According to the Land Trust Alliance, the United States loses the equivalent of one football field’s worth of land every 30 seconds to things like urban sprawl, parking lots, and other habitat destruction. This trend has been the primary driver of the roughly 30% decline in biodiversity since 1970. This highlights why it is so important to conserve land both for future generations as well as for the many vulnerable species that comprise the web of life on which we all depend.
To this end, Colcom Foundation provides funding for land trusts and other land conservation organizations in southwestern Pennsylvania. To date, Colcom Foundation has awarded over $8.3M to Allegheny Land Trust (ALT) to pursue greenspace protection in Allegheny County. ALT was also the recipient of Colcom’s largest local environment grant to date at $2.25M, which was intended to stimulate a rapid increase in land conservation.
Between 2018 and 2022, ALT protected 1,400 acres, preserving scenic beauty, protecting wildlife, and creating opportunities for cleaner air, outdoor recreation, and carbon sequestration.