White Mountains Land Trust

What Can I Do?

How can I protect my beautiful open space land from future development?

By working with a nonprofit land trust, you can decide the best conservation tool to use to protect your land. You can select from a number of tools, including the outright donation of your property, the donation or sale of a conservation easement that permanently restricts development, the bargain sale of your property, and several other variations. You should always have legal advice before embarking on such a decision.

Someone is about to develop a beautiful piece of land in my community! What can I do to stop it?

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service reports that between 1997 and 2001, 2.2 million acres were lost to development each year (2001 Annual Natural Resources Inventory). The LTA land trust census reports that from 1998 to 2003, local and regional land trusts conserved open space at a rate of about 800,000 acres per year. Many of the nation’s land trusts were formed to address this problem – conserving our precious landscapes before they are lost forever to development. However, whether to develop or conserve a particular parcel of land is a complex decision that depends on many criteria and local concerns.

The Land Trust Alliance itself does not take positions for or against specific development projects or acquire interest in land. We urge you to support your local land trust that does. Go to our 'Find a Land Trust' map and click on your state to see a listing of LTA member land trusts operating in your area. Please note that a land trust must be selective in choosing land-saving projects. Unless the land trust exercises care in choosing its projects, it may find itself stuck with a property or a conservation easement that serves little public interest, is very costly to manage, or does not really fit with the land trust's purposes. A land trust that does not carefully select its projects may open itself to public criticism, credibility problems and even legal problems. So get to know your local land trust and volunteer your time, support it financially, or even donate land or a conservation easement. That way, you can help your community protect the land that you think is culturally, economically or environmentally important. Also, you may want to get involved in your state or local planning activities. Planning agencies often provide opportunities for public input on development issues that affect citizens and you can request to be placed on their mailing lists to receive updates on current and future plans for your area. Citizen input can improve the planning process and positively affect future developments that may otherwise be detrimental to the overall health of your community.

Thank you for your interest in saving land!

How can I help in achieving the goal of land conservation?

About half of the nation's land trusts are staffed entirely by volunteers. Other land trusts use volunteers on a continuing basis for various needs, including, sometimes, in helping to manage the land. Land trusts, and the Land Trust Alliance, depend on your membership dues and contributions to save America's open spaces. Contact your local land trust to find out how you can become active and supportive. At the same time, consider joining the Land Trust Alliance.