Dan A. Bell is the new executive director of Sandhills Area Land Trust (SALT).

Bell succeeds Dr. Richard Perritt, who has accepted a leadership role with the newly formed North Carolina Farm Center for Innovation and Sustainability.

"The board and staff of SALT are delighted to welcome Dan," said SALT President Karl Legatski. "His enthusiasm and passion for land protection is inspiring, and we are fortunate to have him on our team."

An experienced land preservation professional, Bell recently served as interim executive director of the Southern Rockies Ecosystem Project in Colorado and as associate director of the Sequoia Riverlands Trust in Visalia, Calif. From 2002 until 2007, Bell served as project director for the Nature Conservancy North Carolina Chapter.

While at the Nature Conservancy, Bell managed a program that contributed to the conservation and subsequent stewardship of more than 50,000 acres in the southeast coastal plain of North Carolina.

He developed strategies to address problems, such as highway expansion, residential growth, and timberland divestitures, and he built and/or strengthened relationships with state agencies, environmental partners, elected leaders, donors and the general public.

Bell holds a law degree from N.C. Central University in Durham and a bachelor's degree in forest sciences from Colorado State University in Fort Collins.

"It is very exciting to be joining an organization with such an outstanding record of achievement," Bell said. "I am definitely thrilled to be back in North Carolina. I look forward to working in the Sandhills and Middle Cape Fear River regions."

Sandhills Area Land Trust is a community-based nonprofit organization that offers assistance and education to help the public and landowners protect their lands and natural resources in the face of ever-growing development pressure.

SALT operates in Cumberland, Harnett, Hoke, Lee, Moore, Richmond and Scotland counties to protect land, water, natural open space and farmland.

Its mission is "to save the Sandhills' and Middle Cape Fear River Region's landscape heritage for future generations."

Since its inception in 1991, SALT has preserved almost 9,000 acres of natural open space, including riparian buffers along major rivers that support the availability of clean drinking water for the region.