Land Trust Census shows record gains for open space

RELEASE: February 13, 2007 – Volume XXXVII, No. 7

No matter where you live in this State We’re In, you’ve probably seen a local farm or forest that was threatened by development and preserved through the efforts of a land trust. A new survey shows that New Jersey is not alone; in fact, private, nonprofit land trusts in every state are preserving farms, waterways, scenic vistas, forests, urban gardens and parks in their communities.

The Washington, DC-based Land Trust Alliance (LTA) was formed in 1982 to bring land trusts together to share expertise and collaborate on issues such as training, advocacy and development of best practices. LTA’s National Land Trust Census tabulates the nationwide achievements of the private, voluntary land conservation movement.

The Census found that a record amount of land was preserved across the United States from 2000 to 2005. In fact, acres conserved nearly doubled during that period, from 6,056,624 acres in 2000 to 11,890,109 by the end of 2005 (a 96% increase). That means land trusts protected an average of over 1 million new acres each year, resulting in total protected lands equal to twice the size of New Hampshire!

As sprawl intrudes into more and more communities across the country, private citizens are rallying to protect important lands. Across the country, more communities than ever before are preserving natural resources like water supply and quality, and wildlife and plant habitat, as well as providing us with natural areas and parkland that we all can enjoy.

Check out what’s happening in New Jersey:

• New Jersey’s land trusts conserved 74,393 acres from 2000 to 2005;

• New Jersey has 43 land trusts; in addition, New Jersey’s land trusts have increased their full- and part-time staff by 33% in the past five years, representing a growing capacity to get the work done; and

• The number of supporters and volunteers – the grassroots backbone of New Jersey’s conservation moment! – rose 20% from 2000 to 2005, to a total of 37,077.

To those of us working in the land conservation field in a “sprawl state” like New Jersey, the general results of the Census aren’t surprising, but the numbers are still striking. It’s encouraging that more-and-more people understand the need to save our open spaces and are motivated to act!

You can read all of the details of the National Land Trust Census, including state-by-state summaries, at www.lta.org. I hope you’ll contact me at info@njconservation.org, or visit NJCF’s website at www.njconservation.org, for more information about conserving New Jersey’s precious land and natural resources.

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