2017 Annual Report

Thank you

In my nearly 20 years leading this organization, it’s hard to recall a more consequential year for public lands than 2017. It was a year in which Americans of all walks of life came together to take a stand for the treasured parks and natural places we all share. And thanks to you, it was a year in which The Trust for Public Land made great strides connecting more people to health-promoting parks and open space.

With your help, we launched our campaign to put a park within a 10-minute walk of every person in America–joined by more than 130 mayors of cities nationwide.

With your support, we created new parks and playgrounds in New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and other cities. And we answered the call from communities across the country to protect lands they rely on for enjoyment and economic wellbeing—including stretches of the Appalachian Trail, Rocky Mountain National Park, and threatened ranchlands in Colorado, Arizona, and Montana.

As I prepare for retirement in the spring, I am more convinced of the importance of this mission than ever. Thank you for supporting The Trust for Public Land, for all you do for parks and conservation in your community, and for joining us in common cause to insist that public lands are our lands—and that everyone deserves easy access to close-to-home parks and open spaces.

Will Rogers signature

Will Rogers
President and CEO

Your impact

Our successes together are best measured in human happiness, health, and inspiration. And by those standards, it was a very good year. Click the images below to explore the impact of your support.

Photo credit: Elyse Leyenberger

John H. Taggart Elementary Schoolyard

We helped students at Philadelphia's John H. Taggart Elementary School bring their dream playground to life. Kids love the soccer field, track, stage, lush gardens, and hybrid merry-go-round/net-climber/jungle gym. A colorful world map mural reflects the diversity of the school, whose community members speak 27 different languages.

Let's play

Photo credit: The Trust for Public Land

Peaceful Springs Preserve

Austin residents have long treasured the canyons and forests of the Texas Hill Country, but these delicate landscapes are at risk from development as the metro area grows. To help protect this special place—which includes habitat for rare songbirds and migrating monarch butterflies—this year we added the 520-acre Peaceful Springs Preserve to the Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge.

Monarch facts

Photo credit: Jerry and Marcy Monkman

Portland Open Space Vision

We helped launch the Portland Open Space Vision and Implementation Plan to help Maine's largest city prepare for the future of its well-loved parks and trails. Our GIS experts are helping Portlanders understand the strengths and needs of their park system, and prioritize opportunities to help the city stay green and healthy as it grows.

Learn more

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This year, we protected 51,907 acres. That’s the equivalent of more than 107 football fields a day.

Photo credit: Sirena Dufault

Santa Teresa Wilderness access

Arizona's Santa Teresa Wilderness is a jumble of majestic desert peaks, canyons, and rock formations—but it has few good access points for backpackers and hunters who want to explore it. So we helped the Bureau of Land Management purchase an adjacent ranch and improve a road to the wilderness boundary.

Take a hike

Photo credit: The Trust for Public Land

Untermeyer Lake

The New Jersey Highlands provide clean water for hundreds of thousands of people, and its trails and forests offer much-needed respite for residents of America’s densest state. We protected 178 acres on Untermeyer Lake in Kinnelon, making space for a new mountain bike trail between two popular parks.

Learn more

This year, we completed 187 park and land protection projects—that’s about one every 2 days.

Photo credit: Colin Cooke

Newark Riverfront Park

Transformation is underway in the heart of Newark. This month, we're completing the latest phase of the Newark Riverfront Park, featuring a walking trail, a Fitness Zone ® area, and connections to sports fields, a track, and a playground.

Find the trail

Photo credit: Steven Gnam

Trumbull Creek

We helped residents of Whitefish and Columbia Falls protect 7,000 acres of forest—a big, communal backyard that sustains the local forestry industry, provides clean water, and beckons people to hike, ski, fish, and hunt. The land is now safe from development and will remain open to the public.

Learn more

Photo credit: Hollis Bennett

Chattahoochee National Recreation Area

We protected another 114 acres for the public along the Chattahoochee River in northern Georgia. Since 1995, we've helped metro Atlanta residents save 75 miles of riverfront and 18,000 acres of trails, boat ramps, and peaceful river banks that offer everyone close-to-home access to nature.

Explore

Photo credit: Timothy Schenck

P.S. 120 - Queens

We transformed the blacktop schoolyard at P.S. 120 in Queens into a park for the whole neighborhood, with trees, a turf field, and a running track—thanks to a partnership with New York Road Runners. It's one of five New York City schoolyards we rebuilt in 2017.

Swing by

Photo credit: Erick Chavez

Bicentennial Park

We revitalized Bicentennial Park in Hawthorne, California, transforming a few padlocked tennis courts into a green neighborhood oasis within a 10-minute walk of 20,000 people. The park's sky-themed design recalls Hawthorne's proud history in the aeronautics and aviation industries.

Take flight

Photo credit: Jerry and Marcy Monkman

Page Pond Community Forest Expansion

The rural town of Meredith is a summer mainstay on the shores of Lake Winnipesaukee—the centerpiece of New Hampshire's popular Lakes Region. We helped Meredith residents create the Page Pond Community Forest in 2009, and this year expanded it by nearly 200 acres.

