TPL Names New Georgia State Director

Atlanta, Georgia, 10/15/2007: Dale Allen, Southeast Regional Director for The Trust for Public Land, and TPL’s Georgia Advisory Council names Helen Tapp the new TPL Georgia State Director. Tapp, formerly a vice president and senior policy analyst at Jordan Jones & Goulding (an engineering, planning and management firm with offices throughout the Southeast) will be based in the organization’s Atlanta office and will transition into her new position beginning October 16, 2007.

“We began the search for a new state director several months ago,” says Allen. “We interviewed some of the best candidates I had seen in a number of years-any one of them could have stepped into this position and done a good job. But Helen had that special something that made her stand out. Her drive, her compassion, her commitment to the mission was apparent from the moment she entered that initial interview. And here we are three months later, celebrating the next step in TPL’s future. We’re glad to have her aboard.”

Richard Tucker, interim State Director for TPL’s Atlanta office agrees. “Helen is going to make a fine addition to our already excellent team. This organization is not short on drive, ambition or sheer tenacity. I’ve had the privilege of working with some of the most talented, hard-working and successful men and women in the conservation field, and I’m looking forward to seeing the next wave of great things we can accomplish under her leadership.”

A land planner by training, Tapp has served for more than 15 years as a director of two non-profit trade associations. Her appointment to state boards by two governors, and her work as vice-chair of the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation and as a board member of Friends for Georgia State Parks and Historic Sites helped shape her interest in environmental and land conservation issues.

“The Trust for Public Land has a critical role to play in the future of Georgia,” Tapp says, “and I am truly honored to have been asked to help the organization fulfill that role. I’ve focused most of my career on the long-term sustainability of our communities and natural systems. The opportunity to help advance TPL’s mission is an ideal match for my experience and my passion.”

Aside from her profession affiliations, Tapp is committed to land conservation on a personal level as well. She is a founding member of the Sandy Springs Conservancy, a local group established for the purpose of conserving, creating and connecting green space in one of metro Atlanta’s largest and newest cities. And, she is a graduate of the second class of the Institute for Georgia Environmental Leadership.

“The Trust for Public Land is about translating dreams into reality – for communities and individual landowners. I have long admired TPL’s unique mix of visionary leadership and pragmatic expertise that year-by-year ensures more greenspace and parks are available for all of us. The Trust for Public Land has done a great deal locally to improve the quality of life for the Atlanta area, and will surely continue to play a leadership role in those strategies that make the most environmental and economic sense. From the Chattahoochee River and BeltLine projects to Conservation Visioning and Conservation Finance, to its “greenprinting” initiatives outside the metro area, TPL has made, and will continue to make, a huge impact. I believe the organization is poised to make an even greater contribution in the years ahead. And I want to do my share in making that contribution happen sooner than later.”

A native Georgian, Tapp is a graduate of Furman University in Urban Studies, and holds a masters degree from the George Washington University in Urban and Regional Planning.

The Trust for Public Land, a national, private, nonprofit conservation organization founded in 1972, protects land for people to enjoy as parks, greenways, community gardens, urban playgrounds, and wilderness. Across the nation, TPL has completed more than 3,500 projects in 46 states and saved more than 2.3 million acres of land. In Georgia alone, TPL has helped protect more than 18,400 acres with a fair market value exceeding $192 million.