Land trusts
Land Trusts are nonprofit making organizations that protect natural areas and open space depending on the their bylaws[1]. The land trusts are different, in their duties, from financial or estate trusts. They have boards of directors, bylaws and paid or volunteer staff and are recognized as educational and “charitable” organizations and they are normally referred to as conservancies or foundations. The land trusts see their role as being stewards of land protection between generations safeguarding the land from developers and the market forces as their decisions are parochial as they try to maximize on land use without considering sustainable use of the land.
The land trusts are not anti growth but aim for sustainable development. Land trusts are involved in conservation easement programs[2] and they can sell the easement to a government agency. The following steps can highlight the tools they use for land preservation and conservation:
Ř First off they purchase property outright. In this case the land trust uses existing capital to purchase land at a price below market value. Along the same lines, trusts also rely on donations of land to their conservation efforts. In both of these cases, because of its non-profit status, the donation amount (market value minus sale price) is a charitable contribution and can be deducted from your annual income tax statement.
Ř Land trusts promote the use of conservation easements through both education in land conservation subsidization of easements where useful.
Ř Despite the fact that they are independent corporate entities, land trusts do occasionally work with local governments in the development of parks, green spaces, and preserves. In this case though, instead of internally financed projects, they help local governments plan and implement financing packages (such as municipal bonds) to fund the purchase and development of the project.
They also provide consulting services. Land trusts can legally participate in a legislative lobby as long as they do not jeopardize their tax status. Through their status as tax-exemption organizations, donations made to them of money, property, and conservation easement, qualifies the donors for a federal tax deduction. Therefore the land trusts not only provide people with informational resources for them to be effective land use planners but they also provide financial incentives as well for people to keep their land development free. Land trusts however are not allowed to participate in partisan politics or support political candidates.
The Keweenaw Land Trust is a non-profit organization founded by Copper Country residents to preserve the character of natural, agricultural and forested land throughout the Keweenaw Peninsula mainly in the Keweenaw, Houghton and Baraga counties, of the Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. The trust gets some of its funding from the Great Lake Land Trust Matching Grants Program (funded by the Charles Steward Mott Foundation and administered by the Land Trust Alliance Midwest Program) which provides grants “to help increase the organizational capacity of land trusts in the Great Lakes Watershed and to encourage new and innovative methods for protecting the watershed's threatened natural resources.” In November 2001 Keweenaw Land Trust got a $5000 grant through its Great Lakes Land Trust Matching Grants Program and the grant is to be was for land protection programs and staff capacity building.
Although the land trusts do provide permanent land protection and foster public-private partnerships, their main drawback is still the lack of adequate funds for their operations.
Reference:
1. Daniels Tom and Bowers Deborah, Holding Our Ground: Protecting America’s Farmland, Island Press, Washington D.C. 1997
2. Keweenaw Land Trust
[1] Land trust’s bylaws classify them into different categories with some concentrating on the protection of land with natural, scenic and recreational value, while others concentrate on the protection of historic land and buildings and others protect farm/forest land.
[2] See article on conservation easements.