Our Vision, Our Values
Otsego Land Trust works to improve the quality of life throughout the Upper Susquehanna region of New York State by enhancing climate resilience, promoting public access to nature, and working with landowners and partners to protect and conserve local farmland, forests, and waterways in perpetuity.
Our vision includes:
A resilient environment that can accommodate a changing climate without severe disruptions to the natural or built environment.
A place where access to nature is a right, not a privilege, for people of any background, belief, identity, ability, or economic status.
A healthy ecosystem throughout the Otsego Region and the Upper Susquehanna watershed – an ecosystem that offers abundant clean air, clean water, and fertile soils for the benefit of plants, animals, and humans.
Susan Rowland PhotographyStudy of American history, including conservation history, is intimately tied to indigenous peoples—in this region, the Haudenosaunee or Iroquois.
The term seventh generation and the philosophy of looking forward seven generations comes from the Great Law or constitution of the Haudenosaunee: Look and listen for the welfare of the whole people and have always in view not only the present but also the coming generations, even those whose faces are yet beneath the surface of the ground—the unborn of the future Nation.
We are responsible for our impact seven generations into the future, and beyond. This principal guides our conservation practices, and supports a collaborative relationship between conservation and responsible development.
Our vision includes everyone.
Otsego Land Trust recognizes that environmental stewardship is a responsibility shared by residents, visitors, businesses and governments. Responsible stewardship respects the right of humans, animals, and plants to grow and flourish in a healthy environment. All people have a natural right to clean air and water and to public access and enjoyment of nature.
We recognize that conservation is best advanced by leadership and contributions of people from a diversity of backgrounds, beliefs, and cultures. Seven generations into the future and beyond, we envision a diverse region with equal access to the lands and waters that sustain us.
BECOME A CONSERVATION HERO
Your monthly donation can also help educate our community on the importance of our natural resources, and share the love of wild places.