Funds are in very short supply. You have a tax cap and the voters' mood is definitely anti-tax. The prospect of going to referendum sends chills through your board members. You need some help. A land trust may be an answer.
Land trusts use a variety of creative and innovative methods to preserve lands.
Their capability to custom tailor solutions to meet specific needs of the landowner and the community has made them very successful. Land trusts are the fastest growing part of the conservation movement and are the vanguard of the trend toward local self-sufficiency and community action to solve land conservation problems. According to the national Land Trust Alliance there are more than 1,100 land trust organizations with a combined membership of 900,000 working to save land throughout the country. These groups of volunteers and concerned citizens have helped to conserve more than four million acres of wetlands and wildlife habitat, trails and recreation areas, scenic lands, urban gardens, productive farm land and forest areas. The hallmark of all land trusts is their direct involvement in land transactions, Following are the many land saving techniques employed by land trusts.