Conservation Pioneer Jane Difley Receives Kingsbury Browne Conservation Leadership Award

By Joshua Lynsen, Land Trust Alliance

Difley Helped Make ‘Working Landscapes’ A Larger Part of Conservation

RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA (Oct. 18, 2019) – The Land Trust Alliance, a national land conservation organization working to save the places people need and love by strengthening land conservation across America, has bestowed on conservation pioneer Jane Difley the distinguished Kingsbury Browne Conservation Leadership Award.

The award, presented in Raleigh during the welcome dinner of Rally 2019: The National Land Conservation Conference, honors “an outstanding individual whose vision and creativity have resulted in extraordinary accomplishments for land conservation and the land trust community.” Named after the conservationist who inspired the Alliance’s founding in 1982, the award ranks among the organization’s highest honors.

“She brought to the table an idea of working landscapes and sustainable forestry,” said Sally Fairfax, professor emerita of the College of Natural Resources, a college of the University of California, Berkeley.

Difley will serve in the Kingsbury Browne Fellowship at the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy for 2019-2020. For the fellowship, Difley will engage in research, writing and mentoring with the Lincoln Institute, a think tank devoted to land policy that’s based in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

“Jane is a visionary leader whose passion and accomplishments have made a meaningful and measurable difference in our community,” Andrew Bowman, the Land Trust Alliance’s president and CEO. “Jane is a leader of great personal fortitude. She was the first woman elected president of the Society of American Foresters. And until recently, she was the guiding force behind the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests, inspiring and driving that organization to ever more significant achievements. It is a pleasure to recognize Jane Difley as the 2019 recipient of the Kingsbury Browne Conservation Leadership Award.” Watch the tribute video here - Land Trust Alliance: Honoring Jane Difley

The Alliance has awarded the Kingsbury Browne Conservation Leadership Award annually since 2006. It is presented during Rally, the nation’s largest annual gathering of land conservation professionals. More information about Rally, which continues through Oct. 19 at the Raleigh Convention Center, is available at alliancerally.org.

Media interested in attending Rally 2019 should contact Joshua Lynsen, the Alliance’s media relations manager, at jlynsen@lta.org or 202-800-2239.

About the Land Trust Alliance

Founded in 1982, the Land Trust Alliance is a national land conservation organization that works to save the places people need and love by strengthening land conservation across America. The Alliance represents 1,000 member land trusts supported by more than 200,000 volunteers and 4.6 million members nationwide. The Alliance is based in Washington, D.C., and operates several regional offices. More information about the Alliance is available at www.landtrustalliance.org.

About the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy

The Lincoln Institute of Land Policy seeks to improve quality of life through the effective use, taxation, and stewardship of land. A nonprofit private operating foundation whose origins date to 1946, the Lincoln Institute researches and recommends creative approaches to land as a solution to economic, social, and environmental challenges. Through education, training, publications, and events, we integrate theory and practice to inform public policy decisions worldwide.

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