Working Lands
Credit: Arna Johnson
The nation's farms, ranches, and forests yield food food and timber, support local economies, safeguard clean water, and comprise some of our most beautiful landscapes. A working landscape may be a Western forest of tens of thousands of acres, an emerald mosaic of ranchland in the shadow of the Rocky Mountains, or the last farm in a New England town, supplying healthy food while linking the community to its rural past.
Such lands are too important to be lost to poorly planned development. The Trust for Public Land works with landowners, agencies, and communities to keep working lands working while preserving their environmental benefits—often through the use of conservation easements that prevent development while permitting ranching, farming, and sustainable forestry to continue. The result: lands that continue to support our bodies, industries, spirits, and communities, and foster a healthy, vibrant agricultural system.
Explore some of our working lands projects below. Choose a state to get started.
Kilchis Point
Located where the Kilchis River joins Tillamook Bay, Kilchis Point is named for a respected leader of the Tillamook people. read more »
Koochiching and George Washington State Forests
For generations, the private timberlands of Minnesota's Northwoods have supported jobs, provided wildlife habitat and clean water, offered recreation to local residents, and attracted millions of visitors each year. But as rising land values make land more valuable as real estate than timberland, land is being broken up and sold for second-home development. read more »LaPlatte Headwaters
The property, known as Bissonette Farm, contains the headwaters of the LaPlatte River, which feeds into Lake Champlain and serves as a drinking water supply for approximately 68,000 people. read more »Lehigh Valley
In 2003, TPL's conservation finance team helped Lehigh County, Pennsylvania get voter approval for a $30 million bond to protect watersheds, wetland, farmlands, and parks. read more », spirits, and communities and foster a healthy, vibrant agricultural system.
