Big Gains in Voluntary
Land Conservation
Despite Recession
photo courtesy of Mary Kay Baum
The first nationwide census of land trusts in five years found 10 million new acres conserved since 2005, despite a down economy. At the local and state level, endowments to ensure that land remains protected more than doubled, and operating endowments, an indicator of the staying power of these organizations, almost tripled. The census is online at www.lta.org/census.
By comparison, over the same time period the federally funded Land and Water Conservation Program saw a 38% funding cut and added just over 500,000 acres. Wisconsin land protected by land trusts exceeds 280,000 acres. Driftless Area Land Conservancy is one of over 50 land trusts operating in Wisconsin.
“Wisconsinites value their land, and land trusts are conserving the best of the best at the community level,” said Michael Strigel, executive director of Gathering Waters Conservancy, the state association of Wisconsin’s land trusts. “Here in Wisconsin, we are investing in our future with land trusts that ensure clean water, prime farmland, wildlife habitat, and places to connect with nature for our children and for generations to come.”
The National Land Trust Census, released by the Land Trust Alliance, shows that voluntarily protected land increased 27 percent between 2005 and 2010. A greater percentage of the new acreage comes through local and state land trusts working within local communities. A total of 47 million acres—an area over twice the size of all the national parks in the contiguous United States—are now protected by land trusts.
Click here to learn about one of Driftless Area Land Conservancy’s project areas: Protecting Southwest Wisconsin’s Pine Relicts.