The nonprofit Trust for Public Land (TPL) has launched a new Web site that gives online visitors easier access to information and resources related to the conservation group’s mission, current activities and local, regional and national environmental topics.

Highlights of the new site include a free monthly e-newsletter, an interactive bulletin board where visitors can post information about land tracts important to their areas, and stories detailing how activists are winning conservation battles.

The site is designed along the lines of many Web-based news sites. Visitors will first see links to conservation events and news articles. Scrolling down brings up the "What’s Hot" links, which feature urgent issues around the country, and other links that take visitors to information specific to their region.

As part of the site launch, TPL has announced the "Greenprint Gallery 2000," seven state and county programs that have been selected as national models in adapting land conservation as part of their growth plans.

The new TPL site also allows people to make online donations to the nonprofit using a secure server.

The Trust for Public Land was founded in 1972 and bills itself as the "only national nonprofit working exclusively to protect land for human enjoyment and well-being." It has helped protect more than 1.2 million acres in 45 states so far. TPL was ranked as America's "most efficient" conservation charity in the December issue of the Wall Street Journal's SmartMoney magazine.