Land trusts are non-profit conservation organizations dedicated to protecting land and related natural resources. Depending on the land trust, these resources range from recreational trail corridors to rare species habitat, from city parks to working farm and forest land. Land trusts are most frequently small local or regional organizations, although there are statewide land trusts, and several nationwide land trusts which concentrate on a particular kind of resource (such as historic landscapes) rather than a geographic area. Some land trusts, called community land trusts, develop and protect affordable housing through community ownership of dwellings and homesites.

Today there are some 1,100 land trusts in the U.S., and their number is growing rapidly. Why has the land trust idea proved so popular? In part, because the idea is simple: save natural resources for this and for future generations through ownership or legal agreements; act locally to save local natural areas; work quickly and efficiently with often limited finances; protect what communities agree is valuable. But the land trust idea is also attractive because it is effective: land trusts have saved almost four million acres of American open space, from trout streams in Colorado to floodplain forests in Massachusetts, from ranches in California to cedar swamps in New Jersey.

The Land Trust Alliance is the nationwide coalition of land trusts of all types which provides services to its member trusts, and works to ensure that land trusts' work is understood by the public and is fostered by public policy. The LTA website is a good place to look for general information about land trusts, or to locate a land trust for a particular area or resource; and you can learn more about Massachusetts land trusts and conservation issues from the Massachusetts Land Trust Coalition website.