Trusts conserve, protect lands
Land trusts in Pennsylvania conserved an average 55 acres per day every day since 2010, according to a report by the Pennsylvania Land Trust Association.
A land trust is a charitable organization that acquires land or conservation easements, or that stewards land or easements, to achieve conservation purposes including protecting natural habitat, water quality or scenic views; ensuring that the land is always available for farming, forestry or outdoor recreational use; or protecting other values provided by open land. There are nearly 100 land trust organizations in Pennsylvania.
According to the PLTA’s 2019 Biennial Census Report, which highlights the accomplishments of land trusts in Pennsylvania from 2010-19, the organizations conserved 201,800 acres in that period.
A total of 64 land trusts own 121,197 acres. The top 10 are The Conservation Fund, 34,800 acres; Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, 14,336; Natural Lands, 13,432; The Nature Conservancy in Pennsylvania, 12,531; Lancaster Conservancy, 6,286; Earth Conservancy, 6,200; Brandywine Conservancy, 2,840; Wildlands Conservancy, 2,748; Hawk Mountain Sanctuary, 2,567; and Allegheny Land Trust, 2,136.
A total of 65 organizations hold conservation easements on 275,694 acres. The top 10 are the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, 38,471 acres; Brandywine Conservancy, 35,616; The Nature Conservancy in Pennsylvania, 31,826; Lancaster Farmland Trust, 31,131; Natural Lands, 22,492; Farm & Natural Lands Trust of York County, 11,865; Land Conservancy of Adams County, 11,558; North Branch Land Trust, 11,422; Delaware Highlands Conservancy, 8,974; and Berks Nature, 8,731
More than 100,000 Pennsylvanians contribute to land trusts, according to the PLTA.
From 2010-19 the land trusts increased the lands they have conserved by 34%, the acreage protected with conservation easements by 38%, the acreage they own by 51%, and the land transferred to government agencies by 27%.
Those increases raised the total acreage covered by conservation easements to 275,694 acres, land owned by land trusts to 120,107 acres and total transferred to government agencies to 400,373 acres.
In that period, 84 land trusts completed conservation real estate transactions in Pennsylvania.