More

Learn more

This year, we celebrated the openings of 41 new parks in cities around the country.

Photo credit: Richard Freeda

SIlvermine Fowler Preserve

Before there was the BBC's Planet Earth, there was Wild Kingdom—an Emmy-award-winning TV show that brought exotic animals from around the globe into America's living rooms. Host Jim Fowler wanted to preserve his family's piece of the wild, so they worked with us to protect their forested New Canaan homestead as a public park.

Find out more

Photo credit: Malloree Weinheimer of Jefferson Land Works

Yarr Farm

Family farms have anchored the community and economy of Washington's Chimicum Valley for generations—but young farmers struggle to afford land of their own. We protected a fallow farm from development and helped recruit a hard-working young farmer to bring the land back into production.

See what's growing

Photo credit: DJ Forbes

Lawrence Creek Scientific and Natural Area

The new Lawrence Creek Scientific and Natural Area near Franconia protects the forested banks of a tributary to the nearby St. Croix National Scenic Riverway. An hour north of the Twin Cities, this new park is open for research, outdoor education, hiking, skiing, and hunting.

More

Photo credit: Lynda Frost

Davis Farm

We protected a 518-acre family farm along the Rappahannock River in the Virginia Tidewater. It's the latest success in our 20-year effort to save critical pieces of the region's wetlands for wildlife habitat, climate change resilience, and public recreation.

Check it out

Photo credit: Antoine Smith / ADS Photography

Lafayette Street School playground

We helped students and neighbors of this Newark elementary school reclaim their playground. Once a cracked asphalt lot, it’s now a lush green park, overseen by a striking mural of a falcon (the mascot) created by an alum of the school.

Meet the artist

Learn more

This year, more than 130 mayors in cities nationwide joined our campaign to ensure that everyone has a park within a 10-minute walk of home.

Learn more

Photo credit: Arkansas Game and Fish Commission

Frog Bayou Wildlife Management Area

We helped expand the Frog Bayou Wildlife Management Area in northwest Arkansas, one of the few public hunting areas managed to support waterfowl in this part of the state. It’s a popular and affordable destination especially for young hunters, who are big advocates for conservation in the region.

More

Photo credit: Timothy Gendron

Paul Habans Schoolyard

The new green schoolyard at Paul Habans Charter School in New Orleans is a place for the whole neighborhood to gather and play, and it doubles as critical green infrastructure: new gardens and trees can capture stormwater and reduce flood risk for nearby homes.

More

Photo credit: Curtis Lee Farmer

White Oak Savanna Park

A decade ago, a determined West Linn, Oregon, resident stumbled on this blackberry-covered hillside while out for a stroll—and soon found it was slated for development. We joined the indefatigable local effort to save the land, which succeeded at last with this year’s opening of the new White Oak Savanna Park.

See the results

Photo credit: Cara Benak

Jewell Park

Aurora residents are celebrating the re-opening of Jewell Park in Colorado after a complete redesign. The new space is twice as large and boasts basketball courts, a labyrinth for meditation and space for yoga and tai chi, chess tables, a skate park, and a state-of-the-art playground.

Let's play

Photo credit: Darcy Kiefel

South Chickamauga Creek Greenway

We donated the final piece of land needed to build the South Chickamauga Greenway to the City of Chattanooga. When it’s complete, the 12-mile multi-use trail will provide options for active, alternative transportation within a 10-minute walk of 30,000 people.

Explore

Photo credit: Laura Kaakua

Kanewai Spring

Uncle Henry Chang-Wo, a knowledgeable kupuna (elder) on Oahu, explains that Kanewai Spring is where the mountain gives birth to the ocean. We helped a local heritage center protect this rare, precious spring this year, ensuring its cultural and ecological values will continue to serve the community.

Visit

Photo credit: David Stubbs

Astoria Hot Springs Park

Thousands of Jackson residents weighed in on the final plan for the future Astoria Hot Springs Park. The land—once targeted for private development—has been returned to public ownership, and the community is speaking up and raising funds for the return of this one-of-a-kind public park.

Track our progress

Photo credit: Jim O'Donnell

Enchanted Circle Trails Plan

The Enchanted Circle is an 83-mile scenic byway winding through the historic towns, striking mountain valleys, and wide open ranges of northern New Mexico. We’re helping locals plan and create a smart, comprehensive trail network, from protected bike paths through towns to adventurous backcountry routes.

More

Learn more

This year, we helped pass 38 state and local ballot measures, generating $7,205,166,433 in public funds for parks and natural spaces.

Photo credit: Kelly Boling

Warner Hill

Hikers on the Appalachian Trail pause for a breath at the summit of Warner Hill in Western Massachusetts to take in views of the surrounding Berkshire Mountains. We averted plans for development on the hillside below the trail and added the land to the Appalachian National Scenic Trail.

