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Benefits of Open Space Released

Long Island's preserved lands bring $2.74 billion in annual benefits per year.

From tourism dollars to filtering pollutants from air and water, a recent study conducted by the Trust for Public Land, Rauch Foundation and LI Community Foundation places economic value on Long Island parks, farmland and open space. 

The Rauch Foundation and the Long Island Community Foundation commissioned the report to quantify the economic payoff from protecting the region's woods, streams and meadows.  Long Islanders have spent an estimated $1.5 billion since the 1970s to preserve open space, according to the study's authors, the Boston-based Trust for Public Land.

The complete study can be found at: Benefits of Open Space

Introducing the NSLA

The North Shore Land Alliance, Inc. ("NSLA")
is a land trust formed to protect and preserve,
in perpetuity, the green spaces, farmlands, wetlands, groundwater and historical sites of Long Island's North Shore
for the enjoyment and benefit of future generations and the protection and enhancement of quality of life.

Important scenic, ecological and historical elements of the North Shore of Long Island are rapidly being lost, due to the pace of real estate development. With the need for open space protection so pressing, concerned North Shore citizens have formed the North Shore Land Alliance to promote conservation along Long Island's entire North Shore.
 

The NSLA's designated area reaches from the southern boundary of the Northern State Parkway to the shore of Long Island Sound and from the western boundary of Nassau County to the eastern boundary of Brookhaven Township.

The North Shore Land Alliance is a tax-exempt organization designed to promote local land conservation by working with individual landowners, local communities, village-based land trusts and other conservation organizations, as well as local and county governments. Services include:

• Educating landowners and other interested parties about ways to protect their land including tax advantages donors receive for conservation.
   
  

• Assisting individuals in determining and carrying out the best conservation solution for their land including holding conservation easements or title to donated land.
   
  

• Providing services to increase the effectiveness of village-based conservation organizations and concerned communities of the North Shore by providing a step by step guide for conservation.
   
  

• Organizing and launching new efforts to preserve open space in North Shore Communities. Matching funding sources with potential recipients and advocating creation of additional tax incentives and public funding for conservation.
   
  

• Building awareness among North Shore residents of the need for and benefits of open space conservation through community meetings, newspaper articles, and "The NSLA Conservation News."
   
  

• Providing stewardship services for conservation easements and preserves. Including monitoring easements and preserves to ensure conformance to the provisions of the easement or the deed.

The NSLA is a membership-based organization seeking support from individuals, organizations, and village-based conservation organizations for its work. Its board of trustees is drawn from residents of villages along the North Shore. The Nature Conservancy of Long Island provides supporting services to the NSLA. The NSLA is a member of the Land Trust Alliance (a national organization of land trusts).

For information about the North Shore Land Alliance and its services, please contact, Lisa Ott, President, at (516) 626-0908, Fax (516) 484-4419 or e-mail us at info@northshorelandalliance.org, or write us at the North Shore Land Alliance, 151 Post Road, Old Westbury, New York 11568.