What is a land trust?
Land trusts are local, regional or statewide nonprofit organizations directly involved in protecting important land resources for the public benefit.
Land trusts accept donations of property, buy land or help landowners establish legal restrictions that limit harmful use and development of their property.
In the U.S. today there are nearly 1200 land trusts that have protected more than 2 million acres including farms, wetlands, wildlife habitats, urban gardens and parks, forests, ranches, watersheds, coastlines, river corridors and trails.
Special advantages of land trusts include the following.
- As community organizations land trusts understand and are responsive to the special needs of the land and people in their regions.
- As private organizations land trusts offer quick responses, flexibility and confidentiality. They may be effective where government action falls short.
- Land trusts provide a cost-effective approach to conservation. They often protect land at a cost far below its market value.
Learn more about land trusts from the Land Trust Alliance.