations, towns, Suffolk and Nassau counties, and state and federal agencies and officials to expand funding to conserve natural and agricultural lands.
Food, Farms, and Farmers:
Advancing Agricultural Viability and Access to Healthy Food
The Peconic Land Trust will work closely with partners to advance the long-term viability and diversity of working farms and support a healthy local food system on Long Island. We will expand opportunities and reduce barriers for new and experienced farmers, including those that are underrepresented in the agricultural industry. We will provide more opportunities for new and established farmers to lease land from the Trust and other farmland owners and support farmers by lending equipment and providing them with access to farmland with infrastructure (fencing, wells, irrigation, and barn space).
Land and People:
Connecting and Growing a Diverse Conservation Community
The Peconic Land Trust will expand, deepen, and diversify its connections with communities on Long Island and beyond. Building greater connections will involve listening and understanding the needs of the communities the Trust serves now and plans to serve in the future. In this way, the Trust can tailor its activities to the needs of unique and diverse communities. We will collaborate with nonprofit partners to create culturally appropriate programs and materials to engage diverse audiences. Our work will engage schools, students, and research institutions. We will inspire new conservationists by building meaningful connections between Long Island’s diverse populations and its natural areas and working farms, the sources of clean water and healthy food.
Built to Last:
Ensuring a Strong and Enduring Organization
When the Peconic Land Trust protects land, it assumes a perpetual responsibility. This requires a strong organization with a committed board and staff, dedicated donors, and a strong funding base to carry out its responsibilities and sustain itself forever. To this end, the Trust will focus on leadership training and development as senior staff members retire in the coming years, including the Trust's founder and President. The Trust's 40th anniversary is an opportunity to leverage its four decades of success to ensure the financial viability and longevity of the Trust in perpetuity. We will strengthen and improve our internal systems and operations; organizational and leadership structure; policies, practices, and procedures; board and staff skills, in order to realize our vision and fulfill our mission with stability, confidence, and excellence. We will build on our solid financial base by reaching a new, younger group of major donors and by expanding our revenue from planned gifts.
Meet the Staff
John v.H. Halsey
President
jhalsey@peconiclandtrust.org
Yvette DeBow-Salsedo
Vice President
ydebow@peconiclandtrust.org