Land Trust Standards and Practices (Revised 2017)

Land Trust Standards and Practices are the ethical and technical guidelines for the responsible operation of a land trust. The Land Trust Alliance drafted the first Standards in 1989 at the urging of land trusts and to affirm certain best practices as the surest way to secure lasting conservation. To maintain the land trust community’s strength, credibility and effectiveness, the Standards were updated in 1993, 2001 and 2004, and now again in 2017.

In preparing this 2017 update, an advisory team, comprised of land trust professionals from across the country, reviewed and discussed more than 1,600 comments from conservationists throughout the United States. These many voices were an invaluable asset throughout the revision process. While this document is a publication of the Land Trust Alliance, the Standards are a collective product of the land trust community. The advisory team was as diverse in perspective as the comments the team reviewed. Unanimity was not necessarily achieved on each standard or practice, but this document reflects the expressed values and recommendations of the overall land trust community. Adoption is required by all Land Trust Alliance members by April 2018. To learn more about the revisions process, click here.