What is a Conservation Land Trust?
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| A scene from the James Thiel Preserve in Sawyer County. |
A conservation land trust is a non-profit, volunteer organization that works with landowners and local groups to protect and preserve the natural environment through land conservancy. Land trusts protect and preserve the natural environment by using conservation easements, mutual covenants, land purchases, donations, and volunteer efforts to permanently protect Wisconsin's natural areas.
The concept of a land trust is not new, there being over 1300 nationwide, some over 100 years old. Wisconsin itself has more than 50 active land trusts that preserve, protect and manage over 100,000 acres of private land. These land trust organizations range from small conservation groups operated by volunteers, to large land trusts managed by a professional staff. In either case, their common objective is to preserve land that has significant ecological, scenic, recreational, agricultural, cultural or historic value for generations to come.
Land trust volunteers bring a variety of skills to the table. They share skills in law, real estate, education, communications, fundraising, management, conservation, biology, and environmental fields. Together, these volunteers combine efforts as a nonprofit organization to achieve their goals in protecting natural resources and preserving our natural heritage. In many instances, the most committed people behind a land trust are the landowners themselves. They care about protecting their land and want to leave a legacy for future generations and they know that participation in a land trust is a key to securing that legacy.
When landowners involve a land trust in permanently preserving their property, not only do they gain their objective of a protected and conserved environment, but every neighboring landowner gains as well.
Below you will find a series of articles that provide more information about land trusts, how they work, and what benefits there are to the property owners as well as the general public.
| The History Of The Land Trust Movement and CWRLT (Part 5 of 5) |
| Tax Benefits Of Working With The CWRLT (Part 4 of 5) |
| Conservation Easements (Part 3 of 5) |
| Conservation Options Available To Landowners (Part 2 of 5) |
| Ecological benefits of land preservation in the Couderay Watershed Area (Part 1 of 5) |
Two excellent resources are: |
Copyright © 2005 Couderay Waters Regional Land Trust