History of the Land Trust Alliance
25 Years of Conservation Impact
When the Alliance was created in 1982, there were fewer than 450 local and state land trusts across the country. The first land trusts were true pioneers with little money, but lots of pluck and determination. They formed the Alliance because they believed that by sharing policy, information and training, they could strengthen the work of land trusts everywhere.
Recently we celebrated the 25th anniversary of the founding of the Alliance, and the remarkable success of citizen-led conservation. Highlights from our incredible growth from our early days in Boston include:
- 1984 initiated first ever national survey of conservation easement programs to establish baseline
- 1985 first Rally held in Washington, DC
- 1989 Land Trust Standards and Practices created
- 1994 database created of model documents and technical resources
- 1998 Land Conservation Leadership Program introduced (in partnership with The Conservation Fund)
- 2005 Alliance united land trusts in campaign to save tax incentives
- 2007 launch of The Learning Center
- 2008 Accreditation program opened
See a complete timeline of the Land Trust Alliance Journey
Today, the result of our work has been the creation of a vibrant, national movement of 1,700 organizations which has now conserved over 37 million acres.
The Alliance is the only organization dedicated to the effectiveness and sustainability of the nation's land trusts and their use of conservation easements. We are proud that today we have approximately 1.5 million people as supporters and members of land trusts.
Fast facts:
Acres protected
1998 4.7 million
2005 11.9 million
