Natural Wonders Fund Protects Placer Land

As spring begins, Placer Land Trust is renewing its commitment to permanently protect our natural and agricultural lands for future generations in Placer County.

Placer Land Trust has established the Natural Wonders Forever endowment fund at the Placer Community Foundation to provide a secure and sustainable source of annual earnings needed to manage and steward protected land … forever.

"This endowment fund will grow over time with investments from the trust and from community members,” states Jeff Darlington, Executive Director of Placer Land Trust.  "When you contribute through the Natural Wonders Forever fund, you become part of a community effort to protect our rural heritage and quality of life."

Establishing the fund at the Placer Community Foundation furthered a partnership that has grown between the two organizations over the years. Members of the respective boards of directors have worked together on philanthropic projects such as the Auburn School Park Preserve, and Placer Land Trust’s fundraising campaign to acquire the 1,773-acre Bruin Ranch on the Bear River.

“It made sense to open the Natural Wonders Forever fund at the Placer Community Foundation because they are a trusted, local resource for donors and they offer the financial stewardship necessary to manage endowment funds such as ours,” states Fred Yeager, President of the Board for Placer Land Trust. The Trust made an initial gift of $100,000 to start the fund.

Endowment funds work by investing the principal of a charitable gift—using only the interest to make grants in the community. For the Natural Wonders Forever fund, the result is a pool of gifts that continue to grow and support the work of Placer Land Trust for generations to come.

“Our board believes in the work of Placer Land Trust,” states Jeff Birkholz, Chairman of the Board for Placer Community Foundation. “We are very pleased to be the charitable conduit for people to support their work. Through this fund Placer Land Trust can continue to preserve the natural landscape we all enjoy in Placer County."

Donate to the Natural Wonders Forever Fund.

About Placer Land Trust
In 1991, a handful of community leaders felt that the rapid development in Placer County needed to be balanced with the protection of its rural beauty. These visionaries launched the Placer Land Trust, which today has worked with willing landowners to permanently preserve over 7,000 acres of land across Placer County – including critical natural resources, healthy watersheds, scenic and recreation lands, and working farms and ranches.

Placer Land Trust was accredited by the National Land Trust Accreditation Commission in 2008, and in 2010, completed its largest project ever, the acquisition of the 1,773-acre Bruin Ranch on the Bear River. More importantly, today Placer Land Trust is a sustainable organization, with five staff, dozens of volunteers, 500 contributing members, and the fiscal health to fund its ongoing obligation to manage and steward our region's protected lands forever.

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