Not at all. A very few land trusts have already celebrated their centennials, but most are much younger. In 1950, for example, just 53 land trusts operated in 26 states. Today, more than 1,200 land trusts operate across the country, serving every state in the nation. The Northeast, the home of the land trust movement, still has the most land trusts - 417, according to LTA's most recent surveys .
People are tremendously concerned about the unmitigated loss of open space in their own communities.
They see subdivisions supplanting the open spaces where they once walked and hiked, and they want to know how they can gain the power to save the green spaces that make their communities unique. So they turn to land trusts. Local and regional land trusts, organized as charitable organizations under federal tax laws, are directly involved in conserving land for its natural, recreational, scenic, historical and productive values. In some instances, land trusts also purchase conservation easements. No, they are independent, entrepreneurial organizations that work with landowners who are interested in protecting open space.