Check it out

Photo credit: Annie Bang

Runyon Canyon Park

No question: the views from the top of Hollywood's Runyon Canyon Park outshine even the most famous celebrities who like to visit. When a part of a popular trail was threatened with development, we helped protect the land for the public.

See for yourself

Photo credit: Jose Azel - Aurora Photos

Milan Community Forest

In New Hampshire’s Great North Woods, sustainable forestry and outdoor recreation go hand-in-hand. We helped the town of Milan establish their new community forest, creating a source of municipal revenue through timber harvest, and opening more than 1,300 acres to hiking, hunting, and fishing.

Learn more

Photo credit: Laura Kaakua

Ka Iwi Coast Mauka Lands

Oahu's Ka Iwi Coast is a local favorite spot for surfing and fishing. This stretch of coast has long been targeted for private development, so we helped protect it for a local group that will protect cultural sites and manage public access.

Take me there

Photo credit: Andy Richter

Yucatan Wildlife Management Area

Generations of scouts discovered a connection with nature at Minnesota’s Camp Whispering Hills. So when the camp shut down, we worked with the local council to make sure the land would be protected and open to the public as a wildlife management area.

See photos

Photo credit: Flickr User FarFlungTravels

Little Hocking River Park

Residents of Little Hocking, Ohio, are used to driving 90 minutes to find a park where they can put a boat on the river. We helped locals protect a well-loved riverside farm as a new public park, with river access for paddlers and anglers.

Meet the locals

Photo credit: John Fielder

Steel Ranch

We helped a longtime local ranching family preserve their land near Buena Vista, Colorado, and cleared the way for future public access to the banks of the Arkansas River. It’s good news for ranchers, anglers, and everyone who loves the valley’s unspoiled views of the wild Collegiate Peaks.

Meet the locals

Grow

Your Legacy

Protect the places you love by making a gift to The Trust for Public Land in your estate plans. By naming The Trust for Public Land as a beneficiary of your will, living trust, or retirement account, you can make a visionary gift that will conserve land for generations to come.

Create my legacy

Leadership team

National board of directors

Financials

Condensed Consolidated Statement of Financial Position
Assets
Fiscal year ended March 31, 2017 with comparative information as of March 31, 2016 (dollars in thousands)
	2017	2016
Cash & Investments	103,070	90,139
Receivables & deposits	34,792	54,935
Land holdings	73,797	85,870
Charitable trust assets	63,619	54,525
Other assets	1,382	1,340
TOTAL ASSETS	$276,660	$286,809
Liabilities and Net Assets
Liabilities
Notes Payable*	20,207	26,518
Liabilities to beneficiaries of charitable trusts	38,109	34,997
Other liabilities	35,793	35,259
TOTAL LIABILITIES	$94,109	$96,774
Net Assets
Unrestricted amounts	25,558	27,769
Temporarily restricted amounts	134,636	144,631
Permanently restricted amounts	22,357	17,635
TOTAL NET ASSETS	$182,551	$190,035
TOTAL LIABILITIES AND NET ASSETS	$276,660	$286,809

*Including $13,037 (FY17) and $23,725 (FY16) due within one year.

Condensed Consolidated Statement of Activities and Changes in Net Assets
Revenues and additions to net assets
Fiscal year ended March 31, 2017 with comparative information as of March 31, 2016 (dollars in thousands)
	2017	2016
Contributions of land and easements:
Fair market value acquired	$184,760	$169,811
Less consideration paid	(165,705)	(155,052)
Contributions of land and easement values received	19,055	14,759
Contributions and grants - other:
Restricted	51,939	62,844
Unrestricted	39,958	36,354
Future interests in charitable trusts	4,479	1,346
Change in value of interests in charitable trusts	1,578	(2,269)
Total contributions and grants-other	97,954	98,275
Project fees, interest, and other income (losses)	25,385	21,381
TOTAL REVENUES AND ADDITIONS	$142,394	$134,415
EXPENSES AND REDUCTIONS TO NET ASSETS
Program Services:
Contributions of land and easements to public agencies and other nonprofit organizations:
Fair market value conveyed	$195,300	$146,761
Less consideration received	(137,323)	(117,305)
Contributions of land and easement values made	57,977	29,456
Open space conservation programs	65,384	65,470
TOTAL PROGRAM SERVICES	123,361	94,926
Support services:
Development	13,284	12,725
Management and support	13,233	15,223
TOTAL SUPPORT SERVICES	26,517	27,948
TOTAL EXPENSES AND REDUCTIONS	149,878	122,874
Net Increase (Decrease) in Net Assets	(7,484)	11,541

The condensed consolidated financial information as of and for the years ended March 31, 2017 and 2016 has been derived from TPL's 2017 consolidated financial statements, audited by Hood & Strong, LLP. The condensed consolidated financial information should be read in conjunction with the 2017 audited consolidated financial statements and related notes. To obtain copies of TPL's complete 2017 audited consolidated financial statements, please contact our National Office in San Francisco.www.tpl.org/contact.

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2017 Annual Report

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