A project by Cornell city and regional planning (CRP) graduate students to help the Otsego Land Trust conserve land in upstate New York has won a national award from the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP).

The 2004 Otsego Land Trust Conservation Planning Project won the AICP 2006 Student Project Award for Contributions of Planning to Contemporary Issues. The 14 Cornell graduate student participants will be honored at the American Planning Association (APA) Conference, April 22-26, in San Antonio, Texas.

The workshop course (CRP 558), taught by visiting lecturer Ole Amundsen III, takes on client-based planning projects for community partners. Students undertook a planning process in fall 2004 to help the nonprofit Otsego Land Trust (whose current board president is Earle Peterson '55) focus its conservation efforts on how to protect 10,000 acres by 2010. Students conducted historical research, analyzed demographic trends, created an inventory of natural resources and used Geographic Information System technology to create 3-D maps and suitability models to help guide conservation activities.

The Otsego County plan also won an award from the APA's upstate New York chapter in September 2005 for outstanding student project. More information about the project can be found at http://www.dcrp.cornell.edu/outreach.