Mission & History
Credit: Marlin Harms
Our Mission
The Trust for Public Land conserves land for people to enjoy as parks, gardens, and other natural places, ensuring livable communities for generations to come.
We were founded in 1972 with goals of protecting land in and around cities and pioneering new land conservation techniques. Over the years, our work expanded to include projects from inner city to wilderness, and our broad experience has made us a national leader and innovator in city park creation, state and local conservation funding, and using GIS for conservation planning.
Founded for Innovation
Not long after the first Earth Day, a group of lawyers, real estate professionals, and finance experts founded The Trust for Public Land to bring a modern business approach to conservation. Sophisticated finance and legal techniques have since helped us complete more than 5,200 park and conservation projects nationwide. In the early years, we shared this knowledge with other conservationists and fostered the growth of the local land trust movement to protect open space for communities across the West.
Funds and Visions for Conservation
In the 1990s, responding to an emerging need, we established our Conservation Finance service to help communities organize and pass conservation ballot measures. We also pioneered watershed conservation to protect drinking water and the use of conservation easements to protect working farms and ranches. Most recently, we launched an award-winning, GIS-based Conservation Vision service to help communities identify which lands to protect and where parks are needed most.
Moving Forward
Innovation remains in our DNA, and The Trust for Public Land project managers bring business skills to conservation projects from the canyons of New York City to the canyons of Montana. In cities, we craft strategies for turning vacant lots into community-designed parks and playgrounds. Our Center for City Park Excellence sponsors research and shares best practices for city park systems. And we're addressing the looming climate crisis with a three-pronged climate conservation program to help reduce greenhouse gasses, promote climate adaptation, and create park-rich, climate-smart cities.
