Frequently asked questions about land trusts

What is a land trust?
Land trusts are tax-exempt not-for-profit organizations that protect land resources for the public benefit. Operating independently of government, land trusts work on the front lines to help communities save their land heritage. Community-based land trusts are experts at helping interested landowners find ways to protect their land in the face of ever-growing development pressure.

How do land trusts preserve land?
Land trusts protect land permanently and directly through donations or purchases of land, and through mutually beneficial agreements with landowners. One common tool is the conservation easement that permanently restricts a property's use. Other tools include several methods of land donations, bargain sales of land, and public-private partnerships. Land trusts are experts at navigating the complicated legal and financial issues involved in land preservation. Many transactions offer income, estate, or property tax benefits that help make conservation affordable and desirable for private property owners. Land trusts are not adversarial, but they work cooperatively with landowners and government agencies.

What is a conservation easement?
A conservation easement is a voluntary and perpetual legal agreement between a private property owner and a land trust that permanently restricts harmful uses and development of the property. The land stays in private ownership and use and is not open to public access. The land trust is responsible for seeing that the restrictions are maintained over time and through all subsequent changes in ownership. Through a conservation easement, you may be able to protect your own land.

What types of property does a land trust protect?
Land trusts protect land that has natural, recreational, scenic, historical, or productive value (such as farmland or managed timber lands). Open spaces such as forests, wetlands, fields, waterways, and wildlife habitats are all possibilities for protection. To date, local and regional land trusts have protected over 6.2 million acres of land in the United States.