Protected Properties

These private conservation properties are those on which Jefferson Land Trust holds a conservation easement. On these properties, the Land Trust has worked with landowners to voluntarily restrict development and protect conservation values on most or all of their land using a permanent legal agreement. The Land Trust’s stewardship staff members and trained volunteers make yearly monitoring visits to all of the privately owned properties on which we hold easements, connecting with landowners to support them in the stewardship of their protected properties and ensure that the terms of the easements are being upheld.

Preserves are properties that Jefferson Land Trust owns and that are managed as natural areas. Many were protected for the benefit of fish and wildlife, and some have the trails, parking, and other amenities necessary to support low-impact recreation like birdwatching and hiking. On preserves, the Land Trust’s staff members, with the help of committed preserve stewards and other volunteers, regularly care for the land, monitor wildlife use, and work to keep improving habitat conditions.

Facilitated protection properties are those for which Jefferson Land Trust does not hold any real estate interest, either through ownership or by holding an easement, but for which we played an essential role during the land’s acquisition or as part of its stewardship. The roles the Land Trust has played in a facilitated protection property’s conservation include: arranging or providing access to funding, negotiating with landowners, monitoring the property through an agreement, and/or owning the land or holding an easement on it for a period of time before transferring its ownership to another agency or organization for long-term protection and care.

Community forests are forestlands that are owned and managed on behalf of local people to provide them secure and reliable access to the ecological, social, and economic benefits produced by forests.