Land Trusts are local, regional, or statewide nonprofit conservation organizations directly involved in helping protect natural, scenic, recreational, agricultural, historic, or cultural property. Land trusts work to preserve open land that is important
to the communities and regions where they operate. Land trusts respond rapidly to conservation needs and operate in cities, rural, and suburban areas.
Land trusts now operate in every state in the nation protecting land of local, regional, and national importance.
Collectively, America's nearly 900 independent land trusts:
- helped protect 2.7 million acres
- own 437,000 acres
- hold conservation easements on another 450,000 acres
- have acquired, protected, and transferred 668,000 acres to other organizations and agencies
- have used other direct methods to help protect another 1,159,000 acres
Well known areas protected by land trusts include land on the California coast at Big Sur; in the San Juan Islands, Washington State; at Jackson Hole, Wyoming; along the Appalachian Trail; in New York's Adirondacks; and at Acadia National Park in Maine.
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Land trusts:
- Purchase land
- Acquire land through donations
- Secure conservation easements on land and monitor the terms of these easements
- Work in partnership with private and governmental conservation agencies
Land trusts vary greatly in size. Over half are completely volunteer, others have only a director or one or more part-time staff members, a few have a large staff, prominent board of directors and a large membership. Annual budgets range from under $10,000 to over $1
million. 32% operate with budgets of $100,000 or more.
84% of all land trusts accept land donations. 75% accept conservation easements. In both instances donors can receive significant tax benefits based on the value of the donated land or easement.
63% of land trusts buy land for conservation. 70% of the funds for purchases come from contributions from members and individual donors in the community. Other finds come from government agencies, foundations, and corporations. Land trusts also borrow money from banks,
foundations, and individuals to buy land. Loans are repaid either through fund raising, sales to conservation buyers or, in the case of advance acquisitions for local, state or federal conservation agencies, when public funds are available and the property is repurchased by the government.
Although independent, land trusts frequently work with each other, with national conservation organizations, and with government agencies on important projects.
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Land trusts in the US have been increasing at 23% a year or one per week. Even more are needed as we are losing land at 3,000 acres per day!
More than half of the nearly 2,000 land trusts in the United States have been formed within the past 15 years.
In 1950 there were 53 trusts in 26 states; 132 by 1965. During the next decade the number doubled, passing the 300 mark by 1995. By 1980 the number was 429. By the end of 1990 the number of land trusts soared to 889 with a combined membership of over 750,000. Today land
trusts operate in all 50 states, the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. The greatest growth in recent years has been on the west coast, the northeast, and the mid-Atlantic region. California has the highest number of trusts in the west, 76. Massachusetts with 116 has the highest number in the northeast,
followed by Connecticut with 114 and New York with 59. Pennsylvania leads the mid-Atlantic with 38 followed by Maryland with 34 land trusts.
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- scenic vistas
- streams
- old forest stand
- wetlands
- deserts
- city parks
- greenways
- farmland
- and more ...
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In the mid 1800's many "village improvement societies" formed in New England to "improve the quality of life and of the environment." These small nonprofit organizations were the forerunners of today's land trust movement.
A few years later, 1891, the Massachusetts legislature incorporated The Trustees of Reservations to protect the jewels of the living landscape . The Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests, with similar purposes, was formed in 1901. Today, both
organizations are among the nation's leading state conservation groups.
Not all the pioneers were in the northeast. At the turn of the century, a group of Californians organized the Sempervirens Club with the slogan "Save the Redwoods." Other organizations that operated in part like land trusts include the Cincinnati Museum of Natural History,
founded in 1800; the Maine Audubon Society, founded in 1843; and the Ogio Historical Society, formed in 1885 to preserve the state's historical and archeological sites.
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In the article How to Start Your Own Land Trust by Marinnette Mitais in the summer 1995 edition of Back Home magazine relates the following example of how a land trust can work:
Here's an illustration of how our local conservancy worked with governmental and conservation agencies. Recently we were instrumental in negotiating a purchase that protects a 1,700-acre tract of land in our
county, an accomplishment we lacked the means to do on our own. We first turned to the Trust for Public Land, headquartered in San Francisco. They asked for information about the land and a survey of community interest. This we provided, and then we passed the baton. The Trust for Public Land purchased
the property with the intention to sell it back to a conservation organization that had funds enough to manage it. This is indeed what happened when the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission came into the picture and bought the tract.
This chain of events started with a simple phone call from someone who had seen a beautiful piece of land and thought, What can I do to ensure that it is protected? This is an example of one person's ability to make a difference.
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The trust buys the land. Most land trusts don't have enough money to buy land outright. Some trusts, like
Nature Conservancy get money donations and buy lots of land.
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Some people who love their land donate their land to a trust as a protection method. You may be surprised that provisions in your will may not be sufficient protection. We had a neighbor, an old logger from Denmark, who had a dream of his gorgeous tree
covered land becoming a park. After is death his greedy children broke non-sale provisions in his will and where there was once a could-have-been park is now another housing development.
Nobody cares about your land as much as you do, especially when money is involved. Save it now.
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A life estate is a legal instrument through which a property owner donates land to a land trust after they die, while retaining the right to live on the property for the remainder of their life.
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Limited development is tradeoff usually forced by economic hardship. A landowner agrees to develop part of the land if the rest is protected.
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My handy dandy 8 inch thick law dictionary defines an easement as:
A right of use over the property of another.
A conservation easement is a legal document listing a number of restrictions a landowner wishes to place on their land. You may, for example, restrict subdividing your property or oil drilling. The document becomes part of the deed and is recorded in the
county registry. When the land changes hands the new owner is bound by the terms of the easement, meaning the wishes of the original land owner are respected.
An easement may confer federal and state income tax advantages. If property appreciates greatly heirs may not be able to pay the taxes. A conservation easement on land may reduce a properties value and thus reduce estate taxes allowing heirs to keep the property.
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