About Land Trusts

Land trusts are private, independent, entrepreneurial nonprofit organizations that have been protecting private lands in the U.S. for over 50 years. There are over 1,500 land trusts operating in all portions of America. Twelve land trusts in Montana have formed the Montana Association of Land Trusts.

Land trusts are not a branch of any governmental entity.

Land trusts have one primary mission: To conserve private lands. Land trusts work with private landowners to protect private lands through voluntary agreements called conservation easements. Land trusts are not environmental advocacy groups in the traditional sense. Land trusts work closely with farmers and ranchers and a large group of partners that includes county governments, state and federal land and wildlife management agencies, local watershed groups and others to protect open lands.

Land trusts and landowners work voluntarily to negotiate an agreement that protects the land from future industrial, commercial or residential development. That agreement is called a conservation easement. Land trusts work to conserve valuable open lands, wildlife habitat, recreational lands, scenic properties, historical lands and work to keep working landscapes in the hands of farmers and ranchers.

Land trusts are an important presence in efforts to protect against the unmitigated loss of open lands in Montana. Subdivisions now stand where hay once grew, where cows once grazed, where a large barn once stood, where elk once gathered, where upland birds once nested, where people once walked or hiked.

In Montana, farm and ranchlands are threatened by residential and commercial development as never before in state history. There is an essential need not to limit population or economic growth, but as growth occurs to protect river corridors, open landscapes, ranchlands, wildlife habitat and historic areas - the values that make Montana so special.

Also, the nonprofit status of a land trust can bring a variety of tax benefits to landowners who work with land trusts. Donations of land, easements or monetary gifts can qualify landowners for federal income, estate or gift tax benefits. Land trusts are also flexible and can act quickly in conserving lands.

Land trusts all have some attributes in common, but each land trust in Montana has its own priorities, mission and goals.

For example, some of the land trusts in Montana work with landowners in a more narrowly defined geographical area, and have formed close cooperative relationships with local governments, state and federal agencies and other organizations in specific counties, valleys and river basins in Montana. (Bitter Root Land Trust, Five Valleys Land Trust, Gallatin Valley Land Trust, Prickly Pear Land Trust, Flathead Land Trust and the Clark Fork-Pend Oreille Conservancy). Other land trusts in Montana protect lands critical to specific wildlife species, such as the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation (elk) and The Vital Ground Foundation (grizzly bear habitat). The Montana Land Reliance started in 1978 and holds more easements than any other land trust in the state, works throughout Montana, and primarily works with agriculture-based landowners who donate easements. The Nature Conservancy is an international organization with a long and steady presence in Montana, and the Conservancy focus is protecting lands and habitats of animals and plants in need of special protection. The Trust for Public Land and the Conservation Fund are national organizations that work in Montana. The Trust for Public Land's mission is to conserve land for people. In Montana, TPL's focus is protecting working forests, farms and ranches that support land-based livelihoods and rural ways of life. The Conservation Fund works through a partnership-driven approach to preserve unique natural resources, cultural heritage and historic places in Montana. The Conservation Fund and the Trust for Public Land don't hold conservation easements themselves, but work closely with a range of partners on diverse and complex conservation projects throughout Montana.

All the land trusts in Montana have a common thread running through them, and that thread is a dedication to private land conservation.

It is also important to note that the members of the Montana Association of Land Trusts comply with the Land Trust Alliance standards and practices and are working with the Land Trust Alliance on national accreditation standards.

To find out more about the land trusts in Montana click here.