A recently released study by the Land Trust Alliance has found that private land trusts across America have saved 10 million new acres nationwide since 2005, including over 1,450 acres conserved in mid-Michigan by the Little Forks Conservancy.
At the end of 2010, the total number of acres conserved by land trusts grew to 47 million – an area the size of the state of Washington.
The National Land Trust Census, released by the Land Trust Alliance, is the nation’s only tabulation of the pace and type of voluntary land conservation by private land trusts in the United States. The report also measures the organizational development of the nation’s 1,760 land conservation organizations.
Michigan’s 43 land trusts, including Midland-based Little Forks Conservancy, now have protected 161,819 acres. In the last five years, Michigan land trusts have conserved 56,400 acres. Including the Little Forks Conservancy, there are now 5 accredited land trusts in Michigan. Together, these 5 groups have protected 50,800 acres as of 2010.
“Americans value their land, and they are conserving it at the local level,” said Land Trust Alliance President Rand Wentworth. “While government is shrinking, local land trusts are saving more land than is lost to development. Communities nationwide value clean water, local food, and places to play, and they are investing in those places close to home.”
The census 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.
Other findings of the 2010 National Land Trust Census include:
- Land trusts saw a 70% increase in volunteers from the previous 5-year period.
- Since 2005, there are 19% more paid employees and contractors at land trusts.
- Operating budgets for land trusts are up 36% since 2005. State and local trusts nearly tripled operating endowments in five years ensuring that land trust-protected land stays protected.
- The preservation of family farms and ranchlands is now a priority for 61% of trusts, up from 21% that listed farmland as the top priority in 2005.
- Urban parks, gardens or open spaces is now a priority for 27 % of trusts, a threefold increase over respondents in 2005.
- The Midwest region expanded its protected acres by 82% in the last five years; the Southwest added the most total acres—1.15 million—of any region since 2005, followed closely by the Southeast with 1.14 million; the Northeast has conserved the most acres – 5.2 million.
To read the complete 2010 National Land Trust Census, click here.
The Land Trust Alliance is a national conservation organization that leads a national network of 1,700 land trusts. The Land Trust Alliance is based in Washington, D.C., and has regional offices throughout the country.
