What are land trusts?
Land trusts are non-profit organizations that operate independently of government and work with communities and individuals to conserve natural areas. They are experts at helping interested landowners find ways to protect their land in the face of ever-growing development pressure. Maine’s land trust community protects and stewards land, maintaining forests, working farms, wilderness, or other areas of conservation value. Landowners can permanently protect the conservation value of their land in several ways such as selling land to land trusts below market value (bargain sale), they can also donate outright or bequeath land to a land trust. Another option is to donate a conservation easement – a legal agreement that permanently protects the land from harmful land uses while leaving it in private ownership. Maine’s Soil and Water Conservation Districts and how they can help you. Maines 16 Soil and Water Conservation Districts (SWCD) are subdivisions of state government that are run by l
