Conservationist Mavis Gragg Receives Kingsbury Browne Award

The Land Trust Alliance and the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy are pleased to announce that attorney and conservationist Mavis Gragg has been presented with the distinguished Kingsbury Browne Conservation Leadership Award at the Alliance’s annual national land conservation conference, held this year in Providence, Rhode Island.

Gragg is co-founder of HeirShares, an organization that delivers comprehensive educational content, data and technology to empower heirs’ property landowners and attorneys dealing with heirs’ property issues. She is a founding member of the Conservationists of Color, an affinity group creating space for practitioners of color within the land conservation movement to connect. Gragg is also a member of the Land Trust Alliance’s Conservation Defense Advisory Council and served on its Common Ground Advisory Council, which laid the groundwork for the Alliance’s community-centered conservation program.

The Kingsbury Browne Award is presented annually at Rally: The National Land Conservation Conference and honors those who have enriched the conservation community through their outstanding leadership, innovation and creativity in land conservation. Named for Kingsbury Browne, the conservationist who inspired the Alliance’s founding in 1982, the award ranks among the organization’s highest honors. Gragg will serve as the Kingsbury Browne distinguished practitioner for the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy in Cambridge, Mass., for 2024-2025.

“The word that comes to mind when I think about Mavis is ‘connector,’ because that’s what she does — she connects people to each other and she connects people to the resources they need to achieve their land goals,” said Jennifer Miller Herzog, interim president and CEO of the Land Trust Alliance. “Mavis came to conservation through people, focusing on family land retention following her own family’s experience with heirs’ property. And in her work, she has continued to put people first with a tirelessness and a generosity of spirit that is unmatched.”

“We are proud and honored to be able to work with Mavis over the coming year,” said Jim Levitt, director of the International Land Conservation Network. “Her pioneering insight will add momentum to the effort to broaden the reach and scope of the land conservation movement.”

Kingsbury Browne distinguished practitioners engage in research, writing and mentoring, and facilitate a project that builds upon and shares their experience with the broader community.

About the Land Trust Alliance

Founded in 1982, the Land Trust Alliance is a national land conservation organization working to save the places people need and love by empowering and mobilizing land trusts in communities across America to conserve land for the benefit of all. The Alliance represents approximately 1,000 member land trusts and affiliates supported by more than 250,000 volunteers and 6.3 million members nationwide. The Alliance is based in Washington, D.C., with staff in communities across the United States.

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.

Lead image: Mavis Gragg. Credit: Courtesy photo.