Nomination Statement for Mid-Atlantic Region Candidate
Grant Smith

Terrafirma insurance is particularly valuable for small land trusts such as the one I represent.  Not only can it cover legal costs exceeding the value of our stewardship fund, but it can also provide access to expertise beyond that available in our state, which has relatively little legal experience with conservation easements.  Possibly more important is its potential deterrent effect on a landowner who might otherwise ride roughshod over a small conservation easement-holding organization standing in the way of a development scheme.  We draw attention to the considerable legal defense resources available under Terrafirma both in our newsletter and when dealing with both landowners and the public.

All Terrafirma members need to work to make Terrafirma a success.  This includes insuring its success as an insurer, i.e., that it maintains the resources to pay claims but also that it pays claims and helps land trusts with easement challenges.  It also means outreach to maximize the number of organizations and acres insured and to help member land trusts reduce the risks they face.  

During my time with the US government, I managed both large and small programs, always insuring that expenditures supported defined goals and objectives.  Since then, I have learned the language and issues of land conservation.  Regarding outreach, I would hope to build on the excellent job that Terrafirma is doing through its webinars and TerraBite emails.  I have met a number  of representatives of land trusts in the mid-Atlantic region at rally and through the workshops for small land trusts under LTA's the Potomac Watershed Circuit Rider program.  (Our land trust is co-sponsoring one of these workshops in November, where our board member who manages our monitoring of our easements will have the opportunity to show how he does it.)  I look forward to discussing Terrafirma with organizations represented at these workshops and with other land trusts in the mid-Atlantic region, with a view to learning why some small land trusts and quasi-governmental organizations have not signed up for Terrafirma, and what experience others have had in dealing with Terrafirma.