Present Activities
TWL is researching areas of greatest need for working lands preservation, and developing a strong organization to begin addressing those needs. TWL has built an experienced and effective board of directors; is collaborating with stakeholders and conservation experts involved in working lands conservation; is developing working partnerships with other organizations focused on working lands; developing a menu of best practices for protection and management of these lands; and is developing a strategic plan to establish organizational and fundraising goals.
Planned activities
Trust for Working Lands will protect lands by acquisition (via purchase or donation); by holding conservation easements; and/or using a combination of these approaches to address both interim and longer-term conservation needs.
TWL will manage these lands to maximize ecological health, economic productivity, and educational and livelihood opportunities. TWL will provide technical services such as multi-benefit management planning, demonstration of new management approaches, and financing assistance including linkages to capital resources from our strategic partners. A strong emphasis is placed on developing approaches that are focused on innovative management and ownership structures, including development of new types of investment vehicles that can provide capital to these efforts. Services will be provided to other land trusts and conservation entities, government agencies, and private landowners.
All approaches to land conservation utilized by Trust for Working Lands will emphasize long-term sustainability, with mandated management plans and easements that insure that the land resource will not be subdivided or excessively developed, and where the productive resources will be managed to provide very long-term economic yields and ecological resilience.
Trust for Working Lands will also undertake educational and research initiatives focused on developing innovative new approaches/opportunities that can provide income and resources for working land conservation. These initiatives may include fellowships, educational seminars, and organizational meetings oriented to land conservation professionals and land owners. TWL will actively work with other organizations focused on working lands to develop standards, protocols, conservation strategies and focused communications such as a newsletter, TWL website, and conferences for working land activists.